Interview with Tina Graham, Principal of Kingsbridge Community College

​“It is most professionally rewarding for me when I see success for staff and students visible in so many ways. Of course, exam outcomes are critical; but the participation and enjoyment that comes from engaging in available opportunities.” 
 
Serendipity can be a wonderful thing.
 
When this interview with planned, we did not know that Kingsbridge Community College (KCC) was set to be awarded the South West Secondary School of the Year 2024 Award for The Sunday Times Parent Power Guide, which looks at academic outcomes and character education, extra-curricular opportunities and student experience, as well as improvements made in schools year-on-year. 
 
We are therefore all the more delighted to celebrate and honour Principal Tina Graham and KCC. The College is ambitious for all students and are grateful to staff, parents and students for sharing their values. Staff are committed to ensuring that students benefit from the best life chances with an impressive dedication to extra-curricular opportunities supported by an enthusiastic group of volunteers, which contributes significantly to the success of the College. 
 
Kingsbridge Community College in one of four secondary schools within Education South West Multi Academy Trust and is the Lead School for the Department for Education’s Kingsbridge Teaching School Hub (TSH) – one of the halves of South West Institute for Teaching (SWIFT), working with Colyton TSH.
 
Tina has been in post at KCC as Principal for four years and was previously Principal at Dartmouth Academy from 2015 - 2019, before which she was at KCC in a variety of roles including Head of Geography and then Director of Sixth Form.
 
We invited Tina to reflect on her role as Principal of KCC as the Lead School for Kingsbridge Teaching School Hub.
 
1. Looking back three years ago, what were your expectations as Principal of Kingsbridge Community College, the Lead School for the new Kingsbridge Teaching School Hub?
My expectations were of a growing committed team of colleagues with shared values who would promote and build on the excellent education for all children in the South West.
 
We would also continue to grow the collaborative links with all schools in the region and would collectively address issues of teacher recruitment and retention, and the issues of raising standards and in particular, advocate for our children to work towards removing significant barriers to learning.
 
2. How do you see schools and colleagues across our region benefitting from the work of the Teaching School Hubs?
I believe the work of Teaching School Hubs enables us to share good practice and by building on the networks across Schools and Trusts we have potential to ensure a shared agenda in the South West, which can be powerful.

This combined working has enabled support for Early Career Teachers (ECTs) through the Early Career Framework (ECF) to be of a higher quality than previously and this translates into effective practitioners much earlier in their career and is good practice for schools.
 
Teaching School Hubs offer multiple professional development opportunities for members of staff across schools working with SWIFT – whether as Delivery Leads, National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) Facilitators, ECF Mentors and professional development leads; all of which in turn, benefits one’s own school.
 
3. What have you found to be most challenging and how has this informed your practice?
I understand with any collaboration at this scale, individual Schools and Trusts have their own agenda, and the positive and complex challenge is sometimes being able to find the capacity and clarity to ensure that this has a direct impact on all aspects that we are trying to undertake in our individual schools.

I appreciate that the SWIFT Team work relentlessly to be sympathetic and supportive to the starting points of different partners and to provide genuine support so that they can gain as much as possible from the collaboration for the benefit of their staff and students.
 
4. What is most rewarding for you professionally and personally working with SWIFT?
It is most professionally rewarding for me when I see success for staff and students and this is visible in so many ways. Of course, exam outcomes are critical; but the participation and enjoyment that comes from engaging in available opportunities is also vital.  Notably, our staff have had so many opportunities to be involved in facilitating NPQs, being part of the curriculum development for initial teacher training, and interviewing candidates - and more besides.

Personally, being part of the community for many years now means that I get to see people that I have taught or worked with in previous years who now have their children at KCC and are enjoying their experience. It keeps me focused on the core business that is about our Community College serving the community to the best of our ability. 

5. Looking to the future, how would you wish Teaching School Hubs to evolve?
For me, the vision is more for the outcome rather than the mechanism. As I believe the outcome of any collaboration, and particularly in our regional context with lower than national outcomes must be in ensuring that our work has an impact on the outcomes for all young people; particularly those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged and who deserve to have the same life chances to everyone else across the country.
 
Another outcome for me would be to tackle the diversity agenda and to have an impact on acknowledging that we cannot change the lived experience of the majority of our children where there are schools with dominant white British populations. But we can think carefully about how we address the curriculum and extracurricular activities and our untaught curriculum and try to expose children to the diverse world that they are going to face beyond the South West and foster a wider sense of belonging.

Interview by Jude Owens, SWIFT Executive Assistant

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