YATE Academy’s new headteacher believes her school can become one of the best in South Gloucestershire.

Isabel Ambrose took over the reins at the academy in January, replacing Paul Skipp who had been in post since September 2015.

Mrs Ambrose cut her teaching teeth in London, where she spent a number of years working with the Harris Federation of schools.

When she took over back in January, Mrs Ambrose and her team initially focused on raising standards.

The main priorities for the school include disruption free classrooms, developing the quality of teaching, improving literacy and building a sense of ‘togetherness’ between teachers, students and the community.

Mrs Ambrose said her vision for the school is for students at Yate Academy to have a better chance of success than if they attended any other school in the country.

The school has already made some huge strides forward to achieving this by ensuring that classrooms are disruption free, every day.

Also, students are reading classic texts every morning in order to improve their literacy.

“The new reading programme has seen children reading classic texts.

“I have just been speaking to one young man who was telling me how much he was enjoying Great Expectations,” she said.

Other groups are getting stuck into Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird and Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

The new uniform, introduced in February, includes a navy, red and gold kilt for girls, which reflects the colours of the Yate town crest.

“We wanted them to look like a million dollars.

“At the gate in the mornings, they now look fantastic and take real pride in their appearance.”

Mrs Ambrose is also keen to build good relations with the community.

“If any parents, or prospective parents, would like to come and look around, they can drop in, no appointment necessary, and the head or a member of the senior team will give a tour.”

There will also be two official open mornings on July 3 and 4, from 9am to 11am, for year 5 prospective parents, or any primary parents.

“Any members from the local community are also more than welcome to come and have a look at the fantastic work that is being done,” said Mrs Ambrose.