We are small, and we mean it. Around 57 children across three mixed-age classes. That is not a limitation we apologise for — it is the whole point. Every adult in this building knows every child by name, knows their brothers and sisters, knows what they had a wobble about last week and what they are proud of this week. Nobody slips through.

​Our values are Challenge, Care and Celebrate. We challenge children to do more than they thought they could. We care about them properly, not just tidily. And we celebrate — loudly, every Friday — the things that deserve celebrating.​

Our school rules are the 4Rs: Respectful, Responsible, Resilient and Ready — and above all, Safe. The children can tell you what each one means, which is rather the test of whether a set of rules is real.​We are a village school in the truest sense. We are woven into Ashdon: All Saints Church, the village events, the families who have been here for generations sitting alongside families who arrived last month. Children walk out into a community that knows them.

​We have a dog. Jaffle is our reading and wellbeing dog, and for some children he is the reason the school gates stop feeling frightening.​We have just remodelled our library and we are rather proud of it. Thanks to a grant we secured, our children now have a proper reading space — a world map carpet, reading nooks, comfortable places to curl up, and a great many new books. Reading is one of the things we will not compromise on, and we wanted a space that said so.

​Our curriculum is built around four things we will not compromise on: giving children exposure, opportunities and aspirations beyond their village; reading and oracy; physical development; and resilience and respect. Small school, big horizons.​I teach.

As Headteacher I teach maths to our Year 6 children four times a week. I am not an administrator who occasionally visits classrooms. If you have a question about your child's learning, you are asking someone who has been in the room.