New BRCC head aimsfor beacon of excellence

Mr Jones, in his first interview since being appointed, said the college stood on the verge of the most exciting time in its history.

A 35m college is being planned to replace buildings which date back to the 1930s.

The opening date is September 2009. The huge investment will provide facilities unrivalled throughout West Sussex.

Mr Jones is determined to make sure the town in general benefits from them.

'In five years' time, I want this college to be in a position where there are high levels of attainment,' he said.

'I want the students to be successful and the college to be well run, offering a positive learning experience.

'This will be the first college in West Sussex to be completely rebuilt for goodness knows how many decades.

'It is a chance to make it a learning centre for everyone '“ for adults who want to study subjects such as languages '“ as well as students.

'This is an amazingly exciting time for the town and the community and I want the new college to play its full part in that.'

Mr Jones (53) takes over as the college's head in September. He has taught for 31 years in secondary schools in Oxfordshire. The past five of those have been as a head.

He has experience of working in a large school on a split site, which Bognor college will remain in Westloats Lane and Pevensey Road until the present buildings are replaced.

He explained: 'I wanted to come to Bognor because it gave me the opportunity to shape the new college and to shape the future of learning for the community.

'This is already a learning centre because of the number of people who come through here every week and we need to move further beyond being seen as a college.'

He paid tribute to the work of deputy heads, Julia Vincent and Sue Child, who have coped with the daily running of the school for this year.

Their work showed the strength and commitment of the college's staff as they prepared for the enormous changes which the new building would bring, he stated.