My heart grew three sizes larger today. I hadn’t realised how small it had become. It took a simple trip out with the school choir to make me see how much the focus on data, Ofsted and unrealistic standards had led me away from what really matters, and ultimately why I came into this job in the first place.

Education has changed so much in my career over the past 20 years. I have always prided myself on not losing sight of the whole child, and this is the core of my school ethos. Value a whole child and the contribution they make, not just academic standards. 

But over the past few weeks, I have had to seriously question how successfully I can manage that in the current educational climate. The choir trip put what I could see as a little blurry image into sharp focus.

‘We’re part of the community’

Our choir are fantastic - a group of key stage 2 children and a dedicated teacher who rehearse out of school time. Children look forward to joining in KS2, and the pinnacle of their choir career is the coveted solos in Year 6. Every year the choir move me to tears, but this year more than most.

At Christmas we have a two-week window where the choir are out and about in the community, visiting care homes, singing for the elderly and opening community events.

Today I accompanied them to a local care home. I watched the children sing to a group of about 20 residents, and during that half an hour they enriched lives. One lady had not left her room for six months and had only emerged to hear the choir sing. What I witnessed was joyful and humbling. I sat with tears rolling down my face as I watched the reaction of the audience.

I remembered. I remembered why we call ourselves part of a community, and how such a simple act makes such a real impact on lives.

‘Drawn into a world of data’

It is so easy to be drawn into a world of data, where every lesson counts and a missed lesson means catch-up for the teacher. Where there are never enough hours in the day, and the expectations are so high that children can’t afford to miss an afternoon of “learning”. 

But this balance is wrong.  As leaders, my governors and I need to find the balance again. Yes, we need to strive for academic excellence, but we also need to remember the importance of other gifts, too.  And, how we can use these gifts to add value to our community.

My new year’s resolution is to keep my heart at its increased size, and allow my staff to do the same. I sincerely hope that if one day I end up in a home, the education system will still allow children to come and make my Christmas magical.

Christina Zanelli Tyler is headteacher at West Cliff Primary School in Whitby 

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