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Emily Simpson-Horne HEAD OF DARTMOUTH ACADEMY
There’s a new woman in charge at Dartmouth Academy helping students ‘be their best selves’. Emily Simpson-Horne took over as Head of School in the summer and it wasn’t an easy start - coping with lockdown, education bubbles and one-way corridor systems! However, Emily and her team are enjoying the new normal at the school and have high hopes for the future. She spoke to our reporter Steph Woolvin...
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mily Simpson-Horne is no stranger to Dartmouth Academy. She started as Head of English and Literacy back in 2017. “I’ve always enjoyed English. One of my favourite books to teach is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; it’s a heart warming tale and students always seem to find new interpretations all these years on.” Emily moved up the ranks to
Associate Principal for Quality of Education and then, in June this year, she took on the role of Head of School. She started her teaching career working in an inner-city school in Coventry, but after three years she wanted a change of scenery. She grew up in Devon so
thought she would ‘come home’ bringing husband Scott with her. “Dartmouth is a true ‘destination’ school,” she says enthusiastically. “If I was to design a school I would design it just like Dartmouth. It’s fresh and exciting with great spaces for the students to learn and flourish. I also like the idea that it offers all-through education meaning children can stay in one place and feel part of the school and community from aged three to 16.”
Emily took the reins from
Tina Graham who, she says, has taken the school from strength to strength over the past five years. Tina has now returned to Kingsbridge Community College. Emily states she wants to continue the good work Tina started believing big improvements will come but
“If I was to design a school I would design it just like Dartmouth. It’s fresh and exciting, with great spaces for the students to learn and flourish.”
gradually: “I believe in the ‘cathedral building’ way of working. The idea is that we are all working on one huge shared project or objective which may take years to achieve but we all play our part. Everyone is part of the process - children, staff and parents.” The young head has had to hit the ground running with her new role, coming into it during
the middle of a global pandemic. She and her team had to create home learning packages, organise teaching schemes for the children of key workers and then create a safe environment to accommodate nearly 500 pupils who were welcomed back with open arms in September. She says they were all very happy to see children in the classrooms and return to normal teaching practices. “We just wanted to get back to business. It’s not exactly the same - we had to organise the children carefully, enforce mask usage when moving around the school and put one way systems in place which take a bit of getting used to! I have learnt that the young people really do want to be in school; they seem relieved to be back and are taking more ownership of their learning.” Emily is an early bird and gets
to school by 6am each day. “I like to feel sorted and ready for the day before people start arriving. If I start early I can get my jobs done and be more visible and available later on when needed.” Her office is something of a sanctuary with plants and inspirational quotes from books like Matilda and Jane Eyre, but her time for reflection is
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