Online Meeting - From Bradford To The Bronx

Dr. Suzanne Sarjeant is head teacher of Pencoed Primary School in Bridgend and has worked in the education sector for 29 years. She started her teaching career in London, where she taught for 11 years becoming a Deputy Head teacher prior to leaving. On returning to Wales, she taught in the advisory service in Cardiff and in the independent sector, as Head of Nursery in The Cathedral School in Llandaff.

Suzanne joined Pencoed Primary School in 2010 and became Head teacher in 2012. She supported the successful amalgamation of PPS with Heol Y Cyw Primary and led the school in its transition to its new premises in 2018. The school had a successful Estyn inspection that year, where the schools strategies for developing family and community engagement were identified as highly effective. Suzanne’s outstanding leadership and vision of working together for each and every child has had a significant impact on pupil standards and well-being.

Suzanne has built on research and her own experiences at school, drawing on a belief that learning is more than what happens in school, with schools encouraged to develop partnerships with families and their communities.

Suzanne travelled extensively to view good practices first hand, from Bradford to The Bronx in New York and to Ottowa, Canada. Suzanne has utilised these learning experiences, such as the value New York schools place on parents in childrens learning, to strengthen learning back home, examples including the establishment of a parents forum, forming a baby and todler group to aid transition into school and running Saturday morning learning sessions to develop pupils confidence outdoors in a safe and controlled environment.

Suzanne became an associate head teacher in the Nation Academy for Educational Leadership in 2018 and is passionate about supporting the development of educational leaders in Wales. She completed her doctoral studies at Cardiff University in 2020, becoming a Dr. of Education specializing in family engagement. Suzanne is currently seconded to Welsh Government working on a National Framework for Community Schools.