Better results, greater communication and students who are ready for the real world.

That is the vision for Westbourne Academy set out today by the school’s new acting principal.

Dave Lee-Allan was appointed to his new role at the Marlow Road site following the retirement of long-serving headteacher Chris Edwards last week.

Despite poor GCSE results in the summer, which saw just 30% of students attain five A*-C grades including English and maths, Mr Lee-Allan said the school is determined to improve.

He added: “We are having a forensic analysis of those results, with agencies and our sponsor working with us to identify specifically what went wrong.

“I know the parents will be very concerned by those figures and quite rightly.

“It’s about demonstrating we have learnt from those mistakes and we’ve moved on.”

Students at the academy now have a brand new uniform and strict measures have been put in place to make sure they are ready for life after school.

But Mr Lee-Allan has stressed it is important parents also interact with staff to make sure youngsters get the best from their school life.

He added: “Our students deserve the right to walk into a future employer’s office, or another educational provider, clutching an excellent collection of qualifications – qualifications that open the door to exciting new futures.”