Sarah's rewarded by teaching (From Your Local Guardian)

Sarah's rewarded by teaching

1:03pm Friday 13th July 2007 in

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Sarah Hobhouse has been headteacher of Coombe Hill Infants School in Coombe Lane West for 16 years.

The 56-year-old attributes her commitment to the dedicated team around her. She said: "The team at this school has been here the whole time I have been head and is fantastic. We have expanded the school together, and brought in so many more families from wider backgrounds. We have such a great relationship with all the children and their parents."

Mrs Hobhouse first decided to become a teacher at the age of 15 after doing some voluntary work in a local school. She said: "I nearly ended up working in a hospital but then I tried teaching and couldn't believe I could get paid for doing such a rewarding job!"

After training at Roehampton, Mrs Hobhouse moved back to her native Somerset to teach in a primary school. However, the lure of the Royal Borough was too strong and she quickly returned to Kingston to teach first at St Luke's Primary School in north Kingston and then at St Paul's in Chessington.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with older children but I’ve always stayed with the youngest. I am stimulated by the diversity of their needs and love being involved with them at such a character-forming age.”

Sarah Hobhouse

She said: "I've had the opportunity to work with older children but I've always stayed with the youngest. I am stimulated by the diversity of their needs and love being involved with them at such a character-forming age."

Even with 270 children aged between four and seven at Coombe Hill Infants, Mrs Hobhouse makes sure she knows them all personally. "My own personal aim is to learn 90 new names every September by the October half-term. I do my very best but the identical twins can be a problem!" she said.

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