WILDERN School, the Hedge End community and his many friends in the world of education are mourning the death of Jeff Threlfall, who died last Thursday (October 11) of cancer.

The energetic headteacher, who had been at the helm of the secondary school for 11 years, died at home with his family by his side. He was 52.

Among those paying tribute was Keith House, leader of Eastiegh Borough Council, who was a Wildern pupil in the 1970s.

Mr House, who worked closely with Mr Threlfall on the major community facilites for sports and arts developed at the school in recent years, said he was an inspirational leader with a passion, vision and commitment that made Wildern a truly great school. "His legacy will undoubtedly be that he created a culture that will live on in the school and continue to enrich the lives of thousands of young people into the future."

During his time at the school, Mr Threlfall saw exam results improve, pupil numbers grow and standards soar - making Wildern one of Hampshire's consistently top-performing schools.

He was the current holder of the prestigious National Teaching Award for Head teacher of the Year in a Secondary School, beating off competition from thousands of other nominations nationwide.

Despite his illness, he had recently travelled to London with his family to receive the CBE in recognition of his passion for making a difference to children's lives.

Acting headteacher Mary Lou Litton and chairman of governors Glenda Lane issued a joint statement in which they said the school was deeply saddened by Mr Threlfall's death.

"Every day he lived out the school motto values of care, opportunity and quality," the statement said. "He cared about children and we cared very much for him.

"He has given thousands of children and so many adults opportunities to achieve, and quality at Wildern meant that he never compromised on high standards.

"Mr Threlfall never gave up and, despite intensive medical treatment, he was still driven by his belief that children only have one chance and every child deserves to achieve."

The statement promised that governors and staff at Wildern would maintain Mr Threlfall's culture of achievement for all. "We at Wildern know that the school's success is because of the vision, determination and commitment of Mr Threlfall and we would like to take this opportunity to offer our most heartfelt condolences to his family for their very sad loss.'' Under his headship, Wildern transformed its performance and doubled its pupil numbers to 1,760.

Last summer 84 per cent of pupils gained five or more GCSEs graded A* to C - well above the national and Hampshire averages.

Ofsted declared Wildern to be outstanding during its inspection last year and singled out Mr Threlfall for his "inspirational leadership" and praised the "Wildern experience" on offer to all pupils.

Under Mr Threlfall the specialist arts college achieved dozens of awards and was the first in Hampshire to gain leading edge status, allowing it to set an example for other secondary schools.

Mr Threlfall was also instrumental in setting up an innovative virtual learning environment for staff and pupils and won a number of national awards for the school's outstanding use of information technology.

The community benefited from Mr Threlfall's dedication, with the creation of The D@rt Centre - which offers community classes in dance, drama, art and music - and the community sports and leisure centre. More recently, the school opened an audio-visual education centre that can be used as a cinema.

Alec Smith, headteacher of Saint James C of E Primary School and chairman of the management group of Wildern School's feeder schools, said Mr Threlfall would be greatly missed.

"His contribution to education was immeasurable. He was passionate about the welfare and education of children.

"He believed that everyone should succeed at their level, and also cared about the local community."

Cllr David Kirk, Hampshire County Council's executive member for Children's Services, and John Coughlan, director of Children's Services, said in a joint statement: "He has been an inspirational headteacher. Wildern School is an outstanding secondary school and Jeff has worked tirelessly there for the benefit of all pupils.'' Caroline Evans, chief executive of the Teaching Awards, said: "He was both a remarkable man and an exceptional teacher."

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