A DESIRE to go back to doing what he does best has prompted Salterforth headteacher John Kelly to move on after 11 years.

What he does best is to teach children, but in recent years he has felt overburdened by the increasingly complex and time consuming management responsibilities of a headship.

While he's enjoyed his time at Salterforth, Mr Kelly felt it was time for a new challenge.

"It's been wonderful being in a small school and Salterforth is a wonderful place," he said.

"The kids here are the best I've ever taught, but the problem is I don't get enough time to teach them. What with national government initiatives, bureaucracy, paperwork, policy initiatives, staff performance targets, Ofsted, league tables and all the other admin, I've become more of a manager than a teacher."

Now Mr Kelly is moving to St Leonard's School at Langho, near Blackburn, which has around 230 pupils compared to Salterforth's 105. He will still be part of the senior management team as head of key stage two, but with nothing like the management responsibilities of a headteacher

Most importantly, he will be teaching children again, responsible for year six and with special reference to literacy and personal, social and health education.

He is relishing the new challenge, but still has mixed feelings about leaving Salterforth.

"It's the most caring school I've ever worked in and I've been lucky to have a very good, hard working and friendly team of teachers. The parents and governors have been incredibly supportive and we have an excellent relationship with other schools in the area and with local businesses, especially Silentnight.

"But I think I've gone as far as I can with the school and I also think the school will benefit from having someone new, with a fresh outlook," said Mr Kelly.

"I'd rather be gone but not forgotten than forgotten but not gone."

And he certainly won't be forgotten. Some of his first pupils at Salterforth are now in their early 20s and just this year he had the pleasure of welcoming to the reception class the son of a girl he taught there.

A lasting legacy will be the school's mezzanine floor - a second storey installed in the main hall. Mr Kelly led the campaign to win funding for the improvements for almost seven years, constantly pressurising the education authority until it finally came up with the cash. Over those seven years the school raised nearly £22,000 itself - almost half the total cost of the building work.

Mr Kelly's new job will also cut down his working day. He lives at Grimsargh, near Preston - a 50 minute drive each way, but his new school is just 11 miles from his home.

"I'm really grateful and honoured to have been part of the set-up at Salterforth," he said.

"It's a wonderful school and the wonderful things it produces can't be measured by league tables."