Cas Page – The passing of a truly remarkable woman
20 October 2015
A tribute to Cas Page by afPE Board Member, Eileen Marchant: It is with great sadness that I inform you of the untimely death of Cas Page; I know that as you read this many of you will be saying “but who is Cas Page?”, however let me assure you that most of you will not only be aware of who she is, but will also feel that you know her well. Cas was the head teacher of Our Lady’s RC Primary School in Greater Manchester, in which we filmed the DVD for the Physical Education and Sport Strategy for Young People (PESSYP); this exemplified the very positive impact of High Quality Physical Education and School Sport. This resource went into every primary school in England and many of you used it to support professional learning. From the moment I walked into the school I felt very privileged to be given the opportunity to meet with Cas, the staff and most importantly the very special and unique children. Cas believed passionately in the power of physical education and sport, and in her school, which is situated in one of the toughest areas of England, the subject was central. Our Lady’s provided an environment in which pupils thrived and they truly believed they could achieve anything….no one could tell them that “the sky was the limit” because they would have simply answered “so why are there footprints on the moon?” High quality physical education and school sport was central to their lives and this impacted right across the curriculum; they were confident children with high self-esteem and belief, which resulted in them achieving results which spoke for themselves. When we were filming the DVD one of my colleagues remarked “if only I’d gone to a school like this one!”. As head teacher, Cas Page provided outstanding leadership which embedded ambition and drove improvement; she was the foundation stone of this amazing school and she was loved by pupils and their parents alike. On the day of filming, in spite of not being well, she came into school and delivered the basketball lesson because she wanted all teachers to realise that if she could do it so could they. Cas was keen that as many children as possible should access high quality physical education; she shared her dedication and beliefs right across the Manchester area and further afield; she enabled her subject leader for physical education to support other schools and to speak at conferences. Under Cas’s stewardship this was a school which exemplified the underlying sentence on the afPE High Quality Poster ‘The difference that physical education and sport make to the lives of young people is quite remarkable’. Cas Page was a truly remarkable woman who really understood what impact high quality physical education and school sport has on standards right across the school, as well as on the lives of children in her care. Although she retired almost two years ago she will be will be sadly missed by those who were fortunate to know her. Cas will have left a legacy of confidence and self -belief in all the young people that she taught.
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