A headteacher will retire on a high note at the end of this term after inspectors branded his school outstanding.

Peter Evans will leave Cardinal Newman Catholic School in The Upper Drive, Hove, at Christmas just weeks after reaching what he described as 'one of the proudest moments of my career'.

An Ofsted inspection team which visited the school on November 7 rated it as grade one, the highest possible.

In his report inspector Stephen Long said: "Cardinal Newman is an outstanding school in which all students are valued and included.

"It provides a well-ordered learning environment within which students reach very high levels of personal development and academic attainment."

Mr Evans said he was delighted with the report. He said the inspectors had seen in the school everything he and his staff strived for it to be.

The headteacher, 63, will be leaving the school to develop training and advisory work he already carries out for the National College of School Leadership.

He will also continue to work for Brighton and Hove City Council as a School Improvement Partner, offering support and advice to the management at Longhill, Falmer and Varndean schools.

Mr Evans said: "I will be very sad to leave this school. I really love coming here every day, I wake up in the morning and I look forward to work. I'm sure not a lot of people can say that.

"But I'm leaving to take on a new challenge and it is very pleasing to go at a time when the school is positively thriving."

Father-of-four Mr Evans, who lives in Crawley, was made an OBE in 2004 in recognition of his services to education.

He trained at London University and took his first job as a PE teacher in Watford. He worked in two other schools in Hertfordshire before joining St Wilfrid's Catholic School in Crawley as deputy headteacher in 1981. He took his first headship at St Andrew's School in Leatherhead, Surrey, in 1987.

In the early Nineties he spent five years in education administration roles in Surrey and West Sussex, eventually becoming the senior inspector of secondary schools.

He joined Cardinal Newman in 1994 and has been its headteacher for the past 13 years.

Mr Evans said he knew he would now be leaving the school in good hands for a period he felt would be particularly exciting.

He said: "I think the next five years will be a fantastic time for the school. I think it will be a mind-blowing place. Education is changing significantly at the moment. If we carry on going as we are, teaching for our parents past rather than our children's future, we will have problems.

"Young people today need to be equipped to learn and adapt quickly because the workplace they will go into is constantly changing."

Mr Evans said his deputy head Malvina Sanders, who will lead the school as acting head until a permanent appointment is made next year, would be an excellent leader.

He added: "I just know she has all the skills that are needed to move the school to the next stage."

He said that, contrary to some expectations, running a denominational school in a time when fewer people held faiths was an advantage because it gave the school community a stronger bond.

Mr Evans said: "It's often difficult to say things like this without people thinking you've gone soft in the head, but I think there is a spirit which unites this school and guides us forward.

"It has been a great ride here, a great adventure, and I'll miss it."

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