News 10 years of memories as head says farewell
The head teacher of Vermuyden School in Goole is preparing to bid a fond farewell to colleagues and students tomorrow when she retires after ten years' service.
Anne McErlane stepped into the role of head teacher at the school on Boothferry Road in 1997, after leaving the Newland School for Girls in Hull, where she was deputy head teacher for five and a half years.
During her time as head at Vermuyden School, Anne has seen some major changes and many improvements to the school.
This year the school was voted joint fifth out of 18 schools in the East Riding to have pupils who achieved five or more A to Cs in the GCSE examinations. In previous years, the school has been placed among the bottom three schools.
During her time as head teacher, Anne has also seen Vermuyden School gain specialist status to become a maths and computing college.
"The pastoral management of students' welfare at Vermuyden is exceptionally good," said Miss McErlane.
"We have drastically increased the amount of ICT equipment, which enables student to use ICT to enable learning.
"We have also received a gold inclusion award from the local authority, which shows that we are meeting the needs of all the students in the school, such as those with learning difficulties or behavioural needs."
Anne added that she was pleased when, in 2006, the Special Schools and Academies Trust elected Vermuyden School as members of the Most Important Schools Club.
Anne began her career in teaching after studying at Sheffield University, and took up her first role at Westfield School in Sheffield, where she taught for ten years, before moving on to become head of biology and head of year at Beverley High School.
Anne then became a senior teacher at the Sydney Smith School in Hull, before moving on to the Newland School for Girls.
"It seems such a long time ago that I began teaching," she said.
"I worked at my first school for ten years and have spent ten years at my last school, so there is a nice symmetry there."
Taking over the role of head teacher next term will be Mrs Danuta Tomasz, while Anne says she hopes to use her retirement to take a few months off to catch up on sleep, do a lot of reading and work on her garden.
In the future, Anne hopes to return to education to take up a role assisting aspiring head teachers.
"I have really enjoyed my time here, and I hope the school goes from strength to strength," said Anne. I also hope the students go on to be the best that they can be."
Cllr Jean Kitchen, Goole Town Mayor, this week paid tribute to Anne McErlane's service of ten years at Vermuyden.
"I would like to wish Anne McErlane a happy retirement," she said.
"I am sure Anne will find another niche somewhere within education to use the wealth of experience gained at Vermuyden School over the last ten years."
Published on 20th December 2007 in News.
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