Headteacher's off to No 10

From: St. Albans Observer, UK - 24 Feb 2003

A HEADTEACHER from St Albans has a date at Downing Street with the Prime Minister.

Heathlands School for the Deaf headteacher Mabel Davis has received a personal invitation from Tony and Cherie Blair to attend a reception to celebrate excellence in special education needs.

Ms Davis is the only deaf headteacher in the country and wants to encourage more people with disabilities to go in to teaching.

She said: "I am a headteacher first and a deaf headteacher second. My abilities in leadership and management have nothing to do with the fact that I am deaf. The advantage is that the children here are all deaf, so they have a role model for their aspirations in life, and our expectations as to what they can achieve are high."

In December Ms Davis took pupils to11 Downing Street where Chancellor Gordon Brown and his wife gave a party for deaf children.

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