‘Calm’ headteacher leaves school after 21 years of service

THE headteacher of St Mary’s Prep School in Henley is leaving after 21 years of service.

Rob Harmer joined the independent school in St Andrew’s Road in 2004 as a year one teacher before becoming head of the lower school.

He was then promoted to deputy head and in 2009 was appointed headteacher.

Mr Harmer said he had “loved” being headteacher and would have many great memories.

He said: “I was only discussing in assembly this morning with the children about highlights of the past year.

“There’s so much, whether it be the residential trips that they’ve enjoyed or the shows that they put on.

“The lessons that they’re involved in, the farm coming to school, sports day, there’s so much that happens in a year.”

His personal highlights included the end of year productions where the whole school came together.

“This year the children put on Shrek, Shakespeare Rocks and we also had Lights, Camel, Action,” said Mr Harmer. “The confidence that those shows give the children is just magical.

“We also achieved a double excellent from the Independent Schools Inspectorate. We strive for academic excellence and are incredibly successful in getting our children into their chosen destination schools.

“Having gone through a number of inspections in my time here, it’s a fitting send-off. I am very proud of that.”

Mr Harmer oversaw many changes to the school in almost 15 years as head.

He said: “We’ve got a new reception, new artificial grass the bottom and top playground, which has cut down on the number of cuts and grazes that were happening.

“We have a state-of-the-art science lab, which was installed in 2014, and a new art room.

“The site security used to be a hedge and a five-bar gate outside the school but now we’ve got railings and a really secure entry point.

“During the covid pandemic, we invested heavily in our IT infrastructure and all the children from year three to six got their own one-to-one device.

“This really helped when we went into the second lockdown and could switch to remote learning straight away. I feel the pupils really benefited in that they lost very little learning.

“There was also the ability to retain that sense of community as they could collaborate with each other and ‘meet’. It was a huge positive during that very challenging time.

“You hear so many people talk about covid with, I suppose, fond memories of going out on walks and making sourdough bread.

“For me, it was pretty much business as usual in the fact that we were open for our key worker children. The school didn’t really close.

“It was a challenging time but I think we navigated it extremely well and I’m very proud of what we achieved — it was a brilliant team effort.”

Mr Harmer joined the teaching profession when he was in his thirties after working as a business development manager for a commercial property firm.

He said: “I had a young family at the time and I wanted to change my life.

“I joined this school and found it was difficult to leave. You see that in the staff here — when they join the school, they tend to stay a long time.

“Children, the staff, the parents, they realise what a wonderful environment it is for the children to grow up in. I didn’t think when I joined that I would be here for this amount of time. I’ve been very fortunate in that it has been a very harmonious time during my tenure.

“There will always be days which are more challenging than others. Inspections are always quite a stressful time and staff often think, ‘Well, if Rob’s calm, then we’re calm’. I have that ability to sometimes maybe have an air of calmness but beneath the surface it’s not always that case.

“I am immensely proud to have led this school and that I have made a difference.

“I am sure St Mary’s will continue to go on from strength to strength because of the team that I have built.”

Mr Harmer added: “I now need to recharge the batteries and perhaps then look at what’s next. As to what that will be, I haven’t yet decided.

“I feel I want to look at what’s out there and whether that will still be in education or something completely different. I’m going to enjoy a nice holiday and some relaxation before I make that decision.”

Mr Harmer will be replaced by Stephen Blundell who will begin in September. He was deputy head of Wetherby Preparatory School in Marylebone.

• Pictures from the celebration event will be published in next week’s Henley Standard.