STOGURSEY Primary School’s new headteacher says he hopes to bring high standards and collaborative working to the school.

Gary Tucker, who was appointed as the headteacher of Stogursey Primary in December 2019, says he was delighted to have been given the role.

Mr Tucker started his career in Weston-super-Mare at a school which developed into an Outstanding-rated school while he was there.

He worked at schools in North Somerset and Sedgemoor, before heading to Stogursey in September 2018, becoming head after the previous headteacher left the school.

Mr Tucker said: “I have a relentless drive for high standards, but in a kind and caring way. I am very much about wellbeing and mental health, particularly of pupils and staff.

“I’m a strong believer that if you treat people nicely then they’ll achieve the standards you are after.”

Mr Tucker says small rural schools can become isolated, and he hopes by working as part of the Quantock Education Trust, Stogursey pupils and staff can enjoy the benefits of working in collaboration with other schools.

Mr Tucker said he had found the pupils at Stogursey to be ‘enthusiastic, confident and positive’, and was also impressed with the close-knit relationships between the staff, parents and pupils.

Stogursey Primary School has Hinkley C on its doorstep, and although Mr Tucker acknowledged there had been some good aspects such as STEM funding, creative arts projects and a trip to the site for the naming ceremony of the tunnel-boring machines, he felt that Bridgwater schools were seeing more of the benefits.

“However I was impressed during our visit how the EDF team there talked about career opportunities to the children,” Mr Tucker said. “HPC will be here for many years and it is important Stogursey pupils see aspirations don’t have to involve leaving.”