Mike Mackay loved a school he inspected so much that he applied to be its headteacher. Mithran Samuel reports
SCHOOL inspector Mike Mackay was so captivated by a London primary he inspected that he applied to become its headteacher.
The 54-year-old Office for Standards in Education inspector got the job at Eldon infants in Enfield, London, in what may be the first instance of a poacher turning gamekeeper at the same school.
He will move home from Walsall and head south in January to return to teaching as head of the school which he inspected 10 months ago.
Mr Mackay, who led the OFSTED team that inspected Eldon school, immediately threw his hat into the ring when he saw its headship advertised.
He said: “When I saw the advert, the image that came to mind was of happy, co-operative children.
“On the Thursday of the inspection it rained and my team and I were given a classroom in the school to work in. There were 400 children in the hall next door and we didn’t know they were there.
“There was a core of very hardworking teachers and it was a school that was really beginning to lift off. I felt very attracted to it.”
The OFSTED report on Eldon, published in March, praises the school for good teaching, a positive attitude and high expectations of pupils.
But Mr Mackay, who has 27 years’ teaching experience and was a headteacher in Birmingham before he became an inspector six years ago, has not opted for the easy life.
He faces big challenges at the school where almost half of the 400 pupils speak English as a second language, well over a third are entitled to free school meals and a high proportion have special needs.
But according to Mr Mackay: “That’s part of the attraction. One of the problems with being an inspector is that you see what needs doing but you don’t get to be part of the solution.”
Current head Muriel Robinson, who is retiring at the end of the term, said she was pleasantly surprised when Mr Mackay applied for her job.
She added: “I’m absolutely confident I am leaving the school in good hands.”
OFSTED was unaware of other inspectors who had returned to a school as a teacher or head. A spokeswoman added: “The usual route is that people come through the system as teacher, deputy and head and then inspector, rather than the other way round.
“We are pleased we have helped with the recruitment of headteachers in this difficult recruitment climate.”
