A Trowbridge secondary school head is celebrating the end of his first year in charge with the aim of raising expectations even higher.

Paul Skipp joined the John of Gaunt School in Wingfield Road as Head Teacher in September last year after former head Mike Gunston moved on.

After his first year at the helm, the 41-year-old says he is “proud” of the results achieved so far but has aims of raising the bar even higher in the next academic year.

“I believe that the school can become one of the best schools in the country and its been wonderful to instil this belief in others.

“ We are ambitious and we want to be in the top ten per cent of schools in the country within the next three years.

“I think that is absolutely achievable if we put our hearts and minds to it. We have a fantastic staff and have made a great start but next year I want to raise expectations even higher.”

Bristol born and bred Mr Skipp went to the Westbury Park School in Bristol and The Ridings High School in Winterbourne.

He studied a BA Honours degree in Physical Education at Liverpool University before leaving as a fully qualified teacher.

His first job was at St George Community College in Bristol in the country’s 14th most deprived ward where at the time 48 different languages were spoken.

The college later became The City Academy but Mr Skipp rose to become Director of Sport, Assistant Head Teacher, and later Deputy Head Teacher.

He left in 2015 to join the Yate International Academy in South Gloucestershire as Head Teacher after taking his National Professional Qualification in Headship.

Mr Skipp worked for the Cathedral Schools Trust in Bristol immediately before moving to become Head Teacher at John of Gaunt School.

“I saw it as a challenge. I had looked around a number of different schools but felt that there was just such potential in this school.

“The Ofsted Report in May 2018 rated the school as ‘Good’, I felt I could build on the good legacy that Mike Gunston had left.

“The challenge has been to raise expectations even further while keeping the inclusive nature of the school. We have simplified the policies and procedures and have disruption-free classrooms so that teachers can teach and students can learn.”

Mr Skipp consulted widely with the school’s 189 staff, as well as with its 1,200 pupils and their parents, before introducing changes.

“Improving communication been important; we’ve had questionnaires, drop-in sessions, open meetings, information meetings, email out a weekly newsletter and update the website regularly with articles.

“Ultimately, it’s important people understand the ‘why’, people need to understand why we are doing things, and then the ‘what’ is easier to digest.“We have recently banned mobile phones from the school so the students are totally focussed on their learning. We don’t allow the children to use them on site. They are allowed to bring them in but they must stay in their bags. That enables the students to feel free from the pressures of social media and having the latest mobile phone.”

The result has been a huge increase in students taking part in activity in social time, disruption free learning in lessons and an improvement in individual grades.

“This year we have seen our highest-ever attendance figures and our lowest -ever persistent absence rates.

“We have the highest number of Year 7s - 240 children - joining us in September and had just under 100 families with Year 5 children contact us in the last three months for a tour.”

The school had around 50 students sitting A levels this year and 181 sitting GCSEs in the summer examinations with up to three of the Post-16 students hoping to go to Oxford or Cambridge.

“One priority this year has been to focus on literacy, our aim is have every student with a reading age which is at least their chronological age.

“Our work on literacy focussed strategies has been extensive, and as such we have been granted ‘Talk for Writing’ Training School status.

Mr Skipp’s new strategy and methods have been attracting attention from other South West schools and he has hosted visits from secondary schools in Bristol, Cheddar and Plymouth in recent months.

He is running a £6.5 million budget at John of Gaunt and has recently gained grant funding for projects including enhancing the school’s reception area and increasing the size of the library.

A new catering company will start a new contract in September and will spend the summer holiday break installing new kitchen facilities and improving the dining area.

“Ultimately, we want the students to feel happy and safe when they are in school, whilst they are expected to work hard we also want to develop our wider curriculum to provide experiences that they wouldn’t normally have in order to deepen their learning.

“School staff have taken 92 different trips since last September. They include shows, exchange visits, trips to art galleries and museums, and law courts.

“We have also just ended our first activities week, with 54 different activities available to enable students to try out something new.

“One boy wanted to go fishing because it was something he had never done, he managed to catch a large trout and it was his 13th birthday. That’s something he will never forget.

“Others have been on trips to London, Longleat, Harry Potter World, and Kidzania, with some also choosing to stay in school to learn sign language or to build arcade games.”

Some of the activities have been organised with help from the universities in Bath and Gloucester, while some Year 10 students have been gaining work experience.

Only last week, the school laid on its first dramatic performance for some years, producing Verona High, a cross between Romeo & Juliet and an American High School musical.

“For me, it’s been great to see the school go from strength to strength, “ said Mr Skipp, who lives in Bristol with his wife Michele and three children.

“We have a really supportive local community and an excellent group of staff who work tirelessly throughout the year.

The school broke up for the long summer break on Wednesday and Mr Skipp has planned a two-week break in France with his family.

But he will be returning in mid-August for the A Level and GCSE results.

And he hopes to start the new autumn term in September with everyone ‘buying in’ to his vision of where the school can go.

“I hope to sustain and build even further on the changes we have made. The impact has been good but I believe we can make even more.

“We have improved significantly over the course of the year and it so rewarding to hear prospective parents talk so passionately to us about our calm atmosphere, as well as our existing parents who talk to us about our purposeful learning environment in which their children are flourishing.”