THE new headteacher of a Worcester school has said he will drive students "to always be the best they can be".

Bishop Perowne CE College’s new head, Mark Pollard, has unveiled his vision to make it 'a school of choice in the area' and 'a learning environment that goes the extra mile'.

He started at the school at the beginning of this term, replacing Julie Farr, who stepped down after more than a decade at the Merriman's Hill Road establishment.

Ms Farr worked at the school for 23 years and was made headteacher in 2004.

Mr Pollard, who lives in Worcester with his wife and two children, was previously deputy headteacher at Wolverley CE Secondary and assistant headteacher at Haybridge High School and Sixth Form in Hagley.

At Bishop Perowne, Mr Pollard said he wants to see students achieve academic and personal success to improve their future hopes.

In its latest Ofsted report, which was revealed last month, Bishop Perowne was deemed to be 'requiring improvement' by the schools watchdog.

Mr Pollar said: "My own children are currently going through the local schooling system, so like parents of Bishop Perowne students, I have hopes and dreams for my children and a good education that will challenge and inspire them is one of them.

"There are fantastic students and staff here and I really want everyone at Bishop Perowne to feel proud to be a part of a successful, outstanding college. "With the changes that we have planned I firmly believe this will happen."

He added: "Bishop Perowne has an extremely strong Christian ethos running throughout the school, giving us a solid platform to not only go that extra mile, but to also instil those values in our students.

"I will be encouraging them to learn from each other and endeavour to always be the best they can be.

"In my career I have always found it best to have high expectations of my team and students - they typically live up to those expectations and discover that they are capable of more than even they had thought."