The final act

One more week with him at the helm.

He spoke to the students at the end of our show this evening, as he always does, with absolute conviction about the value of the broader life of school and the moments that stay with you when you get older and forget the lessons, but remember the important things.

When he had finished, after acknowledging that it was difficult as it was his final show, I am afraid I did choke back the tears. I have been doing it a lot recently.

He has been a constant in my life for over ten years.

In that time I have lost two grandparents and my nephew. I have been divorced and remarried. I have had 3 lots of surgery and a long term, continuing illness. In that time, my son has grown from a toddler and starting pre-school to the stage where he is about to embark on GCSE courses. Most recently, the birth and eventful beginnings of two new lives in the form of my brother's children.

We have lived through 7 OFSTED inspections (5 full, 2 subject strand), an attempt at closing our school and the continuing fight to establish to the outside world that our school and our children are so much more than people think.

We have hosted visitors from Malaysia and Russia, We have had the (pleasure of?) visits from various Ministers as well as others that have passed through. We have had famous sports people pass through the doors and share their experience with our children.

It has been an epic ten years of ups and downs, but with the absolute certainty that it has been a pleasure to have been coached, supported, teased and tormented, wound up, joked with, joked at, sympathised with and celebrated with along the way by someone that I hold in high regard and with absolute respect. Our school is OUR school and his unstinting belief in the value of what we do and the absolute right of our children to receive the very best has been at the heart of what we do.

I will miss him more than he knows. I know that I am not alone in that feeling.

I guess more tears are on the way in the next week!