THE headteacher of Winchester's biggest school is set to step down – and will be stepping up to the thin blue line.

Matthew Leeming has been in his post at Kings' School for seven years but has decided to hang up his academic hat.

He told the Chronicle that he now plans to have a "short" career in the police.

Mr Leeming, who has been a teacher for exactly 30 years having started in 1989 at Range High School in Formby, Merseyside, says his career has taught him "that all human beings are equally and infinitely important".

"I am sad that the time has come for me to step down as headteacher," he said.

"Kings’ School is the nicest place I have ever worked – the relationships between the adults, amongst the children and between the two groups are really very special. I am struck everyday by how nice the pupils are to each other and to us – uniquely, in my experience, Kings’ is a school at which it is admirable to be both high-achieving and one’s own person.

"I want to emphasise that the school was great when I arrived and if it is any good now (and I think it is very good indeed) then that is because of the efforts of every single person who has worked here. It benefits from a very long track record of success and all the institutional self-confidence that implies; on the other hand, I hope that it is entirely free of complacency and that colleagues remain excited about the future and determined to make it even better than the past."

Mr Leeming said he "will miss winter mornings on the gate and summer lunchtimes on the field", as well as the daily contact with staff and the 1,650 children who attend Kings'.

He added: "My successor is a lucky person. I hope that we continue to produce kind-hearted, broad-minded, rational young adults. I hope, too, that we find a good balance between academic excellence and the development of ‘the whole child’, supporting a broad and stimulating taught curriculum and paying proper attention to pupils’ wider interests.

"When I started at Kings’ seven years ago, I wondered whether the motto “Una Laborantes”/ “Working Together” really meant anything. As time has gone by, I have become absolutely convinced that it captures an important truth about the school and its community – there really is an unusual spirit of co-operation and encouragement amongst the people who work here."

When asked how education has changed over the last seven years, Mr Leeming said: "The last seven years have been dominated by funding pressure – it has been a real struggle to maintain high standards for the children and to look after the staff in the face of falling real-terms income.

"It has also become slightly harder to find great teachers and also slightly harder to support teenagers as they navigate their ways through the challenges of adolescence, old and new."