In choosing staff, school head looks for X factor

With the appointment of Janet O’Connor Brock as head teacher, King’s School, the latest international school to open in this country, is sure to attain its goal—to become the leading provider of British education in Metro Manila.

Other than being equipped with the appropriate educational background and experience in international educational settings, Janet possesses the disposition essential to being an administrator and head teacher.

That she comes from a family of educators adds to her impressive assets.

“My mother, Madge O’Connor, was a teacher in Liverpool. After she was widowed at age 44 with 9 children to fend for, she decided to become a primary school teacher because the working hours and conditions were perfect for a mother singlehandedly raising her children.  She would drop us off to school, go to her teaching duties, and then pick us up.”

“Of my 4 sisters, 3 became teachers. Of my 4 brothers, 3 married teachers. And now a number of my nephews and nieces are teachers,” Janet relates.

Today, as she looks back with fondness on those years, she affirms her choice “to become a teacher because it is a wonderful job. You come to school and any worry or problem you have in your life disappears because children take it away.”

Janet trained to be a teacher in Leeds, England.  She explains:  “When I went to Trinity and All Saints’ College, I took all the subjects that would qualify me to be a primary school teacher capable of teaching English, Math, Science, Geography and all the other subjects.  At the same time, I specialized in Physical Education and Recreation, since I enjoyed PE even in my primary and secondary years. I also played hockey and netball as my extra-curricular activity. ” She thus acquired a Bachelor of Arts in PE & Recreation (Primary ED) degree.

Her choice of Physical Education and Recreation has put her in good stead as she rose through the ranks, from the position of classroom teacher to head teacher.

She points out, “A large percentage of head teachers, according to a study, were at some point PE teachers since they have very useful skills.  PE teachers have a group of children outside of the classroom or in the field and have to be able to control them in a very open environment. That’s why their behavior management skills are excellent. PE teachers are continually organizing matches, and they might be organizing 10 different teams for a tournament. They spend a lot of time embracing team building skills. And if you’ve got a staff of teachers, you need to be good at building a team. Being a PE teacher gives you lots of skills.”

Having left college in 1991, Janet has been teaching for the last 22 years.  Every step of the way has been replete with surprises, lessons and experiences that have added to the luster of her personal life and chosen profession.

Janet’s first job after graduation was in the South of England at the St. Thomas of Canterbury School in Guildford.  She started out as a primary school teacher and went on to become head of primary.  At the same time, she served as PE Coordinator. On weekends, she handled a football team, “and I made sure my team always won.”

As it was her first job, she had her share of jitters, but these would soon be allayed. “I was lucky to have for a mentor Mrs. Margaret Debono, who was close to retirement and yet continued to be passionate about teaching.  She said that if I doubted my ability to perform an assignment, I should not be scared to tell people I needed to learn more about it or that I needed their help.  Especially with her, I was not scared to ask because she was very encouraging.  She would tell me, ‘Very good,’ when she knew I was making an effort at achieving something.

“If I committed a mistake, she would not tell me outright, ‘You’re wrong,’ or ‘You’re not very good.’ Instead, Mrs. Debono would very cleverly show me how to do it well. And that made me become the teacher that I am today.  Her approach taught me how it is to be like children in a class if they were worried about how to do something.  Because she did it so well for me, I was able to treat children well.”

In between her teaching load and learning new professional skills, Janet met and married Matthew Brock whom she met in Sunday Mass. It turned out they had both gone to the same teaching college in Leeds. Matthew was teaching in another school in Surrey.

After  their honeymoon in Spain,  they transferred to  Hertfordshire where he taught in a secondary school while Janet took the post of Year 5 and 6 Teacher at the Bonneygrove School, in Cheshunt, which was near London.  “It was a very different school,” says Janet. “I worked with very deprived children and lots of traveling gypsies as well. I loved teaching here. These children needed me more. When they went home, their parents would often be out.  Most of their parents did not understand how important schooling is.”

Janet admits, “To begin with, it was very difficult.  But eventually, I realized all children are the same. They just want you to tell them what they’re good at.  And they want respect. That’s why I always treat children with utmost respect.”

She stresses, “It is very important in the British System to have good manners. In a school like ours, we stress all the time to be polite, to treat everyone as you would want them to treat you if, as a teacher, you show that in your behavior, your children will treat you back in the same way.”

After teaching for a decade in England, the couple moved to Spain. Janet taught Years 3,4,5 and 6 at the British School of Alicante where she eventually became head of the primary school. Matthew  operated an English language school. After eight years, the couple moved to China. For four years, Janet was Deputy Head Teacher and finally, Head Teacher at the Sanlitun Campus of British School of Beijing.

As far as Janet is concerned, her extensive travels and postings, whether in the UK, Spain or Asia have “broadened my mind, made me more respectful of other cultures and given me a greater understanding of my own culture and values. This way I can relate to children and parents of various nationalities, aware of our differences as much as of our commonalities.”

As head teacher of King’s School Manila, she embraces and exemplifies the expectations and challenges of “providing an environment where excellence, high achievement and reflective practice are central to the ethos and status of the King’s School.”

Her 22 years experience in education with 12 years as a Head Teacher makes Janet extremely experienced at recruiting staff.  “While the priority is their standard of teaching which needs to be outstanding, I also recruit teachers that will work together as a team and get on. This in turn will create an extremely happy atmosphere at the school which the children will feel.”

In selecting the staff of King’s School, Janet looked beyond their educational qualifications, these being basic and a given. She says, “I personally interviewed all my staff. When I made my short list, I looked for experience and passion for education.  When I saw a spark in their eyes as they talked, I knew here is someone I want on my staff.”

As for herself being at the helm of King’s  School, she points out that “in the same manner, qualities, more than qualifications, are important to me, as they relate to my key functions and responsibilities, like management, recruitment, anticipating problems that develop and nipping them in the bud,  being accessible to the staff and children and making them see that I am listening to them, and encouraging the staff to be better  at their skills which they can use for the benefit of the school.”

“I don’t spend the whole day sitting in my office answering e-mails,” she  adds.

As she looks forward to the start of the coming regular school year in August, Janet explains what parents and students can expect from the King’s School:

“We take pride in being a close and caring community where the wellbeing of the students is at the heart of everything that we do. King’s is guided by a desire to allow each student to fulfill his or her potential through an enjoyable yet meaningful curriculum. Our students benefit from small class sizes that allow the staff to really understand the needs and the abilities of the pupils in their class. In addition, each teacher is a subject specialist and works within well resourced departments.

Janet clarifies that being an international school, “King’s School admits students the whole school year round as expat families are moved from other countries at a moment’s notice.”

Janet has initiated efforts toward partnering with the local community. She proudly shares that the school and the Dasmariñas Makati Rotary Club are jointly establishing a scholarship program for five deserving children, with one scholar every year for five years beginning this August 2012.

Under Janet’s initiative, the school has  partnered with the Younghusbands and Chelsea FC academy to offer football training to the community for both children and adults.  Also, having come from the British School in Beijing where she was exposed to the advantages of speaking Mandarin, Janet has also established a Mandarin School where people of all ages can learn the language.

“I want Manila to be proud of the education we offer to both locals and expats and proud  as well that King’s School decided to take root in this vibrant city so that we can facilitate global learning for our intelligent, passionate students who deserve only the best,” Janet concludes.

(King’s School Manila is located at Bradco Avenue, Aseana Business Park near the SM Mall of Asia. Visit www.kings.org.ph or call 478 9859. Registration open all year round for 2-14 year old students. For information regarding  scholarship for a 9 year old Filipino boy worth P6,500 million and the school will be getting one scholar every year, e-mail [email protected])