He is the man who almost has to be in two places at once.

But one year on from taking the helm of the ’federation’ of Laxey and Dhoon schools, Max Kelly is confident the switch has proven to be a success.

He may be racking up the miles as he tries to ensure he makes an appearance at each school every day, but he believes it is paying off and that both schools have benefited from the move. It took effect in September 2017, following concern that, while Dhoon School could lay claim to having the most scenic views of any of the Island’s schools, the number of children actually looking out at them through the windows was dwindling.

The decision was taken earlier last year and from September, Laxey and Dhoon schools have shared a head teacher and a governing body. Each campus has its own site leader, and both run through from reception to year six.

Shortly before the decision to federate, Mr Kelly, who was at that point head of Dhoon School, was announced as the new head teacher of Laxey School.

So he was the obvious choice to become head of both when it was decided to federate. At the time, the decision was described as a master-stroke by one MHK.

Dhoon has about 70 pupils on its rolls and Laxey about 200.

Both schools have kept their own uniforms and policies, even their own pages on Facebook, but it has enabled to opportunities for them to team up.

’The feedback I have had has been largely positive,’ he said, as he entered the final fortnight of the school year.

’We are just coming to the end of our first year and generally it has gone pretty well. Obviously, it has not been without teething issues and challenges along the way.’

He said there were ’strong educational arguments’ for bringing two schools closer together and he had now seen the benefits from federation.

While the Dhoon could continue to play to its strengths as a smaller school, the federation with the larger school had opened doors for the children, particularly those in year six, who will be making an even bigger move in September. It has enabled them to widen their peer group as they get ready for life in secondary school.

Mr Kelly said the pupils at both schools had played a huge role in making the transition a success.

’The children have been really keen on it, really enthusiastic.’

He was also keen to recognise the contribution made by his staff.

Each school’s identity has been maintained, from Christmas concerts to teams sporting events. But there have also been occasions when they have come together, such as with the formation of a federated choir, who recently performed at the Villa Marina in the Children in Song Concert.

At 37, Mr Kelly will find himself younger than many of the parents whose children he is responsible for. But he is able to rattle off his classroom experience at a variety of schools before he found himself in the head teacher’s chair.

In his office at the Dhoon, there is a proud message from the head teacher, describing it as a ’creative, innovate and dynamic learning community, built upon traditional values and strong community links where everyone is encouraged, empowered and inspired to be happy and successful, to seek improvement and strive for excellence’.

It is the kind of messages that will tick boxes both with education chiefs and, perhaps more importantly, the parents of pupils. For all the talk of attainment and achievement and buzz words such as ’empowerment’ the one that is perhaps most likely to catch the eye of most parents is ’happy’.

Head teachers are pulled this way and that, meeting the demands of politicians who perhaps have ulterior motives, education chiefs who have to respond to those motives, plus parents who have to navigate their way through the mire of political point-scoring to judge what really matters.

And that is even before the head can get to the main tasks of leading and inspiring both their teachers and the pupils.

So if Mr Kelly is able to strike a chord with all the right people, there is little doubt it will have helped in the transition. An ability to keep all sides happy will be a key element in any continuing success.

If a head teacher can deliver a school that the parents and children want, while keeping all other pressures at arm’s length, then they are definitely on the right road.

Rather like the Department of Education, Sport and Culture itself, Mr Kelly is not an advocate of league tables and does not appear keen on the publication of detailed data on a school-by-school basis - something that has happened in response to political questions tabled on everything from attainment standards to obesity.

He said statistics used to create league tables relied on a ’very narrow method’ that did not give a full picture. The recent publication of attainment results and ’good level of development’ statistics, broken down into schools, had not been helpful.

He warned against using isolated data to create the league tables and the risk of children being used to make a political point in education debates.

’That is not what it is about. It is about enhancing childhood, making people better than what they currently are, building character,’ he said. ’That is what matters to me.’

Instead of relying on data, he urged family members who want to find out what their children’s school was really like to actually visit and talk to the teachers .

’A successful school is not measured on a narrow basis in the way a league table is put together,’ he said,

’If you want to know about your school, be involved in it, because you will be welcome.’

He cited examples from his own schools - and pointed out the same applied elsewhere - that showed the true worth, beyond simply relying on attainment measures and percentages.

It could be anything from a small personal achievement for one child to a collective effort as part of a larger team.

’How do you measure the joy that your kids get from being part of a choir, standing up in the Villa Marina and singing in front of an audience?’