Well-respected headteacher in Boston retires after three decades' service to local education profession

Andrew Fulbrook, 55, bid farewell to Boston High School at the end of last term.

In a post on its Facebook page, the Spilsby Road school praised him for his ‘care and integrity’.

“His leadership, commitment, and belief in every student has shaped our school into the community it is today,” it said.

Mr Fulbrook joined the school as headteacher in January 2014, having held the same post at Stickney’s William Lovell CofE School since 2007.

He began his career in teaching in 1996, aged 25, joining Thomas Cowley School, in Donington, as head of technology.

Mr Fulbrook hails from Newton Aycliffe, near Darlington, and had spent the previous four years working towards a Bachelor of Education in design and technology at the University of Sunderland. At this time, he knew little of Lincolnshire.

Of this first job, he said: “I was absolutely delighted to get it.”

“It was a new adventure,” he said.

In 2001, he joined the Gartree Community School, in Tattershall, as assistant headteacher, before becoming deputy headteacher at William Lovell CofE School in 2004.

Wherever he went, he found colleagues who helped shape his career.

“I have been very lucky in my professional career in that I have worked with thoroughly inspirational people,” he said.

Mr Fulbrook found his calling in education at an early age.

“I was inspired by my teachers,” he said. “I genuinely loved school.”

Asked what inspired him to stay in a profession, one as challenging as education, he foregrounded the children.

This he broke down as two elements: the joy in seeing them achieve, but also the opportunity to help them get ready for the next phase of their life, of becoming, as he put it, ‘rounded individuals’.

“The thing we try to instill is that their journey is life-long,” he said.

Among Mr Fulbrook’s achievements during his time in education was being shortlisted for the Headteacher of the Year Award by the Times Educational Supplement (TES) in 2021.

He said colleagues told him he was nominated for the award due to the care he showed during Covid-19.

He described being shortlisted as ‘lovely’ and ‘special’, but was keen to share the achievement with others, saying it was ‘a reflection of the whole community’.

This echoed our coverage in 2021, when staff and pupils appeared in a socially distanced photograph with him.

He said the pandemic was a ‘challenging’ period, but noted that ‘the strength in human nature came through in those times as well’.

“We pulled together as a team,” he said. “We tried to do the best for the kids.”

Asked about his proudest achievement from his time in teaching, he pointed to the part he played in helping two students mark last year’s 80th anniversary of VE Day.

This amounted to four days of activities, including a street party-style celebration on the school field, featuring live period music, a display of military vehicles, and a flypast by a Lancaster.

“It could not have gone better,” he said.

Mr Fulbrook lives in Heckington, is married to Holly and is a dad to three children: Joss, 20, Myles, 18, and Saffie, 16.

Speaking to The Standard in December on his penultimate day, he spoke of ‘mixed emotions’ at his upcoming departure.

“I know it's right for me and my family, but I'm going to miss so many people here – chief among them the students,” he said.

In his retirement, he plans to see more of his parents in the North East, try some new hobbies, including fishing, and volunteer in the education sector.

He has been succeeded into the role by the school's former associate headteacher, Anne-Marie Franks.

“I’m personally and professionally delighted for her,” he said.

In closing, he gave thanks to those that have supported him along the way. He gave a special mention to the governors and its chairman Lisa Smith, who he described as ‘a bedrock of support’.

And of the children, he said: “A massive thanks for making this job such a pleasure.”

“I have done my best to care for them and, by god, they have cared for me,” he said. “I just want to wish them all the best for the future.”