Six-year-old Newport pupil becomes headmaster for a day

Six-year-old Zephan Pelling had his lucky ticket drawn from a raffle at St Joseph’s RC Primary School Christmas fair as part of an idea by Year 6 pupils to raise money for the school.

The real head teacher, Peter Knight, said: “I wanted to make it a meaningful day so we focused on the duties of a headmaster, making decisions, making sure everybody is all right and being positive.

“As head teacher Zephan welcomed everybody at the gate in the morning wearing my pass and a tie, and he was able to choose a friend, Isabella Seal, to be deputy head.”

Zephan, who is in Year 2, decided the day should be non-uniform in order to raise money for a charity of his choosing, collecting £100 for the Newport Night Shelter. “Wehave been doing work about the homeless and we recently did an assembly about the Good Samaritan,”

said Mr Knight, who has been head teacher since September 2011.

“When Zephan chose the night shelter I telephoned our chairman of governors, who was able to get one of the co-ordinators to come to the school within the hour and we presented them with a big display cheque.”

After assembly Zephan inspected each class and gave them marks out of ten for tidiness and being hardworking, with the best class getting a box of chocolates to share, while at lunchtime the young head teacher was waited on at the top table by Year 6 pupils before returning to his class in the afternoon, said Mr Knight.

“He was quiet but he did get more and more confident throughout the day,” he said.

“I think Zephan found it really good fun and a memory to take away.

“All the children are desperate for it to happen to them too.”

Zephan’s mother, Juliet Pelling, said her son enjoyed being head teacher for the day. “He said it went really well and that being served lunch was fantastic,” said Mrs Pelling, whose family attends Christchurch, in Malpas Road, which hosts the night shelter one day a week.

“He only bought one ticket so he was very lucky.”