4:57pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
By Alexandra Barham
OAKLANDS College principal Mark Dawe has announced he will resign his post next month after five years to take on a "new challenge" as chief executive of a national examining body.
Staff and students at the college, which owns campuses in Smallford, central St Albans and Welwyn Garden City, will say farewell to its principal who began his career in 2005.
Mr Dawe, who lives in Colney Heath, leaves to take up a leading role at OCR, based at the University of Cambridge.
Speaking to the Review today, Mr Dawe said: "When I arrived five years ago the college was unsatisfactory, but there have been some amazing improvements across the board."
Ofsted inspectors rated the college as good in all aspects in its report last November.
He said: "It's a great time now for someone else to take on the role and give that final push to 'outstanding', and for me to go and try something different.
"I have met some fantastic people - that is one thing I'm going to miss. I have met a lot of people linked to the college - district councillors, locals, members of local sports clubs, among others. There's an amazing array of people who have supported the college - we have developed some great partnerships.
"The commitment everyone has to young people's and young adults' learning has been great. It's been good fun getting the summer fair going again and the food festival. It's nice to see people coming to the college - it feels like the college is being embraced by the community, which is really important.
"But the best bit every year is the awards evening - seeing the students achieve is what makes the job."
In his career, Mr Dawe has seen the college suffer several blows, most recently the collapse of a multi-million pound plan to open a new college, thanks to a Government funding crisis.
Mr Dawe concluded: "My only disappointment is not getting the new college - that would have been a fantastic development, but what we're trying now is pretty good. Everytime you get knocked down, you can either sit there and lick your wounds or get up and push for it again. At this college we have done that time and time again. Every time we get a knock, we say 'what are we going to do about it?'
"Oaklands is now in a strong position to go forward. I'm leaving it in a strong position for someone else to drive forward that last push."
The college also announced today that it plans to submit a revised application to modernise the college next month.
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