“BE the best you can be”, is the new motto for pupils at West Somerset College from September.

Principal Gaynor Comber says the motto is fitting for what she wants each pupil to achieve when they leave school.

Having been in education 27 years and a principal for almost ten, Gaynor has plenty of experience and ambition.

The college has been enjoying improving GCSE results year on year, but for Gaynor it isn’t all about the grades. 

She said: “The most rewarding thing about teaching is, for me, results day.

“It isn’t the results themselves, but the faces of the pupils – that’s what sticks with you.

“It’s so rewarding to see someone’s face lit up because they’ve got the grades they wanted, and they’re able to go on and do what they want in the next stage of their life.

“You do, of course, get a few who don’t get their grades, but it’s not about saying ‘well, you can’t do this’ – it’s about looking at what they’ve got and working with them to help them.”

The college also provides further education for students up to the age of 18 and teaches many vocational courses.

Gaynor said: “We have a lot of diversity on offer, and I think that’s something very unique and exciting to West Somerset.

“We share many of our teachers with the middle schools in the area to help provide an interesting and varied curriculum, and I really want to keep building on those partnerships.”

Gaynor said her aim for students when they leave is to be happy and to know they are capable of anything they put their minds to.

“This is a very rewarding job which does have its challenges, but we try to show pupils they can do anything they want if they work for it.

“When you stop enjoying your job you know it’s time to get out because teaching is all about enjoyment, so I think I’ll be here for a long time yet.”

Photos: Somerset Photo News.