A Message from Susannah Connell, CEO, The Diamond Learning Partnership Trust
As I prepare to retire I want to take a moment to reflect, not just on my time at The Diamond Learning Partnership Trust, but on the journey that brought me here.
My desire to be a teacher, began as a young child.
However at school, I never passed a maths exam beyond a CSE, which is below a grade D at GCSE. Even though I loved maths, numbers and calculations, I struggled because ‘the words just got in the way’. At the time Dyslexia was not widely recognised, so for me as a child with dyslexia, I simply had to work ten times as hard just to ‘keep up’.
My parents were proud and hardworking, but money was always tight. If the bills were paid, it was then a balancing act to buy food and not much was left over. When I say “I ate what I was given,” it wasn’t about manners; it was because there wasn’t another option. “If you don’t eat up, you go hungry”.
Things started to look up when my dad was promoted and got a pay rise however, around the same time, he developed severe back pain. When he finally went to the doctor, we were told he had stage 4 cancer. He died at the age of 45. I was 18 years old and my younger sister was just 8.
It was not the best time in my life. I failed my A Levels and in order to help pay the bills and keep our family afloat, I took a job as a trainee manager in a department store.
However, my desire to become a teacher was stronger than ever, so I embarked on what became an eight year journey. As I did not have A Levels and needed to keep working full time, the only way to fulfil my dream was studying with The Open University. I began with a science foundation course and discovered I loved physics. I later realised my favourite subject, and the one I enjoyed the most, was maths, so I started again. I took a maths foundation course and slowly but surely, seven years after I began, earned my maths degree.
At the time, The Open University had just launched a course for a teaching qualification and in 1998, I gained Qualified Teacher Status, QTS. At last I could begin my career in teaching.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because nothing worthwhile is ever easy. No one hands you success on a plate — you have to work for it. My teachers wrote me off as, “lovely but lazy” and “easily distracted.” To be honest, that shaped me. It made me determined to prove them wrong and even more determined to succeed.
I never wanted to be anything more than a classroom teacher, but once I got there, I kept seeing children facing barriers. I felt the only way to make a significant difference for all children, was to become a school leader.
The best years of my career were when I was a Year 6 teacher. I will always be grateful to my first mentor, Loretta Frain, who taught me to fight for what is right for children. I will always be proud of the pupils I have worked with and love seeing how they have grown into amazing adults. Mike Little, who was in my very first class when I was training, is now a Paramedic Operations Commander. Cherry Hills, in my first maths group, now runs her own business and is devoted to improving children’s mental health and makes the most fabulous cakes.
When I became headteacher of Middlefield, the school was struggling, but with a lot of good people working very hard, we moved the school to ‘Outstanding’. When the opportunity came to be the Headteacher of Winhills, I remember thinking, why should the children at Winhills not have the same opportunities as those at Middlefield? Even though everyone had written the school off, because it had been identified as one of the 200 worst schools in the country, I was determined to make a difference.
And that is why our Trust was born.
We are now 15 schools strong and every single one came with specific challenges. I can put my hand on my heart and say that now, every school in The Diamond Learning Partnership Trust is in a better place now than when it joined us.
Why this walk down memory lane? Because I want to say thank you.
Thank you for the education I received, which enabled me to have the best job in the world.
Thank you to the 4,000 Diamond pupils. Remember, always keep going and keep believing, no matter how hard or how long the journey to reach your dreams may be.
Thank you to every member of staff with whom I’ve worked. Whatever your role, you have worked tirelessly to ensure our children have the very best education.
And thank you, to all of you the parents who have the hardest job of all, especially when your children are facing challenges which at times can feel so very difficult. Challenges can play a crucial role in personal growth, by fostering resilience and patience, by developing a stronger sense of self, by building confidence and compassion and acquiring valuable life-long skills.
As I leave my role as CEO of DLPT and 27 years of working in education, I want to sign off with this final message:
“From my own experience, both personal and professional, I’d say that at times, it’s O.K. to let our children face some challenges. Indeed, that’s often been the place where growth and learning begins”.
Regards
Susannah Connell – CEO