School is a ‘community’ too

TYTHERINGTON School headteacher Manny Botwe has spoken about his first year at a school that ‘puts the community at the heart of everything it does’.

Since joining the school last year, the former head of Didcot Girls’ School in Oxfordshire has helped students raise more than £10,000 for charities including East Cheshire Hospice, LGBT charity Stonewall and The Christie.

The school has also been at the forefront of the campaign to reverse the council’s proposal to scrap free school buses.

Working with Prestbury Tennis Club to create junior tennis coaches is another way students have involved themselves in their community while honing their sports skills, and in May Izzy Christiansen, who was named the PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year, returned to her old school to visit pupils.

The school also scooped the ‘Sports Gold Mark’ given to schools in the top five per cent regarding opportunities for youngsters to take part in sport and the year nine boys’ football team reached the semi-finals of the National Cup.

Mr Botwe said: “It’s been an extremely busy year but I’ve absolutely loved being headteacher and am excited about what we’ll achieve next year.” He added that the school had also really pulled together after the tragic death of teacher Guy Wharton. He said: “It’s at times like this I’m reminded that above all else, schools are communities.”