IN FOCUS 2021
Staf f Leaver s Barbara Cederholm “I know it has been a long three years helping me as your student but I have really appreciated the effort and knowledge you have shared with me. I wish you a happy retirement” Henry Christian “Thank you Mrs Cederholm for helping me through the years that I have had you. Thank you for being patient and understanding when I am learning something difficult, also thank you for helping me revise for exams aiming for me to do my best on them. I hope you have a good and happy time in retirement.” Evie Clewes. “Mrs Cederholm was a great teacher and always made me smile. She always greeted me when I came in with a cheerful ‘Hi Henry’ and brightened my day. She helped me with maths and English and taught me lessons that I will never forget. I miss Mrs Cederholm.” Henry W-Roberts
Mrs Cederholm initially started working on the Birkenhead School campus using her room in McAllester as a base for Dyslexia Institute. In 2008 she then joined the teaching staff to support Ms Smeaton, then SENDCo, in offering bespoke 1:1 lessons to support the learning of students with dyslexia. Her students benefited from many varied years of teaching experience and her absolute dedication to their progress in overcoming the difficulties they faced. It is clear that her lessons instilled lifelong skills in her students. James Mitchell who left in 2015 for University was delighted to know on a visit to campus related to his work for GLOD in 2019 that Mrs Cederholm was still teaching here. He said to me, "I use what she taught me every single day when I am preparing and delivering my sessions". Current students were asked for memories of her lessons and this is what they had to say: “Mrs Cederholm’s lessons were fun and taught me a lot, especially long multiplication” Jacob Fowler
Annie Barsoum
“Mrs Cederholm taught me lots of great stuff and she is such a good teacher. I had lots of good lessons with her and I learnt so much new stuff. Thank you so much for teaching me and being a great teacher.” Rachel Hughes As a colleague, Mrs Cederholm was always very welcoming and kind to all, a great person to chat to over a coffee in the staff room and hear about her family. She had continued teaching beyond the normal years of duty and only a pandemic could bring her career to a close and finally lead to her extricating herself from her Aladdin’s cave of a room. Mrs Cederholm is highly knowledgeable and skilful when it comes to teaching phonics and she was an expert at supporting our students. All the staff and students at Birkenhead wish you the very best for the future when the world gets back to normal and you can get further afield to do all the things you have planned. By Mrs Oxley and Mrs Williams, SENDCo and Co-ordinator of Spanish
Je n n y E l l i s
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Annie Barsoum, Head of Geography, as she leaves to pursue other interests outside of education. Under her leadership the Geography provision has been significantly bolstered, with greater student interest in the subject and geographical events outside of the classroom being particular developments. I know both staff and students will want to wish her well in this new and upcoming chapter. We look forward to hearing of her future successes and welcoming her back into School when the opportunity arises for a visit.
Jenny leaves after almost 15 years as The Lodge Secretary to explore pastures new and to spend quality time with her son. We will miss Jenny – her efficiency of course, but even more her kindness to everyone and her generosity in giving her time to help in whichever way she could. We wish her all the best, but hope for many visits from her and the gorgeous Joshua. By Mrs Pankhurst, Deputy Head
By Mr Whitworth, Deputy Head 102
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