St Sampson’s head teacher to retire at end of month
THE head teacher of St Sampson’s High School has announced her sudden retirement after nearly 10 years at the helm.
After a long career in teaching, Annabel Bolt will be leaving the school at the end of this month, and in a short statement yesterday she wished her pupils and staff every success.
‘After careful thought and discussion with my family, I have decided to retire from my role as head teacher at St Sampson’s High School.
‘We have achieved so much together as a school, and I wish the students and my colleagues all the very best for the future.’
The director of operations for Education, Ed Ashton, expressed his gratitude to Mrs Bolt and hoped her retirement would be fulfilling.
‘Annabel Bolt will retire as head teacher of St Sampson’s High School as of 30 April.
‘Annabel will be missed by students, parents, carers and colleagues, and I want to take this opportunity to thank her and wish her a happy and healthy retirement.
‘Adrian King, deputy head teacher, will assume temporary operational responsibility for St Sampson’s High School whilst a new leader for the school is recruited for September 2020.
‘Adrian will be supported by Liz Coffey, executive head teacher, during this time.’
The retirement comes at a challenging time for island schools.
The past year has been tumultuous in regard to the transformation programme, the political U-turn on the two-school model, and now coronavirus.
In January, Mrs Bolt joined other island head teachers in signing an open letter to the community asking for an end to the indecision in seeking a holy grail model of education.
The letter stated that students were being taught in inadequate buildings in institutions that were too small to offer a broad curriculum and had in-built systemic inequality.
The head teachers railed against the uncertainty that was impacting on students and the recruitment and retention of teachers.
That letter, jointly signed by the nine education leaders, could not have gone down well with a majority of teachers at St Sampson’s because, a week later, they issued their own letter complaining that the two-school model would be ‘calamitous’ for the education and the island as a whole.
Some 88 staff members at the school called for a pause to the proposals.
The statement sparked similar letters from teachers at other schools, and it was this movement that was key to the successful ‘pause and review’ requete into the two-school model.
