A NEW year and a new school term has brought with it a new head teacher for Chepstow Comprehensive School.

Relocating from Plymouth, Claire Price, 45, has taken over the role following the retirement of her predecessor John Barnbrook last year.

The mother-of-four earned a law degree at Cardiff Univer-sity before going on to work for the probation service. She later decided to turn her hand to teaching and taught in a number of schools in the Plymouth area.

Chosen for the post at Chepstow for “her forward thinking and fresh approach to modern day education, along with her wealth of experience,” she says she is thrilled at being appointed.

“I can’t believe just how wonderful the school is,” she said. “The staff and pupils have given me such a fantastic welcome and I am so impressed with the manners and attitudes of the pupils here.”

Following the IT problems that plagued the school last term and a recently published report that suggested the school was not doing as well as in previous years, Mrs Price says she is in no doubt that the school is and will remain successful.

“This school had the best GCSE results in the county last year and had a 82 per cent successful pass rate – well above the Welsh average.

My aim for the school is to create a 21st-century school which will enable our children to become 21st-century workers – equipped with the skills and education needed to do so.”