JUST a few weeks into the job, the new principal at The Bourne Academy is already clear about what he wants to keep and add to the academy.

Mark Avoth, in his second head teacher role at a secondary school, wants to increase the community’s link with the academy.

“I visit schools regularly and did in my other role and I don't think I have seen such a committed group of young people and staff. They work really hard and really late and I’m very lucky.

"In my role it is about our aspire programme which is very much about allowing every student to go on to further education or higher education.

"In terms of higher education, I think that every child is capable of going to university. I believe that it is about provision so what we can offer them, to get them there.

"We offer all the traditional subjects including GCSE and A-Levels, but actually if it is not working for them, then we will find a different way to allow them to access that route of education and that’s what we’re about."

Mr Avoth says his aim is for The Bourne Academy to be the first choice school in the area, above the grammar schools.

"I want parents to think ‘Right, my child hasn’t got into the academy, so I want them to go to the grammar school' and I think that is a vision that we are able to create."

As part of the principal's engagement with the community, he holds open surgeries with parents every Thursday, attends parent voice meetings, speaks to local families at parents meetings at local primary schools and hears the student council's views every fortnight.

"They are my clientele. I am in the service industry for the parents and for the young people so it’s really important that I listen to them.

"I have always done that. It is not just a one-year process. It has to stay and you have got to buy into communities because the school’s reputation has had peaks and troughs, so the trust has got to be in it.

"I envisage myself being here for a significant amount of time and gaining the trust of the community and the many parents and students."

The academy has welcomed in its first year of sixth form students and Mr Avoth proudly says that around 85-per-cent of Year 11s have indicated that they want to stay on for sixth form.

He says that to help them get there, the academy has introduced Saturday sessions where the students can go over what they have learnt in class.

"Every Saturday there is a revision programme for Year 11s covering all the subject areas, which will go on right up to the exams. Staff come in to plan and teach lessons. We also have heads of house come in, so if students don’t turn up, the heads of house will go and collect them.

“This is generally about them getting the best grades that they can get and they know you care. They grumble sometimes, but they know that you care."

He goes on to talk about figures in terms of attendance at the academy. “Attendance is well over 95% and if they didn’t enjoy coming to school, they would vote with their feet. To keep a young person engaged is by having engaging, quality-first teaching because they will very quickly become dis-engaged very quickly.

"It’s not because I have asked the staff to do it or because their contracts say that they should but because they want to do it. That is palpable because you feel it from the minute you come in. I love to show people around and you get hairs stand up on the back of your neck as you walk into the classroom because it isn’t just in silence but they’re actually physically learning by talking and discussing that subject."