A vision born from a blank page and an empty plot

Becky Malam still remembers the first thing she wrote when plans were being drawn up for a brand-new school in Lincoln. The page was blank, but her vision was clear: “I want to create a school that’s seen and felt as a haven in which everyone flourishes.”

Twelve years on, Lincoln Carlton Academy is exactly that – a warm, welcoming space where children and staff feel safe, valued and inspired to do their best – and Becky has been there every step of the way.

Creating a school from scratch is something few headteachers experience. For Becky, the opportunity came while she was assistant head at Mount Street Academy, a well-established infant and nursery school in Lincoln and part of Anthem Schools Trust.

“While I was at Mount Street Academy, I had the opportunity to work on a bid for a brand-new school,” Becky explains. “There was no building, no team, no pupils – just a vision and a determination to create something special. Being part of that from the very beginning was, and still is, a huge privilege.”

The school opened its doors in 2013 – not in the purpose-built building that was originally planned, but in portacabins off-site. Every day, staff would ferry the first cohort of pupils to and from the temporary classrooms while preparing them for the new site they would soon call home.

“We had to make it feel like a school, even when it didn’t look like one yet,” Becky explains. “We focused on the relationships, the routines, the sense of belonging. That’s what creates a haven – not the building, but the people in it.”

Becky didn’t take a conventional route into teaching. She trained later in life, after working in school administration and raising her first child. “I was inspired by the teachers I worked alongside – they were calm, patient, inclusive. I didn’t know if I could be like that, but I wanted to try.”

Leadership wasn’t part of her plan either – until it was. Spotting Becky’s potential, her first headteacher encouraged her to step into a deputy role. “At the time, I said I didn’t want to be a headteacher. I just wanted to teach. But she saw something in me and gradually, I began to see it too.”

That early encouragement shaped Becky’s approach to leadership today. “I’ve worked for a number of heads, and what’s stayed with me is the importance of kindness. I want people to feel safe working here, just as I want children to feel safe learning here.”

That ethos runs through everything at Lincoln Carlton. From the team she’s built to the nurturing routines in classrooms, Becky has worked hard to shape a school where children and adults feel they belong.

“Flourishing doesn’t happen by accident,” she says. “It takes consistency, compassion and high expectations. We don’t get everything right, but we reflect, we learn, and we go again. Above all, we care, deeply.”

Becky still describes herself as a teacher, even after more than a decade of headship. “When people ask what I do, I don’t say I’m a headteacher. I say I’m a teacher at Lincoln Carlton. Because that’s how I see myself - part of a team, working together for the children.”

And the vision she wrote on that blank sheet of paper? It’s never been more alive. Everyone who walks through the doors of Lincoln Carlton is met with the same message: you are safe here, you are seen here, and you can flourish here.

In Becky’s words…

A haven isn’t soft. It’s safe, yes, but it’s also ambitious. It’s where children are loved enough to be challenged, and known well enough to be supported.

I often think back to that time when we were opening, and everything was unknown. The building wasn’t finished, there were mine shafts under the field, things kept going wrong, but we never lost sight of what we were trying to create.

Now, when I walk around school, I feel proud, not of myself, but of what we’ve built together. The team here is incredible. They care, and when staff care, children thrive. That’s the culture we’ve created, and it’s one we protect fiercely.

To flourish means something different for everyone and part of our job is to make sure we notice what that means for each individual. We don’t have a cookie-cutter approach. We listen, we adapt, and we build trust.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do know this: if children feel safe, and if they feel seen, they will surprise you every time. They’ll show you what they’re capable of.

That’s why I’m still here – because I believe in that potential. I believe in this school and I believe in every child who walks through our door.