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Class Act For Years

April 6th, 2010

Staff at Tollbar are celebrating long service awards - including 20 years at the helm for principal David Hampson.

In his two decades in charge, Mr Hampson has turned Tollbar Business, Enterprise and Humanities College into one of the top comprehensive schools in the country and received the OBE for services to education.

Under his care, students have repeatedly notched up the highest GCSE grades in the school's history, and consistently achieved some of the best results in the UK.

The college is now the first in the area to have introduced the International Baccalaureate in place of A-Levels at its award-winning Sixth Form College, and Mr Hampson is regularly called upon to offer his advice on school discipline and exam achievements to MPs at Westminster.

Mr Hampson has devoted his teaching years to providing children with the opportunities to achieve their best potential. He has chosen to work in comprehensive schools in working class areas and has endeavoured to change an education system that he has always felt was weighted in favour of high-achievers.

In his early career he taught physics at a number of schools in Derbyshire, becoming deputy head, before taking on the leadership of a difficult school in Manchester.

Mr Hampson joined Tollbar as head teacher in 1990, just as local management of schools came into force, believing that schools run as successful businesses generated better opportunities for pupils. At the time there were 1,400 pupils. Today there are 2,100.

Since then, Tollbar has achieved an outstanding Ofsted report and seen many of its pupils go on to study at top universities.

Commenting on his long service, Mr Hampson said: It has been a wonderful adventure, seeing students at Tollbar go on to achieve results many of them thought were way beyond their grasp.

"When I was at school, I saw how some teachers treated pupils they felt were not going to achieve, and that was what led me to realise that I wanted to be a teacher in order to change the system," he explained.

"In my 20 years at Tollbar I believe we have achieved that change, and making sure that every child who comes through those doors really matters is the thing I am most proud of," he said.

Celebrating their long-service with Mr Hampson this month are a number of other key members of staff:

• Associate principal David Riden - 20 years
• Deputy curriculum leader for technology Jenny Woods - 21 years
• Senior midday supervisor Jane Clorley - 24 years

Meanwhile, associate principal Martin Brown, advanced skills teacher in maths, Matthew Read, midday supervisor Andrea Bellamy and senior custodian Nick Middleton are all celebrating 15 years of service to the college.

Chair of governors Philip Bond congratulated them all.

Article from The Grimsby Telegraph - Thursday March 25th 2010

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