A new headteacher is one of the many fresh faces at Tabor Academy this year.

Matthew Slater, 45, has been involved with the school since Easter, waiting to take over from acting principal Chris Bowler.

Mr Slater hopes this will put him in a good position to improve the school’s performance across the board after respectable GCSE results this year.

He said: “It’s nice to be in Braintree and it’s nice to be at Tabor. It’s a lovely place and it’s a lovely school and I’m delighted to be here.

“We have a lovely mix of families who are really keen for their children to be successful.”

This year 89 per cent of pupils achieved an A* to C grade in science, the best results the academy has ever recorded, and overall 58 per cent achieved at least five A* to C grades including English and maths.

Mr Slater said: “The science results were excellent and we were delighted with those, but we want to improve in all areas."

See this week's Braintree Times for the full story.