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Q&A with Emily McMillen

Headteacher for New Silfield Oak Primary Academy

Kim Carsok Published: 01 October 2024

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Emily McMillen, Headteacher at Silfield Oak Primary Academy.

For years it has been known that a new primary school would be built in Silfield, as part of the growth in housing developments at that end of town. Finally, spades have broken ground and the school is preparing to open in September 2025. We sat down with the newly appointed Headteacher, Emily McMillen, to find out more about the plans.

McMillen will move to her new role from Heartwood CE VC Primary and Nursery School in Swaffham where she is the current headteacher. She clearly can’t wait to get started on planning for a brand new school.

“The school's values will be belonging, kindness and inclusion,” she tells us. “I like the fresh canvas in Silfield, I like that it’s a growing community. I’ve done a lot of work in Swaffham with building relationships in the community and I want that for Silfield too. It’s interesting in Wymondham how you’ve got the new parts of the town and the old, and how you gel that together. We really want the school to be a community hub. In Silfield there’s a co-op but not much else. People will be able to hire the school facilities for sports and events. Things like Brownies, Rainbows, Scouts could use the sports hall. Outdoors we’ll have a MUGA (multi-use games area) and a sports pitch which could also be used by the community.”

The brand new school has been designed with the library at the heart of the building, due to the huge importance of reading both through curriculum and for enjoyment. McMillen says “SEMH (social, emotional, mental health) support is really important too. Making sure you’ve got a really strong curriculum that supports and nurtures all children. As a school we will nurture that through outdoor play and the Thrive curriculum. We’ve got a nature area planned but that will take a while to establish. So we hope to do lots at the Forest School for Life. They’re really excited to work with a school and have a strong community ethos.”

Neighbours of the site will have seen the contractor Carters hard at work. “The building work has only just started but the building company Carter’s has a strict timeline to finish all works by August. The contingency plan is to ensure the lower floor is definitely ready for reception to start on time, with the upstairs fitting out later as it won’t yet be in use this year.”

green oak tree logo for Silfield Oak Primary

Admissions opened on 23rd September and the deadline for families to submit preferences is 15th January. There will be space for up to 30 reception pupils in the September 2025 group, but they will have the benefit of a full reception classroom which will eventually have up to 60 pupils as the school population grows over the years.

If families are interested in the school, how do they learn more if they can’t currently come for a tour? “We’ve got public consultation meetings on 7th October at Wymondham Rugby Club”. People can come and find out more there at 2pm and 6:30pm. We also have a website and email and I’m happy to ring people and talk through any questions too. I do a monthly newsletter which can be viewed online and I posted that to 350 houses too. My husband and children got roped into helping me try and conquer the estates on a sunny Saturday, which was lovely getting out to meet so many people.”

McMillen continues: “It’s really important that the community has their voice, which is what’s really great about the consultation. What do people want from the school? We want people to share their views to shape the school because they know their community so much better than I do. And we’ll be looking for school governors too, to guide the school as it grows.”

Did Mrs. McMillen always want to be a teacher? “No! I started working for a Sure Start children’s centre after studying politics at university. I just loved it and soon went off to do teacher training. I’ve always worked in really deprived areas. I like to be a champion for all, including disadvantaged children.”

What do you love about being a teacher? “I love the relationships with the children and staff. And the difference that has, the impact you can have changing children’s and families lives. That gives such a gorgeous buzz. I’m really proud, for example, if I can prevent an exclusion from happening. I’ve introduced two nurture classes in my current school, with trauma-informed bespoke support to help them stay in school and flourish. You have to really know your community, their needs and ensure children have a voice in that. We have to support the ‘whole child’ with social emotional health so they can access the curriculum at their level.”

Silfield oak primary consultation poster

“We have to be constantly mindful of children’s mental health, let them express how they’re feeling and whether they need to talk. This impacts their academic accessibility. So we must create a school where it’s holistic for all the children’s needs.”

To achieve the school’s vision McMillen will need a strong team. “When it opens there will be 5 staff - Headteacher, Teacher, TA, Site Manager and Office Manager. We’ll start to recruit staff in the spring term, most likely first with an office manager. The 30 Reception children will be well looked after. We may get in outside support for a SEN Coordinator, or tap into a resource within the Trust. Eventually we will have 420 children. It’s like at Queens Hills in Costessey, they had maybe 16 kids the first year and now they have over 700.”

“Officially I’m working one day a week at the moment on setting up the school, and I’ll be full time from January. What I love about Unity schools partnership is that there are so many people there with such a wealth of knowledge I can just tap into so I don’t feel alone. It’s wonderful for a Headteacher to not be carrying everything with a new school on their shoulders, it’s a project together.”

For more information on Silfield Oak Primary Academy, visit www.silfieldoak.org.uk email admin@silfieldoak.org.uk or visit the consultation event at Wymondham Rugby Club on 7th October at 2pm or 6:30pm. The consultation questionnaire can be filled in at surveymonkey.com/r/6YMYFW6.

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