Bury St Edmunds headteacher Rhonda Kidd, of Westgate Community Primary, on continuing the vision of an ‘inclusive community school’

A new permanent primary head has spoken of continuing the vision of an inclusive, community-centred school.

Rhonda Kidd joined Westgate Community Primary School, in Bury St Edmunds, as deputy head in 2019 just months before the coronavirus pandemic hit - what she described as a ‘very interesting’ first year.

Mrs Kidd spent 18 years at her previous school, Whitehouse Community Primary School in Ipswich, before moving to the Bury primary. She officially became permanent head this month.

She said: “We have got wonderful children. The staff are very dedicated, very hard working and all fully support that ethos of putting the child at the centre of everything we do; parents who are supportive, and our governors, so I just feel really privileged to be head of the school.”

Westgate’s 2022 Ofsted report, which graded it ‘good’ in every area, describes it as ‘an inclusive community school’, including for pupils in the Deaf Resource Base.

“They had recognised all the things that make this such a good school,” said Mrs Kidd.

“They really noticed the inclusivity, which we were really pleased with, and the fact that we are a community, and that’s one of the things that really drew me to the school anyway.

“So a lot of that was in place and in terms of the vision for me, it’s continuing that vision. We are continuing to work on the curriculum.”

She spoke of wanting to further develop those ‘really close links’ with families, mentioning that a big project for the school currently is to transform a spare room - that used to house the nursery - into a community room.

It could be used for coffee mornings, adult learning, playgroups, as some examples.

Mrs Kidd also spoke of the focus on outdoor learning at Westgate and how it links heavily with the curriculum.

The school, which has generous outdoor space, has a ‘Zen Den’ area that the Greener Growth community interest company has been involved with, including building a table top pond and working with the children on planting trees and wildflowers.

This enhanced area, which has been supported with council funding, also features a learning lodge, purchased by the school.