A remarkable day in every sense
Yesterday – 24th June 2016 – was a remarkable day in every sense of the word.
We woke to the shock news that everyone woke to. The Leave the EU vote had won – no-one expected it but it had happened and our world was likely to be changed for ever.
It was BR-EXIT day but it was also to be KL-EXIT day. The start of my exit process. Please forgive this most self-indulgent of posts.
I officially finish work on 4th July in just 6 days time, but school laid on a wonderful leaving event for me at the end of the day yesterday – and it was just perfect in every way. I wouldn’t have liked a leaving do with just grownups. The children are why I teach, the children are why I am there, the children are the reason for all of it and so it was absolutely right for me to have a leaving do with children … and their parents, the staff and the governors of course.

I really hadn’t been sure what to expect and I was worried as the tea also included the unveiling of my portrait. For someone who doesn’t like having her photo taken, the idea of having a portrait painted was, to say the least, terrifying. It was also a tremendous honour. I would be the first head of the Junior School to have their portrait painted to be hung in the hall.

The tea party was lovely. There were so many people there – including Nigel .. he could not have been absent as he has been a part of my whole life there. And quite a long life too. I will have been there 29 years .. and I stress, as did my boss in her speech – I was very very young when I was appointed! Not only was the tea itself wonderful (no-one does cakes like our school) but it was wonderful to see the people there. So many governors came and so many parents. I also had a photo taken at some point with a selection of children who were pupils or had been pupils ranging from 3 years old to almost 40. I have obviously removed all of the faces ... they are other people's children. It doesn't make for a pretty picture - but it gives the idea.

The portrait was lovely… well as lovely as it could be … it was of me after all. He had done a wonderful job. Now if only I could find a cream that made the wrinkles vanish as his brush had done. My boss made the most wonderful speech about me – I cried and she almost did too. The chair of governors made a wonderful speech too – including saying he had heard the song from Wicked on the way to the tea … For Good .. and he repeated the lines
‘But because I knew you
I have been changed for good’
He said they made him think of me and that there were so many girls lives I had changed for good by all that I had done. It was a very kind thing to say. And then, most remarkable of all, Jeff Williams spoke. Jeff Williams is the director of Education for the Diocese of Winchester, the school’s diocese, and I had chatted to him during the afternoon and thought how lovely that coincidentally he was in school on the day there happened to be a tea and wasn’t that lovely. Duh! I never made the connection that he was there FOR ME! I was staggered when he spoke and also said lovely things and brought with him a letter from the Bishop. I didn’t read the letter until I got home and it reduced me to tears. Such a wonderful thing to have said and the greatest tribute I could have prayed for.

I spoke extremely badly when I responded. I was just so blown away by it all and the emotion got to me and I couldn’t finish. I didn’t thank the people I wanted to thank and just bumbled and fluffed and then cried. Disaster. I will do better at Prize Giving I hope.
I had such lovely gifts. Flowers and a very generous voucher from the parents, two beautifully framed sketches for me to keep, produced by the artist and framed for me, and a beautiful, very significant crystal cross and book from the diocese. I felt very spoilt by the whole thing and very humbled.
It is a huge thing to be contemplating leaving after 29 years, to be taking such early retirement and yes, there are times when I have had my doubts about it. However I know the time is right for me to leave. I am proud of what I have accomplished. I am proud of the way I have developed the school and nurtured the girls and it is time for school to enter a new phase. I know we are right to be looking towards a new and very different future for us as a couple. We have worked very hard – it is a full on job with no respite – and we want to enjoy some time together. You never know what is round the corner and the various health scares have shaken us. So I know it is the right time and I would feel the regrets of leaving the school and the girls if I waited until I was 60 or older. That would never change. I won’t miss the policies, the paperwork, the accountability, the stress, the politics or the 12 – 14 hour days, but I will miss those girls, all of them, every day. They have been my purpose for so long and they will never be forgotten.

Today I am thankful for
- 29 years of helping to make a difference
- 29 years teaching hundreds of girls and trying to do the very best for them
- a wonderful tea and some lovely kind words from people
- lots of hugs from children and parents alike
- very generous gifts
- Nigel by my side through it all
Now - the last week to get through and what a week. Incredibly busy at school and all of it needing to be the very best I can possibly make it.