Interview: How one manager “loved” a struggling school back to life Written by Mark Rowland Tuesday 14 November 2023 Share Share to LinkedIn Share to Facebook Share via email After inheriting a “shambolic” primary school mired in debt, Dr Victoria Carr CMgr soon questioned whether she’d bitten off more than she could chew. Now Victoria is on the shortlist for CMgr of the Year – here's how she turned things around Interested in becoming Chartered? Learn more It was during a meeting in January 2019, not long after she’d been appointed as headteacher of Woodlands Primary School in Cheshire, that Dr Victoria Carr CMgr MCMI realised the extent of the challenge. After months of wrangling to get a view of the school's finances, she was finally given the full picture: the school was £500,000 in debt. “I excused myself from the meeting, went into the toilet, shut myself in a cubicle and put my head in my hands,” she says. “It was the one time where I thought: this might actually be beyond me.” “I know you’ll fight for that school” Victoria had already turned around another struggling school, and she was known for being extremely passionate and straight-talking. “I gave the director of education quite a hard time,” she recalls. So she was surprised when that same director brought her in and asked her to take over at Woodlands. “He said: ‘You’re the only one for the job. I know you’ll fight for that school.’” It became clearer and clearer that the foundations of an effective organisation just weren’t there When Victoria arrived at Woodlands, its previous head had been absent for two years and teaching staff were in disarray. Many parents had taken their children out of the school. Ofsted had rated it as “Requires Improvement”. “None of the year six pupils were secondary school-ready the previous year without local authority intervention,” says Victoria. “It was quite shambolic. “Everything was done on paper. There were no data management systems at all. It became clearer and clearer that the foundations of an effective organisation just weren’t there.” When others in the leadership team kept evading her requests to see the school’s finances, the alarm bells really started ringing. “Integrity and ethical leadership are really important to me, and it became increasingly apparent that we had a big problem,” she says. Britain's Most Admired Companies on leading with integrity The Last of Us: Ethical leadership lessons from the apocalypse Want to learn more about how Victoria turned her school around? Login or register below for Free Instant Access Login If you are already registered as a CMI Friend, Subscriber or Member, just login to view this article. Confirm your registration Login below to confirm your details and access this article. Sign in with email Email remember me remember Forget? Please confirm that you want to switch off the "Sign in with email" remember me feature. Yes No Register for Free Access Not yet a Member, Subscriber or Friend? Register as a CMI Friend for free, and get access to this and many other exclusive resources, as well as weekly updates straight to your inbox. You have successfully registered As a CMI Friend, you now have access to whole range of CMI Friendship benefits. Please login to the left to confirm your registration and access the article. Interview At CMI, we’re hugely privileged to have contributed to many people’s management and leadership journeys. Take a look back at some of the people we’ve interviewed for some top tips and exclusive insight. Members See More CMI Members have access to thousands of online learning and CPD resources. Learn more about our membership benefits Join The Community CMI offers a variety of flexible membership solutions, tailored to your needs. Find out more and get involved in the CMI community today.
