My name is Mrs Sarney: I am the School Business Manager and have worked at Gladstone Road since 2004. Prior to that I worked in a small village school, so one of the attractions of working here was the size and opportunities that our school offers. I get a great sense of satisfaction from being able to support the school in offering the best we can for our children and seeing how the site develops to meet our ever- changing needs. This might be by changing the use of particular rooms or being involved with much larger projects such as the extension to the upper school in 2011.

Whilst a lot of my time is involved with finance, health & safety, premises and HR, I do also get to be involved with some of the fun things that go on outside the classroom: I have loved going on Residential Visits to London and Whitby and am always so proud of how wonderful the children are.  We’ve done so many things but I think my favourites include Lion King, Harry Potter World and the waterfall at Malyon Spout! I have been on numerous day trips (including on one occasion bringing some children to meet my horse!) and have helped with orchestra and more recently arranged for some volunteers from U3A to run a ceramics club for the children.

A lot of the people I deal with are not necessarily from an education background, but they are amazed by how well the children cope with our cramped site and they are impressed to see all the wonderful work on display as I show them around. I feel really lucky to have such a varied role, working alongside a committed team that is able to draw out the very best in our children.