Glowing tributes as Torbay school head retires after 30 years

Mike Lock is flying high as he retires as headteacher of Torquay's Combe Pafford School after 30 years at the helm.

Mike, who hails from Plymouth, first joined the school in 1991 as deputy head from Westfield School in Weymouth, and when the previous head retired, was successful in being appointed head and has never looked back, successfully leading the school through far-reaching changes in education both locally and nationally, and accompanied by a steady increase in pupil numbers to nearly double their previous levels.

Staff and pupils have given him an uplifting leaving present - a flying lesson where he intends flying over the school to wave at the children.

Combe Pafford, which caters for children and older teenagers with Moderate Learning Difficulties and Autism, now boasts its own Sixth Form and pupil numbers are in excess of 260. When Torbay became a unitary authority in 1998, it wasn’t long before the school was accommodating some of the displaced youngsters from Steps Cross School which closed its doors in 2002, and numbers have grown steadily ever since.

Mike bid successfully for Combe Pafford to become a specialist Business and Enterprise School under the specialist schools initiative in 2006, and then set about laying the groundwork for the school’s vocational blueprint for the next 20 years.

The vision of providing a work-based, vocational curriculum involved a succession of major building developments providing state-of-the-art vocational facilities for students not only from Combe Pafford, but also from local secondary and special schools.

The Motor Vehicle workshop (opened in 2008), the Construction Hall (opened in 2011) and the Yellow Frog Café (opened in 2014 and open to the public) were joined by the later additions of a hair salon, an animal care facility and a horticulture classroom and greenhouse, to form a comprehensive provision that is the envy of schools far and wide. A final building phase is currently nearing completion.

Mike’s drive and vision have not limited to the vocational agenda. His passion for youngsters to experience life-changing residential and travel opportunities have taken students far and wide each year. Not content with trips to a variety of destinations in the UK, Mike encouraged trips to France, Belgium and Spain and as a result of receiving a National Headteacher of the Year Award in 2006, started an annual exchange programme with vocational schools in Beijing, China – this project lasted a number of years and resulted in over 100 students having the opportunity to travel to China and sample the culture.

Trips to Costa Rica followed, plus a delegation of local teachers to Nigeria. More recently, Sixth Formers have benefited from an extended stay in Gran Canaria as part of the Turing Project, and despite retiring Mike is hoping his parting shot will be the setting up of a new link with the Imprezza Academy in Kenya.

In 2013 Combe Pafford became an academy and also opened its doors to Post-16 students for the first time in the form of a modest Sixth Form. This has become increasingly popular with leavers and has gone from strength to strength, growing steadily to its current capacity of 60 students.

In 2020 Mike was awarded an OBE for Services to Children with Special Needs, and he was able to attend Buckingham Palace to receive his honour from the then Prince Charles.

A school spokesman said: "Mike's leadership and experience in school will be greatly missed but he leaves behind a committed staff who fully understand and subscribe to the vision of getting young people into paid employment, training or an apprenticeship.

"This means that the tremendously important and successful work that has been the school’s trademark will carry on without him, and the legacy he leaves behind is of a school with a reputation for providing the very best educational provision possible."

Staff and former colleagues enjoyed an evening at the Passage House Hotel in Kingsteignton to mark Mike’s retirement, whilst in school a feature-length school assembly in which pupils across the school have provided memories and tributes ended with Mike’s leaving gift being revealed - the flying lesson with Aviation South West at Exeter Airport during which he will fly over the school at break time.

Mike's successor will be Sally Banfield, who takes over as Head in September.