Published at 10:06, Friday, 05 February 2010

Irene Roberts-Green’s school bursts with colour. She adores children and thinks they deserve the best.

• Videos: 1. Irene talks about leaving the school; 2 Irene talks about her son's tragic death Irene Roberts-Green

Irene Roberts-Green

There are fresh flowers in reception at her school and classical music plays softly in the corridors. There is fresh fruit in bowls for the children to eat and cool water for them to drink to aid their concentration.

Her office door is always open for children and colleagues to pop in for a chat.

Bishop Harvey Goodwin School in Harold Street in Currock, Carlisle, is a happy place full of fun and cheer.

She said: “I always wanted to be a teacher. I was brought up in Blackfriars Street in Carlisle and an early photo shows me striding out aged two.

“I was always determined and I followed my dream.”

Mrs Roberts-Green was brought up in a council house in Currock as an only child to older parents. She went to St Cuthbert’s Church as a child which is where she met her husband Graham. She was educated at Upperby School and then at Carlisle and County High School for Girls.

Her career was influenced from an early stage by Nelson Hewitson, the head at Upperby when Mrs Roberts-Green was a child.

She said: “Mr Hewitson had an important influence on my life which is what I’ve tried to do throughout my teaching career.”

From Carlisle, Mrs Roberts-Green trained at the Northern Counties College in Newcastle before taking her first job at Newlaithes Infants School in Carlisle.

From there she moved to Ghyllside School in Kendal and then back to Carlisle where she did four years of supply teaching after having her children, Gregory and Corinne.

Later, she taught at Upperby as a special needs teacher, having first-hand experience of disabilities through her own daughter Corinne who has learning difficulties. She also ran a choir of 80 children.

Mrs Roberts-Green was at Greystone Junior School in Carlisle when it amalgamated with Brook Street in 1982. It was shortly afterwards, in 1984, when disaster struck the family.

She said: “My husband Graham had a heart attack. It was horrendous as he was a strong and active man.

“I was left with two children aged 10 and 11. I’d always been the one at the front of the pack – the leader – but Graham was my rock and I lost him. People expected me to be strong, to show them how to cope and because of this I don’t think I really grieved properly.

“Graham’s been gone 26 years this year and I still think about him every day. You have to be strong – if you’re not, you’ll go under.

“Greg slept in my bed for about three weeks as he didn’t want me to be on my own. He even helped plan his dad’s funeral.”

After picking up the pieces of her life, regaining her self-esteem and realising that she needed to earn some money to give her family a decent standard of living, Mrs Roberts-Green landed her first job as headteacher of Blackford School.

She said: “I was at Blackford for six years and then I joined Bishop Goodwin Memorial Infants School in 1992. I wanted to stay within a church school – that was important to me – and I needed to stay in the area because Corinne was settled.”

A nursery was built at the school in 1996, taking pupil numbers up to 330. And in 2002 the infant and junior schools, which were then run by separate headteachers, amalgamated.

A new badge, new uniform, school gallery and lots of changes were made when Mrs Roberts-Green took charge. She is now in charge of more than 50 staff and 390 children.

After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, her school forged a link with Ewart School in Chennai in South India.

It continues today and she has visited India several times and welcomed staff from Chennai to her school.

In 2006, her son Greg, who had been travelling in South Korea, died of a brain tumour at the age of 34.

She said: “It will be four years on Sunday since Greg died. When he was dying he told me that when it was all over I should get out there and make a life for myself. I’ve never forgotten that and that is what I intend to do.”

After Greg’s death, Irene began raising cash with her friends, colleagues and pupils to buy an ambulance for the Kalyani Hospital in Chennai. They also used some of the cash to equip the Greg Ambulance with medical equipment and to train staff.

Mrs Roberts-Green, who has sat on many local and national teaching committees, said: “When schools started to manage their own budgets that was hard. I remember many late nights at Blackford trying to understand it all.

“Times have changed in teaching with technology. I do believe in rigorous assessment but there is the fear of Ofsted now.

“Children should have the best. That’s why I have flowers in school and classical music and try to take them on interesting trips.

“I am not a Bible thumper but I do believe a church school is the best place to be as it opens up things that other schools don’t.

“Children look at teachers all day long so they should smile at them and dress well. I painted the window sills in school bright yellow so that the kids can be surrounded by sunshine.

“One of the things I always wanted to do was take the children to Commonwealth Day at Westminster. It’s really hard to get tickets but I found out this week that I can take 12 children and three staff in March.

“The Queen and Gordon Brown will be there and this year’s theme is science and technology.”

Indeed, Mrs Roberts-Green’s leaving present to the school will be a sea of yellow and blue crocuses to plant in the school fields.

“They will grow and multiply every year and give the children something beautiful to look at.

“I have loved the children and I have excellent colleagues who I am sure will carry on. I know I am leaving the school in a good place.”

Mrs Roberts-Green leaves on Friday, March 26 with her motto: “To teach is to touch a life for ever.”

She added: ““There are so many things I want to do. I am going to Angers in the Loire Valley in France with a priest to celebrate his 50 years of ordination.

“Then I am going on a car rally in Scotland in June to July and I want to sing again. I need to find a teacher but I would like to sing light jazz and swing.

“I want to do things I’ve never done before and, who knows, maybe even meet someone!”

Deputy head Sarah Nuttall will be acting head until a replacement for Mrs Roberts-Green is found.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk