THE new head teacher at St Gregory’s High says the school is ready to ‘step out of the shadows’ as he looks to the future. 

Ed McGlinchey took up the role at the Cromwell Avenue school in September following on from Paul Heitzman, who he praised as a ‘brilliant mentor’.

And although the school has had a rocky few years, dropping from an outstanding to inadequate Ofsted rating in 2013 and facing a scandal after a former science teacher was jailed, Mr McGlinchey said St Gregory’s is now looking to the future.

The school was taken out of special measures in 2014 and Mr McGlinchey is optimistic about the enthusiasm of staff, parents and pupils.

The 39-year-old said: “We are moving forward. I have always been interested in a challenge and I’m ambitious to develop St Gregory’s for our students.

“These are the best pupils I have ever worked with by a thousand miles. The school has to reflect that and the pupils should be proud of where they study.”

He highlighted the new sports hall and science block, which is due to be built this year, as a sign of the increased opportunities he wants for youngsters.

He also said he is ‘confident’ about this summer’s GCSE results as teachers and pupils have been working hard on extra mock exams.

“We find students get a lot of confidence from exam practice. It means they won’t have the fear when they go into their real exams and they will get the hang of timings and areas they need to focus on.

“The mock results day had a really positive effect and parents were pleased with it. But I’m keen to tell the kids they need plenty of social and rest time as well. 

“They took the mock results really seriously. The good thing is, if they’re unhappy with their results they know they can do something about it.”

Mr McGlinchey, who lives in Great Sankey, has also been visiting primary schools to help parents and pupils feel more relaxed about the move from year six to year seven.

“I’m extremely ambitious because of the potential of this school. Of course there will be blips along the way but you just have to deal with that,” he added.

“We have to do the best we can for these pupils. This is their school and they want to look back on it fondly.”