A NEW headteacher is looking to ‘build on successful foundations’ as he settles in his new surroundings.

Neil Gurman has taken over at the helm of St Mary’s CE Primary School in Rawtenstall.

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Mr Gurman, who has worked at other schools in East Lancashire, is the first new head at the school for a couple of generations after the retirement in the summer of Ian Holden, who had been at the 197-pupil school for 28 years.

The 37-year-old, who has previously taught at St John Southworth Primary in Nelson and West End Primary in Oswaldtwistle, said he had been impressed with the Haslingden Old Road school and the behaviour of the children and the ethos of the school.

He said: “From the moment I walked in for the first time I could tell this was a happy and productive school.

“The children are respectful and polite and that is testament to the great team we have working here.

“I believe a close working relationship between home and school is vital to support each child’s learning.

“I will be encouraging parents to form a partnership with the school and to actively share in their child’s education.

“My aim is to constantly strive to improve our standards at all times in order to give our children the best educational opportunity.

“We are very proud of our recently refurbished and extensive environmental area which provides a fantastic world of discovery and allows children to gain first hand experiences of the natural world whilst developing crucial social skills such as team-work and problem solving.

“It is important that children experience a wide range of opportunities in order to enable them to become well balanced and tolerant independent thinkers.”

Mr Gurman, who lives locally with wife Helen and young children Eve and Joe, said his hobbies outside school included supporting Burnley FC and he has had a season ticket at Turf Moor for many years.

He has also likes to travel, a passion which led to him working overseas for three years.

He said: “Between 2008 and 2011 I taught in schools in Borneo and Malaysia.

“The experience was very rewarding and I think helped broaden my perspective of education.”

Education watchdog Ofsted upgraded the school in 2015 from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’.