Meet the new headteacher at South Wilts Grammar School

Next is Dr Amanda Smith, of South Wilts Grammar School, who has taken over post from Mrs Chilcott.

Dr Smith is no stranger to the school, having first worked at South Wilts in 2012 where she took on several leadership roles over the upcoming eight years, including deputy headteacher. 

She left in 2020 to take on the role of headteacher at Poole Grammar School.

Dr Smith said: “When I left to go to Poole, I was very excited to do it, but it was really bittersweet because I really missed here. I always wondered if I might come back.

“I landed there in the middle of Covid and that was my first headship, but it was amazing, I had a fabulous time. I learned how to be a headteacher. It was a boy’s school, so very different in many ways but similar in others. It was a big, important part of my life.”

READ MORE: Meet the new head teacher of Salisbury Cathedral School

When the opportunity came up to return to South Wilts, Dr Smith decided that “the time was right”.

“It's felt like coming home”, Dr Smith said, “that’s genuinely how it felt. And that’s a really nice feeling, I’ve been really warmly welcomed.

“This school is in really good shape, it’s an amazing school so I’ve got such a responsibility and honour to think, it’s in a fabulous state, what can I do with it to help it to flourish even more and into the future? It’s the best position to be in - I’m very lucky.

'It has felt like coming home' (Image: South Wilts)

“My sincere thanks to Mrs Chilcott. She was instrumental in my career and she has done an amazing job with this school. We’re good friends and we’ve stayed in touch all that time so we had a really good handover. I’m building on her legacy.”

READ MORE: South Wilts Grammar School waves goodbye to headteacher

Her first priorities as head surround understanding the school better, so that she can "grow the school".

One imminent change to South Wilts is the implementation of a new digital strategy, which will see year 12 students being given laptops to accompany their learning.

She said: “The world has moved on so much; we want to level the playing field. There are children who can have access to all of those things at home and some who don’t.

“To me, fundamentally, a grammar school is there to level the playing field and if we are able to provide that sort of facility to all students then actually what we’re doing helps to improve all their chances.”

Dr Smith told the Journal that she is particularly looking forward to the school’s Christmas carol concert at Salisbury Cathedral.

But above all, she said: “I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth stuck in to a school I really love and to feel like I belong again.”