Brighton & Hove says a fond farewell to Sarah Mashford

The end of this term sees the retirement of Deputy Head, Sarah Mashford, from Brighton and Hove High. Sarah joined the school in 1988 as a temporary teacher of Biology covering a maternity leave. Her PGCE supervisor wrote in his reference:

‘She has a particularly pleasant and unflustered manner which rubs off on the pupils so that there is an excellent rapport between them and her. Even our more difficult pupils obviously respect her.’

Twenty-seven years later, that still holds true. Despite her many leadership responsibilities, Sarah continues to be an effective and passionate classroom teacher.

Having been both Head of Science and Head of Sixth Form, she was appointed Deputy Head in 2006. Throughout her tenure, Sarah has worked with four different Heads during some fairly turbulent times for the school. She has been, without doubt, outstanding. She has oversight of the curriculum; does all the time-tabling and staffing; runs the calendar and the weekly diary; is the main liaison with the PTA and for many years effectively ran the school’s November Fair. She has been a major force in the development of ICT-assisted learning. She has been a supportive line manager to Heads of Departments and has also worked closely with many support staff – all of whom have enormous respect for her. She has always been open to new ideas and approaches and happily collaborates with other schools in the Trust and in the local area.

Most recently Sarah’s impact has been felt in her involvement with the CRED Foundation trips. Many people after twenty-seven years in a job might be a little jaded. Most certainly wouldn’t volunteer to start a brand new project that would involve raising thousands of pounds and leading a whole group of girls off to Addis Ababa to support the children of sex workers. But Sarah did. Inspired by hearing someone speak about the Foundation’s work, she approached the Head with a proposal and from then on it was entirely her baby. She genuinely changed the lives of the girls who went that first year to Ethiopia and then the following year to Bulgaria. The school’s continuing commitment to CRED and to the outward-looking values it instills in everyone involved will be Sarah’s legacy to BHHS.