School head is moving on

King Offa headteacher Tony Jones was summing up his feelings after confirming he would be leaving his position at the Down Road primary school at the end of the month.

After three years and a greatly improved OFSTED report, Mr Jones decided the time was right to move on to pastures new.

He will take up his new post as the head of a Brighton school in April.

Mr Jones said: "I feel very sad about leaving the school because the children are fantastic and they bring out the best in anyone who works with them. They are just so full of energy."

Mr Jones took over in 2003 on the back of poor OFSTED results.

He leaves the school on an upward trend, with King Offa earning a good report 18 months ago.

"It's not just a question of me turning us around," he said. "It's a team effort from the staff, governors, children and the parents.

"But you can always do better and we cannot get complacent. That's the danger for any school."

The headteacher takes with him fond memories from his time in charge and says "it would take all day" to list his favourite moments.

"Just to take one, we have a swimming pool here and a child was fearful of the water. After a couple of lessons she confronted that and was swimming the width with a float.

"Just something as simple as that was great for that child and, I think, describes teaching generally.

"Currently I think there is a groundswell of support in the local community about giving us our own green area on the Down for the children. Although that hasn't happened yet I do feel a great deal of optimism.

"We also have the cooperation that exists between Bexhill's schools and other agencies in the town now."

He lists "a couple of reasons" for leaving - chief among them a long journey to and from school which limits the time he can spend with his family.

Mr Jones said: "I live in Lewes and the job I have got is a lot closer to home. At the moment it takes me 45 minutes (to drive to Bexhill) and I like to get to work early and I'm usually here about sevenish which means me leaving at about 6.15am. That takes a lot of effort in itself and I often don't leave until 7pm. If I have to stay late for a meeting it's almost not worth having to go home.

"The school in Brighton also presents a fresh challenge and there is an attraction for me in that. I suppose those are the two reasons but of course I will be very sad to leave."