Letter from Ivan Appleby, Head at Birch 1983-1984

I was Acting Headteacher at Birch from 1 September 1983 to 13 April 1984. At the time I was a member of the Essex County Unattached Staff covering Headship vacancies in schools around the County.
I took over from Mr J F Tarling who had resigned from the post.
I was succeeded by Mrs Esme Pickford.
The Deputy Head at the time was Mrs Jenny Bailey and of the staff the only one I can recall by name was Mr G Snelling.
I preached at the 11.15 Service at Birch Church on 16 October 1983. The Rector, the Revd Howard Giddings, was the Chairman of Governors.
The Christmas presentation for parents was entitled "What is Christmas?" which told the story of a robin discovering the real meaning of Christmas.
A building project involving a new school hall and remodelling of the existing buildings to create additional classrooms began a week before I left in March 1984. This meant that the School House was brought into use as temporary accommodation.
Date: 4 November 1999