THE new head teacher at a York school has had a great welcome.

Chris Jeffery, has taken up the reins at Bootham School as a new record has been reached in the well-known private school’s history.

This September the school has recorded its highest number of sixth form students, a total of 178, of whom 28 are new this term.

MrJeffery said: “It’s really encouraging to step straight into the record books on my very first day as head, but of course this milestone in the school’s history is down to the growing reputation which the school is enjoying throughout the country and well beyond.

“At Bootham the broad education we offer is founded on a strongly held set of positive values which stem from our Quaker ethos.

“As my predecessor, Jonathan Taylor, said, in the summer, when commenting on the school’s A-level results, a student’s individual exam success is only a part of what they take with them from their school days at Bootham.”

Mr Jeffery has been head of The Grange School in Cheshire since 2005, and has been heavily involved in the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, serving as the chairman of its Welfare Working Group, which looks at student wellbeing in schools.

He has a first-class degree in history from the University of York and he and his wife Carol have three children.

As The Press reported in the summer, out-going head Jonathan Taylor retired after celebrating with pupils on A-level results day – going out on a high.

The school’s former head girl, Holly Jeffrey, and former head of the student council, Andrew Hodgson, both secured Oxbridge places to read modern and medieval languages.

Holly went off to Clare College, Cambridge, while Andrew had a place waiting for him at Wadham College, Oxford.

The pair represented just two of this year’s outstanding results.

Mr Taylor, said at the time: “It is always a pleasure to share in their joy and celebration.

“They have much to be proud of in terms of their individual performance, but more than that,

“I hope each student will take with them the wider lessons they have learnt from Bootham’s Quaker values. Mr Taylor also spent time working alongside his successor to ensure a smooth transition.

He said: “I am impressed by Chris’s deeply held commitment to these same values. He will be a good man for Bootham.”

Bootham was founded by York Quakers in 1823.