On Monday 17 June, 4s student Rebecca L spent the day in the shoes of Mrs Harrington, Queen Anne’s Headmistress, thanks to the QASPA Scarlet Ball.
The morning started off with a meeting with Ms Cooper, PA to the Headmistress, and Mrs Long, PA to the Deputy Heads, to go through the itinerary of the day.
Next, to the Headmistress’ Office (or rather Rebecca’s Office for the day) to have a planning meeting with Mrs Harrington and Ms Cooper. Our new Headmistress for the day learned just how busy the job is every day, and that no two days are the same!
Rebecca’s next meeting was Mr Padley, who organises the busy school calendar. She learned how the online school calendar is updated, and just how much has to be meticulously planned for every calendar entry, so that all events and activities can be well prepared for, and do not clash.
Our Headmistress for the day then went to visit the Admissions Department. She helped Mrs Wright, the school Registrar, choose the best photos of activities available at Queen Anne’s to show prospective parents in a display, and learned all about the school’s admissions process.
Up next was another meeting with Mrs Harrington, this time with Mr Stephenson too. They discussed Sixth Form arrangements for the leavers, current students, and new students entering Sixth Form in September, as well as the A Level examinations currently taking place.
Rebecca then visited the Marketing Department, where she approved and signed off the final programme for Speech Day with Mrs Norman, and picked out some display pictures to sum up the exciting year at Queen Anne’s, with Miss Blakeney.
Mr Hellings, Director of Finance and Strategy, then arrived to take our new Headmistress on a tour of the new school entrance building work. Rebecca was able to see the huge amounts of progress that had been made over the past few months, and had an exclusive first glimpse of what the new school entrance and reception area would look like.
After a very busy morning, it was finally lunch time. Our new Headmistress had a lunch appointment with Mrs Harrington and Mrs Pardon, the Headmistress of Maltman’s Green School. Mrs Pardon was actually Rebecca’s previous Headmistress, and it was an interesting experience for the three Heads to discuss the day so far, and learn about both the similarities and differences of the Headmistress’ roles in different schools.
Once lunch was over, Rebecca attended the Rewards and Sanctions meeting in the Conference Room, and then had a tour of the school site with Mrs Pearce, to discuss future work planned for the school grounds and buildings.
Next, a meeting with Events Manager, Mrs Snarey, and Catering Manager, Mr Beaumont in Cafe 6. They had an insightful meeting about the menu for Speech Day, and our Headmistress for the day was able to sample some of the latest delicacies from Kristoff’s Cafe!
Rebecca was then treated to a tour of the school grounds by Groundsman, Mr Trott, which included a ride on the Gator utility vehicle! A tour of Wilkins House and Maddock House followed after this.
Rebecca had an excellent time being Queen Anne’s Headmistress for the day.
Head for the day was so much fun! I had an amazing experience within each department that I visited. I would like to thank Mrs Harrington for making this a very enjoyable experience for me. It was very interesting to see the new build and to go to school council and rewards and sanctions. I also enjoyed seeing my old headmistress and having lunch with her and Mrs Harrington.
“It was a pleasure to see how Rebecca took to her role for the day!” said Mrs Harrington. “She demonstrated a real ability to see all sides of a question, a wisdom to know how to say ‘no’ to those rather more difficult requests, such as can we sell the school on eBay! And she hosted her previous Headmistress from Maltman’s Green with real warmth and maturity.
I know that Rebecca made some great decisions when she was in post, and I look forward to seeing them through with her over the coming months. It was an excellent day in every way!
