Teign School, Kingsteignton, headteacher Alan Pritchard should be proud.
He has announced his retirement, which commences on July 31 – the last day of this academic year – and pupils, parents, staff, past pupils and governors are united in regret that Mr Pritchard feels it is time to leave the school he has made his own in the 15 years of his headship. Teign School is known to be that treasure all parents seek – a good school. It is over-subscribed, more children apply to attend the school than there are places available. it has twice been named as a high performing school on the Ofsted 'honour' list compiled by the Chief Inspector of Schools; the school tops the local league table for GCSE and A level results. There was little in Mr Pritchard's own schooldays that forecast his future success as a headteacher. Educated at the local state school in Staffordshire, he was far from being a model pupil. 'If you'd asked my teachers what they thought of me, they'd have said I was trouble,' said Mr Pritchard. 'I never intended to be a teacher.' He left school at 15 to train to be an accountant in an engineering firm, thinking it would be interesting work. Before long he realised that the work was not interesting at all – and left. A host of temporary jobs followed, from security guard to grave digger. 'I had to find my way, as lads do,' said Mr Pritchard. It was only when he looked at his fellow workers at the foundry where he was employed at the time that he began to think about their lives and his own future. 'They looked so old, even though they weren't old,' said Mr Pritchard. 'It was the hard lives they'd led.' Determined to do something worthwhile with his own life, he decided to train as a teacher, but he needed A levels for this. He studied in the evenings for two years for A levels in geography, English Literature and history, before winning a place at Westminster College, Oxford, to take a degree and obtain a teaching certificate. Mr Pritchard took a job in Staffordshire when he qualified, and rose to head of department at his first school. His first big promotion was to head of year at Redcar, Cleveland, at a new comprehensive formed by amalgamating two secondary modern schools and a girls' grammar school. 'It was a difficult job, the sort of job where you either sink or swim. I was lucky – I swam,' said Mr Pritchard. He was married with young children by this time, responsible for 330 children in his year group in school, and travelling 160 miles two evenings a week to study for a Master's degree in education. 'It was not easy,' he said. 'It was a tough job on a split-site school, and although people complain of bad behaviour today, believe me, it was nothing compared to behaviour in that school then.' Further promotion to Brize Norton and Bicester followed before Mr Pritchard was made headteacher at St James' School, Exeter. By this time he held a PhD in education from Bristol. In January 1991 he became head of Teign School. 'It always had the capacity to be a good school although it was slightly underachieving when I arrived,' he said. He noted that the teachers were good, and promptly gave them the opportunity to achieve for themselves. He holds the philosophy that the school should be run as if his own children were there (they were – both Nick, 27, and Laura, 24, attended Teign). Other beliefs are to do your best, be as fair as you can, and to be honest if you get it wrong. Mr Pritchard is no elitist. He values his pupils, not just the academic high achievers. 'Everybody has their part to play in life,' said Mr Pritchard. 'My aim has been to work with parents to help the children grow up to be decent people, good citizens.' He values good exam results, but does not think top place in the league tables should be the ultimate aim in education. 'If we can instil self-worth in the children they can go on and achieve anything they want to in later life,' he said. 'Youngsters today will work until their late 60s and live until their late 80s or beyond. They need to learn skills and develop personal strengths that will take them through a changing and varied career. Headship is a very good job to have, because you are in a position to work with and influence young people in making a good start to their lives.' Mr Pritchard has mixed feelings about retirement. He is looking forward to improving his French and spending more time in Paris, and hopes to learn to play the piano properly. He has spent every day at the school from 8am to early evening for the last 15 years, and made a point of always being at school during the summer to help students when they receive their GCSE and A level results. 'Teign has been a major part of my life, and yes, I'm finding it difficult to hand over. But headship demands a commitment of energy that I'm finding it harder to sustain,' explained Alan Pritchard. He will treasure the memory of the school, revelling in the number of times Teign has been placed in the top five per cent of schools nationally, cherishing the 'outstanding' ranking given by Ofsted, but most of all enjoying strolling down the road to buy the Sunday papers, meeting and chatting to people he has helped – ex-pupils who are now good citizens. 'I'm proud of them all,' said Alan Pritchard.