Sarah Bridgman is Executive Headteacher of two small Hertfordshire schools, Ponsbourne St Mary's Primary School near Hertford and Thundridge Primary School near Ware. Despite the job title, Sarah describes her role as more of a 'dual headship'. Here she explains what that looks like and what she’s learned along the way.
Where did your teaching career begin?
I grew up in Hertfordshire and have family close by. I love working in Hertfordshire. I've worked here now for 22 years, across six different primary schools of varying sizes and demographics, serving on the governing board of each one. I have taught across the full primary range as a class teacher, spent 16 years at senior leadership level and also have experience working as a SENCO.
What did your leadership journey look like?
I initially sought a part-time, small school headship because I thought it would be a great way of sustaining my career but also balancing a busy home life. I definitely underestimated the demands of part-time school leadership but enjoyed it.
My first headship, in 2016, was at Tonwell St Mary’s School near Ware, with approximately 40 pupils. Changes to funding meant that balancing finance was challenging, and low pupil numbers meant teaching three year groups in a class.
My governors were proactive and knew that, for the financial and educational sustainability of the school, we needed to be part of a larger organisation. We made links with Thundridge, which is only two miles down the road from Tonwell and made a good partnership. We became a federation, and I was appointed as the headteacher across both schools in April 2022.
In January 2024 the headteacher at Ponsbourne St Mary’s moved to a new school, and the governors considered options for future leadership. Also looking for a more sustainable solution, the board decided to work in collaboration with Tonwell and Thundridge, appointing me to work as their headteacher on secondment. Sadly, Tonwell St Mary's was not able to remain financially viable, and the local authority made the difficult decision to close the school in August 2024.
How are things working at Ponsbourne and Thundridge?
I physically split my time half and half across the schools. The governors are very supportive and trust to me to be able to manage my workload and make my own decisions.
Our staff still work in their own schools, but if someone wants an opportunity to work across both settings and it makes sense, we'll make it happen.
There are things that need attention on a day-to-day basis, so both schools have a senior leader – either a deputy or an assistant head – but because of the size of our schools, they also have class responsibilities.
We link up and share resources, helping to make our schools more educationally and financially sustainable. For example, we share staff training, joint sports events and shared trips.
Currently, Thundridge and Ponsbourne are still working in collaboration, and there is a formal consultation about a possible future federation, which we’re hoping will begin in the spring.
What advice would you give to other school leaders working across multiple settings?
Proactive governors and supportive parents make a big difference.
Keeping finances separate works well for us and gives parents and governors a sense of security and reassurance.
Sharing transport for trips such as for our residential school journey helps save money. We split the cost on the ratio of children from each school so that it's completely fair.
We mix staff training up, organising our meetings so that we do a couple at each school each term, some on teams, and some that are school-specific. Shared staff training, CPD and INSET improve interactions and ideas as we’re in a room with more people who are coming from slightly different experiences but with the commonality of both being small schools.
Whether your school is big or small, we can all learn from each other. Collaborating with neighbouring settings and sharing how you handle difficult situations, celebrating the good and working together so the whole community benefits whilst also getting results and helping educate young people, is one of the reasons we all work in education.