An Interview with Chris Beech, Head Teacher at King Arthur's

Few posts make more difference to the reputation and development of our town and the community in this area than that of Head Teacher. With three schools in Wincanton the headship of King Arthur's as our secondary school is particularly important.

In Tamara Bradbury we clearly had a fine leader, but for a head, her stay of only two years was very short. The governors then took time to make an appointment so that the school could really build on what had been started, and Chris Beech has been their choice.

I spoke to Chris as he completed the end of his first half year. He has the build of the medium and long distance runner he has been and comes across as relaxed, straightforward and friendly, expressing himself with precision.

He also comes with an impressive track record. In his last school in Redruth in Cornwall he was appointed as Assistant Head and promoted to Deputy Head. This is a school with many similarities to KA and he was part of a management team that faced very serious challenges with only 26% of pupils achieving five or more A-C GCSE passes. During his time there he saw Redruth progress with 58% achieving A-C grades including English and Maths in his final year. As a result it was judged one of the top 100 schools in the country for improvement.

Chris is a graduate of Liverpool University. There he studied Religious Studies, Sport and Psychology, Chris always wanted to be a teacher and went straight into teaching - first doing PE and RE in Liverpool and then in Manchester.

He moved quickly to Head of Religious Studies, then a Year Head and then an Assistant Head. While his own special sport was running, he also took part in a wide range of other games and activities. Academically he has been teaching RS and Psychology, this last at A level.

I asked Chris about what he had found in coming to KA and he replied that what had first impressed him and continues to impress him was the friendliness of both pupils and staff and the way they work together and support each other. He emphasised this is not something to be taken for granted and is a very important basis on which to build.

What does he see as the strengths of the school? He mentioned several key departments where he saw inspirational teaching. We talked about the beautiful art work that is displayed on every corridor and the sporting achievements in football and badminton which are prominent at the moment, together with the amazing level of participation the school has in dramatic and musical activities. All this I noticed is beautifully presented and illustrated in the latest school magazine and booklet for parents that he has promoted.

When I mentioned the school's Sports College status Chris was quick to emphasise that while he thought the role of sport in education is very important, the school now receives no extra funding to develop this. Basically he believes such "special emphases" as on sports, the arts or technology could be a distraction from concentrating on providing every student in the local area with a properly grounded education which would take them as far as they could go both academically, sportingly and culturally - whatever their interests.

He is passionate in promoting genuine, community-based, comprehensive education, believing a good school must first of all provide the ethos and ground rules, the discipline and care for all who work there, be they high or low achievers.

His experience has been that when the ethos is right then levels of achievement can be changed dramatically as students become aware that they have capacities they never thought they had. He reminded me that as well as good plumbers and nurses, KA has produced pupils who have gone on to be successful businessmen and university professors and one is currently studying neuro-science at Oxford.

"Be you highly academic or a potential skilled workman you still need to be able to treat others with kindness, generosity and respect and to have self-discipline. Whatever you do you need to know how to deal with other people; to express yourself properly in conversation and writing and to be sufficiently numerate to be able to handle your finances."

Chris told me how he and the staff had been examining their goals and "vision statement" which is "A successful, happy school where learners take pride in their community."

He went on to emphasise that this talk of happiness was not just about warm feelings. He quoted the American psychologist Martin Seligman whose book Authentic Happiness has influenced him deeply.

Happiness and a sense of well being, Chris explained, consists of a sense of belonging, the expression of kindness and generosity, a sense of engagement in learning and developing discipline through structure and clarity.

All quite a tall order then, but it seems tall orders are what Chris is about. He is determined to see academic standards in the school go up not as a result of the fear of failure, but by promoting well grounded happiness. He wants KA not to be seen as the school on the edge of the town, but as a caring community in the heart of the wider local community.

Next I asked him about the way Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, is pushing for the virtual dismemberment of the local education authorities in his promotion of Academies. Was this a path he wished KA to follow? Chris replied that there are now several options, of which the academy path is but one. Others involve schools teaming up into partnerships or forming trusts so that staff, material resources and facilities can be shared more efficiently and economically. He sees a key task for the rest of this year as working with his governors to decide which way the school should go "for the decisions that are taken could affect education here in Wincanton for generations to come."

Chris Beech, then, has come here at a crucial time.

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