A 10-year-old who once dreamed of being a teacher when he grew up, has returned to his old primary school decades later as a headteacher. As a little boy, Craig Ross was inspired by the teaching staff, in particular his class teacher Mr Kelly.
Craig, 35, is now a headteacher of his beloved primary school and is thrilled to take over the teaching reins. The decision to enter teaching came early for Craig, who "wanted to leave a mark on the planet".
Craig's time at the Ealing primary school shaped his outlook on life. As reported in MyLondon, Craig said: "I loved the way my Year 6 teacher, who played guitar, taught me.
"Since then, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. At that age, children tend to change their minds about what they want to be, but since aged 10, being a teacher was always on my mind.
"I wanted to be the best teacher, so I assumed that meant be the headteacher." Now, 30 years since Craig entered the school grounds as a pupil at St Gregory's in 1992, he has started his role as headteacher.
After he left primary school in 1998, Craig went to Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Greenford. He studied English, Maths and Science at A-Level and went to the University of Roehampton in Wandsworth to study Education.
He started his teaching career at another primary school in Ealing before getting a job at his former school, St Gregory's, in 2011. Craig said: "I was on holiday and a job came up at St Gregory's and I was successful.
"On the first day I was greeted by two ladies at reception who were there when I was a pupil. I had to get used to calling them by their first names.
"In the 11 years I've been there, I've taught a wealth of classes, became maths coordinator, phase leader for Years 5 and 6. Three years ago I became the deputy head and had that role during the pandemic," Craig added.
Last year the previous headteacher at St Gregory's hinted that she would be retiring. Craig went through a rigorous interview process towards achieving his "childhood dream".
He was appointed the new headteacher on March 31 and started the role in September. The 35-year-old said: "I have lots of plans for the school.
"I don't see this as a job, it's more like a home. We talk a lot about working and learning together as a family, my colleagues are like a family.
"I try to show pupils that I was one of them and as long as you work hard, you can achieve a dream. It's about giving these pupils opportunities to achieve their goals.
"I'm also an advocate of supporting the staff to achieve whatever their career goals are. It's a privilege to be here," Craig added.
In 2018, St Gregory's was rated as 'Requires Improvement' by Ofsted, the body that inspects schools in England. The school was rated 'Good' at the most recent inspection in June.
In the report, pupils and parents described the school as "a happy place" where teachers "strive to make sure that all pupils get a good education". Headteacher Craig emphasised that the school "is in a wonderful place".
He continued: "We recently got a good Ofsted report. Wonderful things are happening at the school.
"We're keen for pupils to join our school in the borough as it has something very special about it. It's very much a family unit, and we're keen to welcome parents and their children."
Craig always knew he wanted to work in primary education over secondary education. He said: "Lots of research shows that the most important time in a child's life is between the age of zero to five.
"I truly believe that if children have a good primary education, they'll be set for life. I always wanted to shape and mould the next generation of wonderful individuals."
Speaking about the challenges of working in a school, the ambitious headteacher is keen to impress that the school would support staff as best they can. Craig said: "Teachers say the workload is something that's challenging.
"We really want the best for our children and the teaching never ends. While teaching is a vocation, you can absolutely give it your all."
Craig concluded: "It's an ultimate privilege to be headteacher. When I was a child, I wanted the role for the status, but as an adult that's not why I wanted it.
"At this stage, it's about having an impact on as many people as possible. Where a teacher has a positive impact, they are paying things forward."
