A father of a child at Hadrian Park Primary School, in Wallsend, has written a heartfelt letter to his school to express how much the school has done for his family. The letter touched many senior leaders in the region and has been sent to Katrina Gueli, North East Regional Director of Ofsted.
FAO: Katrina Gueli
To Miss A Gibson (Head Teacher), Andy Grant & Miss J Martin,
I’d like to write to you to share the experiences that me and my family had throughout a really difficult time, and to offer feedback on how the support has not only helped us but went beyond anything I could have expected from what a school can do.
Two of my three children attend Hadrian Park Primary school, one aged 5 and the other aged 3. Late last year, my family experienced some difficult personal circumstances that led to some major instability in the children’s lives, and ultimately resulted in the breakup of the parents. Looking back, it was clear how this was affecting the children as my son was showing emotional outburst of anger, and my daughter had become quite withdrawn from her peers and social activities.
During this time, although I was going through a lot of personal challenges, I was mostly focussed on trying to support my children, and at times felt quite isolated in this. This was until I was quickly introduced (via local authorities) to the school safeguarding representatives, Andy Grant, and Jade Martin.
From that first meeting with them, alongside other authorities, it was clear where their interests were, in that of ensuring whatever the family was going through, they wanted to offer ‘any’ type of support that could help make the children’s lives as easy as possible through this difficult time. This was made clear and with the intention that no task would be too big for them, should I need to do so.
I later found out that this wasn’t just a throwaway comment in the presence of these other authorities, or that they were ticking a box in a formalised process they had once trained for, and that in fact not only were they true to their word, but they also went beyond anything I could have ever imagined which would (I believe) partly result in the emotional healing of not only my children, but me as a parent.
To put the support into context, I was in a position where me and my three children were effectively homeless, right in the run up to Christmas. I had so much pressure on myself in wanting to try and make this part of the year as normal as possible, but I literally didn’t even have a tree to put up after we were given emergency accommodation through North Tyneside council three weeks before the big day.
Now this is where the ‘above and beyond’ and proactive nature of the school shone through as I didn’t even ask them for anything or any support at this point, it’s like they knew that we’d need help.
They would have daily conversations with me during this time, and it was that skill of listening to what I and the children were going through that allowed them to take a proactive approach to what support should look like. After they learned I sourced a tree through social media, they were so quick in offering things like decorations, and even children’s toys as I had none of the belongings from the previous family home.
I was blown away by what I came into school to, where I was presented with bags of tree and home decorations which would help me bring a seasonal feel to the temporary accommodation I was in, along with a whole host of children’s toys to choose from. I was approached by different members of staff with offers of bags of things, and constant updates on the children’s schooling and wellbeing. I’d never experienced anything like this before and was a little unsure how to react or take it all in. Now, looking back and having time to reflect, I am eternally grateful in all honesty as the support I have seen for my children will live with me forever, and that school will always be remembered by me as one that saved not only saved our Christmas, but one that put my children first in a time of crisis.
During the initial stages of the family breakdown, and for some of my own personal reasons and events during that time, I wanted to take the children back to where I’m originally from (Newcastle area) and to start again from there to what I believed would safeguard me and them. After I experienced the warmth and support of the school and seeing my children over the next couple of months begin to return to their natural cheery and innocent selves, I am trying everything in my power to keep them at this school. Its one of my top goals now as we’re still working through some personal stuff with the support of several authorities.
I believe this place is the best out there for my children at this stage in their lives. Not only because of the support, but just down to their human and professional touch on how proactive they were at a time I could barely think two days in front of me. I felt like they were reading my mind about what I was worrying about, and if I thought of something one day, they’d be at the front office with whatever I needed without even asking. It felt like they’d prepared for this scenario and were so ready to support should a family ever go through any difficult circumstances.
If every school is like this one, then the children of this area are so lucky in terms of how protected and supported they will be, should they ever unfortunately happen upon a time of crisis in their lives.
I can’t thank you all enough for the support for me and my family through your generosity and thoughtfulness.
Kind regards.
Honoured and Proud
Angi Gibson, Head Teacher at Hadrian Park Primary School commented:
“As Head Teacher, I feel so honoured, proud and privileged to work alongside such a fantastic team of hard-working professionals, who go above and beyond on a daily basis for the children and families of our community. We all feel very humbled to receive such a heartfelt and sincere letter and can promise that we’ll endeavour to continue to provide a personalised service to all of our families.”
Chris Zarraga said:
“The team at Schools North East were blown away reading the letter. a truly amazing letter. Throughout covid we have always used the phrase “fourth emergency service” to describe North East schools. Ofsted sees Hadrian Park school as ‘good’, it’s difficult to measure the true impact schools have on their student’s lives in two days. This story is extremely powerful but I could argue not unusual in many of our region’s schools. It’s probably not unusual in the school in question; just unusual that a parent would express it externally. Any policy or system reform for education needs to be developed through the lens of those experiences, those children, and that father. It needs to be seen through the contexts of schools, staff, children and communities. Schools are the heart of our communities. They are the key to changing our education system, and much more, for the better.”
Hadrian Park Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.
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