Local Face: Bozena Michalska
A school will have a lasting influence on the pupils who pass through it so the Senior Management of any school bears a great responsibility. Since September 1989, Bozena Michalska has been a deputy head teacher at nearby Aylesbury High School.
Bozena came to Wendover in August 1987 when she married. At the time she was teaching in London and as a civil engineer involving project work anywhere in the country, Rick could choose where he wanted to live. He particularly liked Wendover where he had already bought a house and as a Geographer, Bozena could see the advantage of living in the beautiful Chiltern countryside within easy distance of the motorway network. It was possible to continue working as Head of Humanities at her school in London and when Katia was born in 1988 she found a nanny who was able to cope with this busy lifestyle. After Bozena’s work moved to Aylesbury High School the family moved to a larger house on the outskirts of Halton and Stefan was born in 1990.
These were challenging times in education – the introduction of the National Curriculum started a period of tumultuous change which continues to this day. A deputy head teacher has to support the staff as well as implement government policy. Bozena worked hard at ensuring the recruitment and development of staff in order to give the pupils in her care the best possible school environment. In 1997 Aylesbury High School was given a routine OFSTED I inspection and was judged an excellent school.
The Geographer in Bozena was by now itching for world-wide exploration and Rick was also interested in visiting New Zealand so she started looking for teacher exchanges. Nothing seemed to be happening with New Zealand when an opportunity came in Australia instead so in January 1998 the whole family flew out. As it was the antipodean long summer holiday, they took three weeks to explore both islands of New Zealand and confirmed their liking for the place. Bozena started the new school year as deputy head with both curricular and pastoral duties at Guyra Central School, New South Wales. Rick’s civil engineering skills are valued world- wide. Bozena, Rick and the children really liked the outdoor, sporty Australian lifestyle but the conditions of the teacher exchange meant that they returned here after only one year, in January 1999.
Things had moved on at Aylesbury High School. The excellent OFSTED report meant that they were eligible to become a Beacon School and this status had been confirmed in October 1998. Bozena found that overall leadership of this project had been added to the list of her duties. In 2000 Bozena assisted Aylesbury High School’s successful bid for Language College status. In a very dramatic development, at the end of May 2002, the head teacher of Aylesbury High School accepted the post of head teacher at Wycombe High School and after interview Bozena was made acting head teacher at Aylesbury High School.
Meanwhile the lure of Australia had been a family discussion point so Bozena had started to look for deputy head jobs there but progress was rather slow so she looked to New Zealand by lodging her CV with a recruitment agency there. It was picked up by the prestigious Wanganui Collegiate School. As well as conventional academic excellence, the school encourages pupils in all aspects of spiritual, cultural and sporting life. She spoke to the head teacher when he was visiting London last summer and was invited for interview in New Zealand in July 2002. Bozena was already committed as a staff member on a three-week immersion Chinese course in Beijing accompanying a party of Aylesbury High School sixth form students so the interview was done by satellite link in a Beijing hotel. Bozena was offered the job to start in October, 2002. Clearly, after so many years of service in Aylesbury High School, she could not leave so quickly but on 1st January 2003, the family flies out in time for the start of their new academic year. They have really enjoyed their time living in Wendover and Halton but they are also looking forward to a new adventure in another excellent location. We wish the family well although we regret the export of such a multi-talented teacher and leader.