A KNUTSFORD school head teacher has spoken of her immense pride in her pupils after they took over management of the school for a day.

Egerton Primary School head mistress, Alison Hooper, decided to run the ‘take-over’ day which saw Year Six pupils take on roles such as head teacher, deputy head and site managers as well as teachers and teaching assistants.

The management mix-up took place on Friday November 20 as the students celebrated ‘world children’s rights day’.

Beginning with a briefing at 8.15am, the children excelled in taking on the roles and responsibilities of the school staff, including leading an anti-bullying assembly and performing maintenance assessments.

“I have never been so proud of my kids,” said Alison. “Which is hard coming from me because I am so proud of them. It was such a unique thing for us to do.

“It was stepping out of our comfort zone, not just for the kids but for the staff as well. We will definitely be doing it again.”

The Year Six students assumed their roles from the beginning of the day, during the first class and the third class of the day to allow them to reconvene with their class teachers to discuss what they had learnt and any queries or concerns.

The two head teachers for the day were Ben Senior and Alice Thomas, who also performed extra tasks that they were not asked to do, including meeting and greeting parents at the gates before the start of classes.

“Being a teacher is a lot harder than it seems,” said Ben. “There is so much to consider such as planning and teaching all of the time.

“There is very little time to relax. I learnt so much of what goes on behind the scenes to make sure our school runs smoothly.”

Alice added: “A head teacher’s job is much harder than expected, especially when talking to the whole school and all of the staff.”

As part of the occasion, the children were tasked with wearing ‘role appropriate’ clothing, which saw the site managers turn up in waterproofs and walking boots, and Ben even donned a suit.

“The whole school was buzzing,” said Alison. “It was a fabulous day. It was so good for the other children to see them and respond to them.

“The list of benefits and things that the school has gained from this, is endless.”