School's out for headteacher Rory..forever

Published on Wednesday 29 June 2011 11:29

THE smiles plastered on the faces of the pupils as they flock around Rory Mackenzie are infectious.

They are not there out of duty or politeness. They are full of genuine warmth - and what even looks like respect - for their headteacher. He cannot help grinning back.

"I'll be joining Ravelrig for the relay race tomorrow", announces Mr Mackenzie to the house team members gathered around him, who greet the news with a cheer.

"But so will Miss Roberts", he adds to groans. Apparently the house leader and principal teacher of support for learning was held solely accountable for Ravelrig losing last year's sports day.

It's this kind of relationship and friendly banter between pupils and staff which Mr Mackenzie is going to miss most as he bows out of education after 35 years.

As Edinburgh's longest-serving headteacher - with 16 years at the helm of Balerno High - it's not going to be easy to say goodbye. His office, overlooking the tranquil setting of the school, is covered in retirement cards from well-wishers, as is his Fairmilehead home. I've been keeping my retirement low-key," he explains, "but I had a leaving do last Friday and I was really pleased with the comments made about me by staff. I have never been a great believer in heroic leadership, where all the emphasis is put on the headteacher. I believe in shared leadership, which is what we have at Balerno. We have always had an ethos of being a very welcoming and caring school. I have really enjoyed what I have done, I have been very lucky. Balerno is a very good school, but 17 years is a long time."

After graduating from Moray House in 1976, he worked at a string of schools in Edinburgh and West Lothian before settling at Balerno. Since then the 62-year-old has watched as bureaucracy and management have overtaken the more traditional role of a headteacher while budget cuts threaten the everyday running of schools, with every jotter, text book and paper clip being accounted for as part of a military-style costing operation.

And as secondary schools prepare for one of their biggest shake-ups yet - in the form of a management restructure which will axe 15 deputy head posts and demote 139 principal teachers and see the introduction of "curriculum leaders" - he admits he fears for the future as the changes are only about one thing: money.

While heads are often reluctant to speak out against council decisions for fear of reprisals, Mr Mackenzie is not known for being a shrinking violet.

"I have concerns like all headteachers, not about change, but about the pace of change and the degree of uncertainty because what we are doing is budget-driven and that's not the best driver.

"In 2001/02 some local authorities had started to look at the faculty model. In Edinburgh we had a situation where schools could choose whether they wanted to do that and only Leith and Broughton did. That speaks for itself."

He adds: "We are also going to have curriculum leaders who may not have experience in areas that they are managing. I have concerns in terms of developing younger, less experienced teachers, especially when it comes to learning the curriculum as you don't learn it all at university. And I don't want decisions on education to be budget-driven."

Mr Mackenzie has built up a reputation for not being scared to stick up for state education, and is widely respected for his views. In fact, his passion is such that a chance meeting with a couple during a holiday to Holland resulted in them moving to the Balerno catchment area just so their children could attend his school.

"I must have been blethering on about my ideas," he shrugs, modestly. "Something I said must have worked and they moved back to Scotland so they could put their kids into Balerno,"

He has also attracted people from further afield. One of the language assistants currently working at the school first came to Balerno on an exchange programme in 2000 from the Beijing No 8 Middle School. In fact, Balerno was the first school in Scotland to make exchange links with China.

He is also proud of the meet and greet sessions he holds with sixth year pupils in his office, where they have a civilised and mature chat over a cup of coffee.

"I ask them two basic questions," he explains. "The first is what are they going to do when they leave school and why? The second is a reflection on life at Balerno, what we got right, what we got wrong and what we should be improving. It's easy to lose touch with the pupils and you tend to spend more time on management, so I've quite enjoyed these chats."

Like most teachers, his reason for getting into education lies in a desire to pass on wisdom as well as inspiration to children. But it's been a long time since Mr Mackenzie did the "daily grind at the chalk face".

In fact it's been two decades since he last taught English to a class at Broxburn Academy.

"I could take a class but I would struggle to take kids through Higher English because it's changed a lot," he admits. "You need to hone and develop your skills in a classroom. We have whiteboards in school but I'm not sure I would even know how to work them.

"When I look at the work of the English teachers now compared to when I was an English teacher at Gillespie's, it's incredible. They are under an incredible amount of pressure."

Although he has been planning to retire for some time, he knows it won't be easy to fill the void. He admits the golf course will be frequented more often and he'll pursue his passion for photography. He is even talking about returning to study and is eager to trace his family history.

His family, wife Agnes - a principal teacher at Forrester High whom he met at teacher training college - and 18-year-old daughter Alice are also set to benefit from his new-found freedom. "I will have my wife's tea on the table every night when she comes in because she works really hard," he says.

"My daughter left Boroughmuir this year and I always said I would leave at the same time. We are going to go on holiday to California. When my wife retires, I want to travel more."

His own career will come to an end tomorrow, when he hands over the reins of his beloved school. He hopes the new head will embrace the ethos of the school.

"I think it's good to move on and it will be good for the school. It will be good to have someone new with new ideas, but it's important for them to appreciate the knowledge, experience and skills that are here and to take that on board.

"I hope that the positive ethos is maintained and I hope the new head continues to do a thing that I strongly believe in - and that is maintaining comprehensive state education."

Graduation

RORY Mackenzie's first job after graduation was a two-year stint as an English teacher at James Gillespie's.

The next ten years saw him at Craigroyston Community High as a guidance teacher then Deans Community High as principal teacher of guidance.

Blackburn Academy as assistant head was next - for another five years - followed by Broxburn Academy as senior depute and finally Balerno High, where he started on April 1, 1995 as headteacher.