Mrs Debbie Davies
Teaching Awards 2009 Winner
The NCSL Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School in Wales
St Marks V A Primary School, HAVERFORDWEST
The arrival of Debbie Davies at St Marks Primary three years ago saw an immediate and dramatic change in the school. A new mission statement was agreed upon with the staff, and PSHE was placed at the centre of the curriculum. The result, say colleagues, is that St Marks is now “not just a school but a family”, with the children at its heart.
Debbie makes all the staff feel valued and her ‘open-door policy’ means that parents can approach her without any hesitation. It is a genuine 'community' school, providing counselling services for parents, weekly adult learning classes and encouraging members of the community to come in and work with children. She has recently set up the 'Little Lions' toddlers group, a much needed service for the community. Debbie drives these ventures with huge energy and enthusiasm and is described as “tireless” by colleagues.
One said: "She pushes you so you can reach your potential. God knows where I'd have ended up if I'd met her twenty years ago!"
The Christian ethos of the school has been brought sharply into focus since Debbie’s arrival and parents, governors and staff see it as an important part of a strong school vision that has led to a dramatic improvement in pupil discipline. At Christmas she has discreetly helped families in difficult circumstances.
Her efforts at securing much needed funding for the school and generating money from her own work giving lectures on inclusion, has led to the governors’ chairman dubbing her "the best wheeler dealer around". One pupil said "all the classes were dull before Mrs Davies came, not bright and colourful".
Debbie has set challenging but achievable targets that have seen standards in the school improve. ‘Catch-up’ programmes in maths and English have been very successful and she has employed and trained staff for these roles in both Key Stages. Debbie has also introduced initiatives such as Guided Reading to improve standards. Children are regularly reminded in assembly that they must be ambitious and have dreams.
Following their visit to St Marks, judges said that the “confident, articulate and very proud members of the school council are testament to the inclusive, enabling and nurturing ethos that Debbie has so skilfully created”.
