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MUSIC | INTERVIEW
Photograph by Suzy Slemen
Rising to the challenge After the first month of the new academic year, we speak to the newly appointed head of The Paragon School, Rosie Allen, who tells us how she’s adapted to the role during these extraordinary times and why The Paragon’s staff and students have a buzzing sense of optimism for the coming year Q: You’ve had a period of months – since June this year – of working with Andrew Harvey, The Paragon’s previous head, to adapt the school around the challenges of Covid-19 to make it a safe place to study and work. How rewarding has it been to work with Andrew over that time? I was appointed way back in February, when HS2 was still dominating the headlines and there were only three confirmed cases of Coronavirus in the UK. I don’t think it is an understatement to say that we are now in a very different world. From the moment it became apparent, in early March, that Covid was going to have a significant impact on education, Andrew and I agreed that we needed to work together to steer The Paragon through. Like everything else in the past six months, the plan was developed as we rolled it out, helped enormously by the fact that Andrew was and is held in such high esteem by the pupils, parents and staff at the school. Some time around July the baton naturally passed from Andrew to myself, by which point his partnership and guidance had put me in a very strong position in terms of my knowledge and understanding of the school. I can’t thank him enough. Q: What was your most recent position before arriving at The Paragon and how long were you there? 20 52 TheBATHMagazine
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My experience as part of the founding team of Radnor House, a co-educational independent school in Twickenham, has certainly prepared me for dealing with the impact of Covid. Setting up a school was an amazing experience and required nimble leadership, alongside the need to delve regularly into the operational while keeping a clear focus on the ‘big picture’, plus lots of hours in a day. The skills I’m drawing on at the moment feel very similar! I was head at Radnor until 2018. Prior to accepting the headship at The Paragon I had been working at a number of schools and across the education sector more widely as a nonexecutive director and school governor. This period of part-time work allowed me to settle my young family into the Bath area after our move from London, while waiting for the right job to come up. Q: What were your first impressions of The Paragon, and how much has the school been transformed by the arrival of the pupils this month? One word – magical. There is something incredibly special about the whole site and I would challenge any first-time visitor not to be captivated by it. It really does feel like being immersed in a wonderful, cherished childhood; a safe haven full of adventure and love. Having all the children back this month has only added to this – the sense of joy is
palpable. There is also a real sense of purpose too, something which the children, and staff, now value more than ever. Q: What sort of adaptations have been necessary at The Paragon school to make everyone – teachers and children – safe and secure? We have kept things simple with the three core principles of regular hand washing and sanitising, effective social distancing and an enhanced facilities cleaning regime. We regularly reinforce and repeat these messages as, if everyone plays their part, then what we offer to the children day to day can be as close to ‘normal’ as possible. We are very fortunate to have small class sizes and plenty of space at The Paragon, so really it’s just been a case of tightening up our systems and ensuring that bubbles do not cross in the playground, school hall or other areas of the school. We’ve adapted our clubs and activities so there is minimal mixing of bubbles and, where it does happen, we ensure social distancing is maintained between groups. We’ve also moved to an incar drop off and pick up for parents at the start and end of the school day to limit adults on site. Parents have been incredibly proactive in doing their part – it really feels like we are all working together to ensure the children have the most positive experience possible.
