A Profile of Andrew Simpson

THERE’S a sign on Andrew Simpson’s office door at Arundel Church of England School which says ‘Head Learner’. It is a typically modest gesture on the part of a modest, self-effacing man who explains that he, like his pupils, is still learning every day.

Born in Reigate, his family moved to West Sussex when Andrew was 12. He had two elder sisters and a brother but learnt early on that ‘life is precious’ – his father died when he was 16 and his brother at the age of 27, when Andrew was in his late twenties.

He had always wanted to teach. He explains this ambition as ‘I wanted to give children hope – to show them no one else determines their future. They can achieve and adults need to be proactive in allowing all children the opportunity to succeed. I wanted to give children that opportunity.’

He had always wanted to teach. He explains this ambition as ‘I wanted to give children hope – to show them no one else determines their future.

Andrew completed his degree in Geography and Environmental Science and his teacher training qualification concurrently at the University of Surrey. His first teaching post was in a school in Croydon, Wattenden Primary School, which was ideal as in those days he was playing rugby for the Old Alleynians, the Dulwich College team; one of the first to do so never having been to the College. He returned three years later to join the Summerlea Community School in Rustington followed by Kingsham Primary School in Chichester and Field Place First School in Worthing. Andrew is a very committed Christian ‘My faith is very important to me’ and describes the move to Arundel Church of England School as ‘a calling.’

So in 2004 he joined as Deputy Head. ACE only had 105 children then and had previously a poor OFSTED result. Andrew really felt he could make a difference and was helped hugely by the then priest, Fr. Keith Richards. When the Head, Linda Davies, who had been unwell, was forced to take a year off Andrew became Acting Head and on her eventual retirement in 2009 the Head. By this time Fr David Farrer was the priest and was ‘a very strong support both as a leader and in terms of the Christian faith.’

Andrew and his wife, Heidi, have always worked together and ACE has been no exception. He explains: ‘We have always worked in the same schools together. It is very unusual for a husband and wife to do that but we work better when we’re together. We both love learning and education and it’s good that we can work out together what’s best for the children. Heidi is an extremely gifted teacher – she was working at a national level when we met and was already a Deputy Head. She’s an amazing teacher -we’re lucky to have her here at the school. She gave up some of her career when we had the boys – she only worked part time until about 7 years ago when the boys were older.’

They have two boys, both of whom attended ACE. Andrew speaks with great pride of William, who is 16 and at Lancing College on an academic scholarship and Harry who is 13, has a sport scholarship also at Lancing College and plays hockey and football for Sussex. They live on the Rustington/Littlehampton borders near the sea which is very important to Andrew. Weekends tend to be spent being a taxi driver for the boys sporting events and, as a result, he doesn’t play rugby as much with the Worthing Rugby Club as he would like, ‘although I play for the lower teams now because of my age!’ he laughs.

Andrew sees the school very much in the context of the local community of which it is an integral part and as Head, he set out to ensure that the connections were made. He wanted to draw on the strength of the history and the people in the town. ‘I wanted to give the school a sense of place. We had an Alpha course here for the Church. We have developed links with the Museum, the Castle and the Wetlands. As a result the curriculum has changed as we look at Arundel’s rich history, giving the children a centre of place and of belonging.’ He also set out to encourage the children to understand democracy and politics. He explains: ‘We set up school councils so that children felt they have a choice and an influence – I want them to be encouraged to see that they can make a difference.’

Sport is one of Andrew’s passions and the school has been very successful at it. ‘We have been in the final for Best Primary School for Sport in all of Sussex three times – more than any other school – and last year we won it! We won was because we are a team – the staff, the children and their parent all have a part to play.’

As a Church school the values of Faith, Hope and Love are constantly referred to ‘ We try to put them into all our teaching. We are very lucky to have Fr David Twinley who comes in once a month to help the teachers with their understanding of the bible and how it can be used in the classroom.’ Although it is a Church of England school they do have Muslim children at the school and Andrew believes it is important that people are aware of the similarities and difference between comparative religions. ‘We have links with a multi-faith school in London and our Governors pay for our children to visit that school and understand what it’s like to live in London and study there. Our aim is to make them more tolerant of other people.’

Andrew makes the job sound easy but in truth there are very difficult issues to cope with. ‘Social media is a massive issue for us because while it can be a really positive force it can equally be used in a negative way. I do worry about it. It’s not just mobile phones – it’s PlayStations and X boxes as well. It’s hard to control who children are talking to online – and children can find ways around the technology used to protect them. We try to tackle it by having social media awareness weeks. For example, Google came in to talk to the children about some of the dangers, but at the end of the day when they are on the internet they are alone. Bullying is another issue all schools face especially online – sadly I believe it happens in all schools but what is important is how the school tackles it.’

An average day in Andrew and Heidi’s life is relentless. Up at 5.00am they get to school by about 6.50am. ‘Then we open up, children start to arrive for Embrace (the morning and afternoon club) at about 7.30am. School finishes at 3.00pm but many children stay for clubs till 6.00pm.’ Having locked up he leaves by about 6.30pm to pick up his sons and they get home at 7.15pm. After supper he works on emails and admin till about 9.30pm. Then it all starts again at 5.00am the next day!

He does some teaching himself as the budgets are so tight in schools now. Even on weekends he sometime comes in on a Sunday doing a few hours of preparation for the coming week. ‘On Friday night I spend a couple of hours doing the weekly newsletter – an opportunity he uses to celebrate individuals who have done well. In addition to all of this, ‘Parents can get me 24/7’ he adds ‘which is right but it puts a pressure on me too! That can make things quite challenging at times.’

There are 20 staff and their hours are very long too. ‘I have very high expectations of the staff – the children only have one chance so I expect them all to work very hard but sometimes burn out and their wellbeing is an issue.

Standards have increased over the years and the teachers, who teach all subjects don’t forget, have to keep up.’

How does he relax? Sport obviously features and he has played both football and rugby at a high level. ‘I love poetry’ he says ‘I put some in the newsletters sometimes. I also like going to the theatre and I read a lot. My favourite author – or at least the one I have read most – is probably Tolkien – particularly Lord of the Rings which I have read many times!’

There are 20 staff and their hours are very long too. ‘I have very high expectations of the staff – the children only have one chance so I expect them all to work very hard but sometimes burn out and their wellbeing is an issue.

What of the future? The school has 214 pupils now although in theory the maximum is 210 but the Local Authority have pushed for them to take more, doubling the size since he took over. They have the advantage of space and, courtesy of the Norfolk Estate even have a woodland area which they use to teach children about the environment and how to look after it. Andrew has ambitious dreams. ‘We could have a nursery school here – we have the space but financing it would be the challenge. I’ve always dreamt of Arundel having a secondary school. With all the planned housing development in the town as well, a secondary school would be good so that young people didn’t have to be bussed out. This site lends itself to a place where children could come from nursery to 19. It could even be somewhere for adult education for people who want to stay mentally active. I would like to work out a way we could do it together. It could be aspirational for everyone in town- a place where learning is the heart of things.’