Our Patch OCTOBER 2014
Y
ou might find her running
a reading club during her
lunch break. Or leading
the choir after school.
Or even booking the coach
to Devon for a geography
field trip. But the one thing you
rarely find is Flora Gardens’ proud
headteacher Sonia Birch-Woodcock
standing in front of a camera.
“I’m shy,” she says with a pained
smile. “I don’t need to sell me, I want
to sell our ideals as a school with the
confidence that we are up there with
the best local primary schools.”
That’s the view of a headteacher who
has faced down major challenges ever
since she took over the school in 2006.
The biggest heartbreak was having
£6.5m of funding for a new school
building yanked from beneath her
after the last general election.
“When the government changed,
they called and told me they were
giving the money to free schools
instead,” she says. “Which was
a shame.” And it’s that type of
understatement which defines Sonia’s
tenure – cool, calm and collected.
If that was the Hammersmith
school’s lowest moment recently,
surely the unveiling of its purpose-built
children’s centre in 2009 is its
highest. Armed with little funds,
Sonia insisted that the centre’s
ethos was to be as welcoming
as possible.
She made it as accessible as she
could by building it almost on the
pavement of Dalling Road. “The
children’s centre has been a huge
success,” she reflects.
“I may have inherited the school
but I feel like I created the centre
from scratch. Affluent women with
high-powered jobs can suffer from
post-natal depression just as readily
as women from lower-income
backgrounds. So I wanted
the children’s centre to invite
anyone and everyone to
The school’s
new junior
librarians
Far left, Flora Gardens headteacher
Sonia Birch-Woodcock. Below,
the girls’ football team celebrates
walk through these doors. “That’s the
diversity that I always strive to achieve
in my school as well.”
COMMUNITY SCHOOL
In an age when schools are relentlessly
pressured to become academies,
free schools or specialist schools, it’s
refreshing to see Sonia stand by her
project of running an aspirational and
thriving community school.
“We haven’t become an academy
because we like our community role.
We are here for everyone,” Sonia says.
“But that’s not to say we don’t have a
good relationship with our neighbours,
the West London Free School, especially
for music tuition. Our choirs work
together and so do our teachers. But
yes, I’m surprised by the popularity
of free schools.”
After all, the London-born daughter
of Jamaican immigrants knows how
valuable it is to have a good education.
“I felt my parents were pioneers
and that it took courage to come to a
completely different country and make
a home,” she says. “I realised that I
had been given something by England
and I wanted to give something back.
But without education in Britain,
opportunities are limited. This is the
one way I can allow children to aspire
and dream to be whatever they want
in life. So it’s my mission to say to the
children that school is not just about
literacy and numeracy – it’s also about
finding out who you are.”
A NEW HISTORY
For 28 years, Sonia has taught all
over the capital. Arriving from
Greenwich eight years ago, she says
she was attracted to the Hammersmith
school’s small size and its ‘beautiful
wildlife garden’.
“I couldn’t believe that such an
oasis existed. It’s a green school
environment in inner London.
That’s unusual. And the children
reflected that environment. They
are the nicest children and most
respectful children that I have
ever worked with,” she says.
“When I arrived at Flora
Gardens, the governors told me
they wanted to bring the school
into the 21st century. It felt like
it was stuck in the 1950s.
“Yes, the high expectations
have always been the same,
but the way the children
interacted and the staff interacted was
very old-fashioned.
“And there was no technology. Now
the children have iPads, laptops and
white boards. And all of the children
have musical instruments. We make
time in the tuition for music. When I
arrived, the children did not even sing.
It was very stuffy – I was shocked!”
But it’s not just the children who
bring the joyful noise to Flora Gardens,
it’s al ͼ