THE headteacher of one of Poole’s largest schools has announced that she is to retire this summer.

Fan Heafield who has led Poole High School since September 2012 said: “It came to a point where it was sensible to make this decision to retire.”

She has worked at the school for 27 years, arriving at the then Henry Harbin School as head of English, when the school had around 1,000 pupils.

In September 2005 she was appointed assistant head and two years later, deputy head.

“There comes a point when actually, as I said to the students here, I’m getting very old. Some of them did nod and agree with me,” she said.

The 56-year-old mother of two said a mixture of family responsibilities and the fact that her husband has retired led to her decision. They intend to return to Scotland where she aims to undertake some academic research.

But she will be very sad to leave the school which she has seen grow to 1,853 pupils and 144 teaching and 130 non-teaching staff.

“I am going to miss everything about the school,” she said. “I love my job and I am completely passionate about the school.”

She has seen it as a grant maintained school, grow a sixth form, become a comprehensive and now a foundation school.

And its last Ofsted inspection in December 2011, when she was acting head teacher, saw the school ranked as “good with outstanding features”.

“One of the things I am hugely proud of is the ethos of the school,” she said. “The Ofsted report said there was a positive ethos that permeated everything we do.”

The role has not been without its challenges, including that of the 15-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of cocaine dealing at the school in February, which has not yet been resolved.

She added: “I know this is the right decision for myself and for the school. There is an exciting new chapter for a new head to take forward.”