New head aims at topping the tables

THE new head teacher of Dover Boys' Grammar School says she is determined to put the school at the top of the league tables, and has detailed four areas where she wants excellence.

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Old Pharosians - the old boys' association - on Saturday, Julia Bell said the school was not in a position of strength, but it would be fighting back.

Mrs Bell, who is also the head teacher of the Dover Girls' Grammar School, took over the helm at the boys' school at the start of this term following the retirement of Neil Slater.

She has been given a two-year contract to run the boys' school, and after that the situation will be reviewed by the governors of both schools, in consultation with the county authorities.

It was revealed that it was the governors at the boys' school who made the first approach to their colleagues at the girls' school about whether Mrs Bell would agree to be head of both.

Mrs Bell told former pupils and guests at the dinner on Saturday that the boys' school was near the bottom of the league tables in Kent as regards grammar schools.

"I am hereto tell you that it's going to change," she said. "It is the smallest boys' grammar school in Kent, steeped in, history, and many famous people have passed through this school.

"In my view it is special because it is a sleeping giant, and I see it as my job to wake it up and move it on.

"We are going to make the affluent and complacent areas of west and mid Kent look over their shoulders and wonder where we are coming from.

"The Judd School at Tonbridge his topped every league table. I want the Judd School to know we are after them. I can not wait for the day that Dover Boys and Dover Girls are at the top of the league tables, and Dover is seen as the best place to get an education.

"It probably won't be this year, but I want the Judd to start worrying.

"Dover is the first place in Britain. We are more famous than the Judd. Ask an American if they have heard of Dover and they will say 'Yes, of course'.

"Ask them if they have heard of Tonbridge, and they will give you a blank look.

"Dover is a tough town that fights back. It has survived some tough times. Dover bounces back. Dover can not be put down. I am not interested in second best. Only the best will do.

"The four areas of excellence to be concentrated on were academically, appearance, behaviour and environment.

She said the school was some way from having an excellent environment, but it was now on the county's capital works programme for the next two years.

"We will get new toilets - the present ones are Dickensian, and that's being complimentary. They are one of the first things I want to change. We need new changing rooms, a new IT room, new furniture - so many things."

She said she would be asking the school council members for their views.

"Where is the challenge and fun and sense of achievement if something is easy? Some people may think that going after the Judd is a pipe dream."

But, she said, since the Dover Girls' Grammar School had had Tonbridge Girls' School in their sights, it had never been lower than third in the GCSE or fifth in A-level tables, and had topped the A-level league last year.

The best teachers are the ones  who, when I tell them at the end of a lesson that it was brilliant, say 'Yes, bit if I had just done this, it would have been better' those who get 95 per cent and say 'Where did I lose five per cent?'

"I believe our profession is unique. Learning is my passion and my job is to ensure that this school is a centre of excellence."