HE WILL hugely miss his pupils but not the Government interference, says Nigel Poole as he prepares to step down as headteacher of The Petersfield School.

The 57-year-old, who has been at the helm for 15 years, is to “quit while he’s ahead” at the end of the academic year, in August 2016.

He is only the fourth headteacher in the school’s 58 year history and he says he leaves it in an “incredibly strong” position.

When he arrived in 2001 there were 900 children and now there are more than 1,300, with a record number of applicants for 2016, some from as far afield as Gosport.

He has overseen the granting of academy status in 2011, and the building of the Studio Theatre and the 3G floodlit outdoor sports pitch.

“I am most proud of the ethos of the school, the culture,” he said. “The children are happy and behave extremely well. That didn’t happen by accident.

“Major changes I have made have been to re-establish the timeless concepts that work no matter the setting: houses, prefects, headboy and girl and prizegiving among them. I will massively miss the children. Working with young people has been my own major motivation – changing children’s lives.

“I stand in the playground now and already think ‘I will miss this’. The kids are being very sweet about it.”

The father of a 24-year-old English teacher son and a daughter (22) who is in arts administration, said he expected to spend his retirement “glaring” at young people whose behaviour didn’t match up to the expectations set out at his school.

What he wouldn’t miss was the “constant Government interference, whether Tory, coalition or Labour, rushed through changes and endless documentation.”

He intends to work part time as a consultant to schools, and as a teacher in Spain having just qualified in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). The school’s governors are now preparing to appoint his successor. “I know they will appoint someone brilliant to take this wonderful school to the next level,” he said. “It’s a fabulous job in a brilliant location - what’s not to like?”

“It’s better for me to go though with people saying ‘but why are you leaving?’ rather than ‘you’re still here’,” added Mr Poole.