New Forest Living Sep - Oct 2021

ADVERTISING FEATURE
MEET THE HEAD
With a new and
challenging
academic year
underway we had a
chat to Mike Stanley
who has recently
taken over as Head
at Forres Sandle
Manor...
Are you excited to be taking on the
reins of the school?
I am extremely excited about starting
as the new Headmaster of FSM, but
more than anything, I feel very privileged
and honoured to have been appointed.
Having grown up in a family of teachers,
I totally understand that schools play a
key role in moulding the next generation,
and our job as teachers is to serve the
children in our care and help them follow
their dreams. All children are stars, and
we need to help them shine. FSM is a
fantastic school in a stunning setting
with a dedicated and loyal set of staff,
and I can’t wait to start and set about
articulating my vision for the future.
This has been a year like no other,
what would you like the children to
gain from the experience?
2020 – 2021 has been a challenging year
for all of us worldwide, and we must
never forget that everyone has been
on their own individual journey. Many
have suffered a great deal, and most
children have found their experience
of lockdown and remote learning
extremely difficult, and there have been
several important lessons for them to
learn. Remote learning has increased
their independence and enhanced
their creativity and, in some cases, has
improved their resilience to bounce back
from adversity, while Google classrooms
and Teams and Zoom chats have
become part of the norm. But for me,
the two most important lessons from the
last year and a half are not to take things
for granted because there are so many
people around the world who are in a
worse position than us. And secondly,
not to underestimate the power of human
interaction. Children have missed their
friends and the bonds they have created
with their teachers. From all the children
I have spoken to, they have learnt that
valuing these relationships has been the
most crucial thing they have taken away
from this experience.
What would you like pupils to say
about you when they are your age?
This is an easy one for me and can be
summed up in three words:
• Kind
• Inspirational
• Fun
These reflect my personality and
values and how I would like children
to remember me in 30 years time. It is
not the lessons we remember but the
teachers who inspire and care for us.
I love this quote I saw recently, which
reflects this, and it is how I would like our
children to remember their FSM teachers.
“Children don’t need a perfect teacher;
they need a happy teacher who is going
to make them excited to come to school
and gain a love of learning for the future.”
Children need teachers who believe in
them.
What are your ambitions for
the school?
First and foremost, at FSM, we will
champion every child. We will help them
become a kind, thoughtful and respectful
citizen who looks forward and outwards
and will positively contribute to society.
The relationships between the staff and
the children are critical to this, and these
strong values need to be modelled by
the whole school community. I would
also like us to become a school that
truly embeds 21st-century skills such
as entrepreneurialism, adaptability and
creativity, and we will follow a curriculum
that teaches these key skills. Most
importantly, we will be a school that
instils in our children an inner strength
to tackle the complicated modern world
they belong to. Understanding how to
use social media sensibly and safely,
dealing with different elements of peer
pressure and learning to look after their
wellbeing is more critical than ever
right now. With a stunning New Forest
setting like ours, we will draw upon our
natural environment, including animals,
outdoor learning, trees and plants – all of
which can help children stay healthy and
balanced and make every day an exciting
adventure. We will shout about FSM
from the treetops as the school embarks
on a new dawn, and it will no longer
be a hidden gem within the Forest but
a school that truly puts the child at the
centre of everything we do.
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