Rye will miss the familiar figure of Ann Cockerham when she retires as executive principal Rye Academy Trust (RAT) at the end of this month.
She has had a profound influence not only on the students who have studied under her care but on the education delivered in Rye. She has been a leader and innovator in education.
Ann first came to Rye to take over Thomas Peacock School in the late 90s after its students had had disappointing exam results. She turned the school around. Feeling her job had been done she left Rye for a few years, returning to much relief in the early naughties!
She identified the creative energy among the student body at Thomas Peacock and turned it into a specialist school for the arts. Students thrived and Rye benefitted from many of the events created and organised by students at the school. It was rated as “good” with some “outstanding” features by Ofsted.
With the advent of academies, Ann saw the opportunity to bring 6th form education back to Rye and in a matter of months, she persuaded the governors of Rye College to become an academy trust and to set up the Rye Studio School for the Creative Industries. It was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted even before any exam results were published.
Students now leave the school after their A levels to go on to either the Studio School’s own Foundation course sponsored by the University of the Arts, London or directly to prestigious Academic institutions, or to apprenticeships or to start their own business. One graduate is this year going to the Los Angeles campus of the New York Film School and another is going to do a Masters at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools. LINK ****
Ann has also been instrumental in setting up courses to encourage back into education those who have switched off. Using lessons learnt from the Studio School’s emphasis on employability skills, she has combined them with practical education to encourage them to see the value of academic knowledge. Rye College is on track for good GCSE results in a couple of weeks time.
Ann’s own enthusiasm for the logic of providing through school education on the one site encouraged the Rye Community Primary School to join the Academy Trust and, with the nursery school, the Rye Education Quarter provides education for the children of Rye from 2 to 19 years old. The primary school thrives and is expanding, with new facilities in the process of completion.
Her knowledge, energy and enthusiasm as well as her sunny personality will be much missed but all the schools wish her a long and happy retirement and huge thanks for everything she has done to ensure the children of Rye have a successful future.
Comment
Copy Re Ann Cockerham from Niki Stuart
The only good thing about Ann’s retirement is that I shall no longer feel so guilty at the delay in replying to her emails sent between 11pm and 5am on any day of the working week or weekend. She has shown an unparalleled level of commitment to the school and the wider community. She has a deep rooted desire to improve the life chances of each and every one of the students in RAT and found ways to improve these chances through adapting the curriculum to suit their needs.
Whenever I visited Ann as Head of Rye College or as Executive Head/CEO of RAT she always gave me time to talk about an issue. Ann has the amazing ability to make everyone feel important and their topic or concern became her top priority at that given moment. She was able to juggle a multitude of tasks and still show interest in everything that was going on around her. She earned the trust and respect of students, parents, colleagues and governors and all will be very sad to see her go. Any institution can be unsettled by the loss of such an outstanding leader but to Ann’s credit she has ensured that the foundations are secure for the next stage in the RAT’s development and will continue to build on the hard work and dedication she has put into creating the Education Quarter of pupils aged from 2-19 in Rye.
Photo: Rye Academy Trust
Hear, hear. It’s greatly to Ann’s credit that there is a flourishing children’s nursery in Rye. She was instrumental in bringing the Pugwash (formerly Peacock) Nursery under the wing of the then Community College and ensuring high standards of provision, as well as moving it out of a portacabin and into the current building. Soon local 2-4 year olds will be benefiting from an even better environment in the extension to the Primary School, with improved outdoor play area.
I too have been struck by the long hours and huge personal commitment invested by Ann, with her car frequently the only one left in the car park and her office light burning late into the night inside the Academy building. May she enjoy the long, happy and healthy retirement that should be her just reward,
I was employed by ESCC when Mr Fookes was the Head Teacher and Mr Hunt was deputy truly those days Education was number one priority back in 90,s my title was Site Manager and Mr Fookes I quote ” I can mould the job around my abilities ” as I was a ex mechanical engineer and worked on the Concorde etc and instead of employing contractors on site at large daily costs I could do most repairs myself saving the School/College/Academy a fortune.
It worked for years I really enjoyed my role , then we had a succession of Head teachers come and go , then AC arrived which proved to be my nemesis . End of 17 years of hard but enjoyable work.