Felpham Community College headteacher retires after 13 years at the helm

Mark Anstiss first took on the mantle of headteacher after a decades long career in education, teaching science to students all over the country, and said he is looking forward to some well-earned time off after his last proper day on Friday.

"I think I’m actually the second-longest serving headteacher in West Sussex,” he said. “And the time has absolutely flown by. I’ll be 57 in a few days, and for now, I think I’m just going to decompress and do a bit of travelling with my wife.

"I’m leaving the school in the best position it’s ever been. We’ve had two good Ofsted reports, we’ve got exam reports above the national average, our A-Level results this year were really good. It’s nice to be able to leave the school in a good position for whoever comes next, I’ve been custodian for a long time and now someone else gets the chance to take up that baton and bring things to new heights of success.”

Although he’s leaving, Mark said he’ll look back on his time at the school fondly: “Teaching is an amazing job. Young people are incredible and if you can do something to help them, make their lives better, there’s nothing more satisfying.

“I loved walking around the corridors, visiting lessons and seeing happy students engaged with their lessons, and the fact that parents want to send their children here because they trust what we do. That’s the biggest indicator of success that we could hope for.”

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