A HEADMASTER has outlined his plans for the future after spending his first year at a leading independent school.

Dr David Hempsall, head of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, summed up his first year in the best traditions of school reports by saying: "It has been a satisfactory start.

"Whilst there have been several significant outcomes, there is a lot of work in progress!"

He told parents, pupils and staff at a speech night at King George's Hall, Blackburn, that the school would continue to promote religious awareness and moral responsibility.

He said: "I find intolerable, in any school, violence against self, others and property as exemplified in substance abuse, bullying, theft and vandalism. "In the future as in the past, I shall continue to take an unequivocal line on all these issues.

"Sloppy speech and bad manners are habits which easily become ingrained and are then hard to eliminate.

"Hence, it is that my colleagues' brief includes expecting the highest standards of conduct and correcting those who do not meet our expectations."

He added: "I shall be pushing ahead on a number of new fronts.

"These will include producing a new prospectus, continuing a revision of the current teaching structure and ensuring that the messages we transmit are clear and unequivocal."

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