The new headteacher of Brighton and Hove's biggest state school has set out her plans to keep it as one the city's best.

Malvina Sanders took up the headship at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, in The Upper Drive, Hove, this week after ten years as deputy head.

She said she wanted to maintain the school's successes and build on them.

The 2,000 pupil school was rated outstanding by Ofsted last year and has consistently featured near the top of academic league tables.

Mrs Sanders said she was not planning any radical changes for the school in the near future but would be constantly evaluating its work.

She said: "There is a big drive for schools to prepare children for the future. We need to help children to be good learners for life.

"A child who is a good learner will be far more successful than a child who has had a good teacher."

She explained that her school would be introducing exercises into all classes which were designed to boost children's "learning" skills.

These would be tailored so the pupils would have the ability to adapt to workplaces where technology was prompting constant change.

Mrs Sanders, from Hove, said she was a Catholic and would continue to embrace the ethos of the school.

She said there was often confusion over the way Catholic schools operated, explaining that it was more about community spirit than indoctrination.

She said: "We want the children to grow with a sense of love, forgiveness and justice. As a head I have to live and walk those values."

Mrs Sanders said Cardinal Newman had developed a truly comprehensive intake which she had no intention of trying to change.

It admits Catholic and Christian pupils from every area of Brighton and Hove and from as far as Seaford and Worthing, including children originally from a wide diversity of countries, with Portugal, Poland and Sudan among them.

Mrs Sanders had been acting headteacher since previous head Peter Evans retired at Christmas.

She said: "I'm very lucky to be taking a job here where the three previous headteachers all brought the school on. You stand on the shoulders of those who went before you and I'm fortunate in that sense."

Mrs Sanders has worked in education for more than 30 years.

She originally qualified at the University of Sussex and worked as a French teacher at Falmer High in Brighton, Portslade Community College and Westergate Community School in Chichester before a spell as an advisor in Dorset.

She later became deputy head at Ringmer Community College before moving to Cardinal Newman.

Her appointment has made her the third female head at Brighton and Hove's nine state secondary schools, following Paula Sargent at Patcham High and Janet Felkin at Blatchington Mill.

Mrs Sanders said: "I don't think it should be seen as a niche, but it will be good for girls to have female role models to look up to."

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