STEPHEN Drew is not the type of head teacher who hides himself away in his office.
He is high profile. The new man at the helm at Brentwood County High School spends an hour each day, urgent appointments permitting, wandering the corridors, peering into classrooms.
As I accompany him on Monday morning, he explains: "I call it a climate walk. A school is a complex ecosystem and I want to check it is balanced and working well.
"I'm not doing this to judge or even observe lessons, but to support my staff. If I see something good I will mention it to the particular colleague later. I may also suggest that they could try another way of doing something.
"My job is to enable my staff to be the best they possibly can be so that my students will in turn be the best they can possibly be."
Mr Drew also tries to keep lunchtime free so he can chat to pupils.
"I ask them how their day is going. I ask them which lesson have you enjoyed and why, and also which lessons they have not enjoyed.
"The students are not rude or insulting about their teachers but may say they did not follow what was going on in a particular subject.
"The pupils are the best judges. They are the ones experiencing the education you are providing.
"If they feel they are engaged they are going to buy into it more. It's about making sure the youngsters have a voice and they feel they are being listened to. It's their school. If anything we do is not for the benefit of the children we should not be doing it."
His tours of his new manor also allow Mr Drew to work out what improvements are needed. He has the prospect of an Ofsted visit at any time hanging over him. It could be next week, it could be 12 months or more away, but with Brentwood County High's three satisfactory gradings on the trot, their score can only go up or down when inspectors next visit.
Mr Drew is determined the school will get a 'good'.
"There's nothing bad about this school. It just needs to be better.
"When I first came here to look round I thought that's a school that can be improved; that's a group of young people who deserve a better education; that's a group of staff I can work well with.
"One of the biggest things for this school is ensuring we always have the highest expectations for the pupils. There are no excuses. Very few things make me angry, but when I hear a pupil say 'I can't', it makes me very cross. I tell them it's 'I can't yet', and ask their teacher to show them how they 'can'."
The new head is determined that he and his staff "sweat out the little things". He is tightening up on uniform, language, equipment and tidiness. As he shows me round the school, pupils changing lessons are stopped and politely asked to put on their blazers and do up their top buttons. His first letter to parents was about shoes informing them that black trainers are no longer acceptable footwear.
In return, Mr Drew aims to provide pupils with a pleasant environment.
As soon as he was appointed, he asked that all corridors be painted from the floor to waist level, and the sports hall be completely redecorated.
Minor repairs are still going on, including replacing locker doors, and painting of window sills and door frames, with the target finish time of the open day later this month .
The installation of 25 new bright blue litter bins in the school grounds has massively reduced the amount of litter in the school. As we walk round, Mr Drew spots sweet wrappers trapped in the plastic cover of a control box. He takes a photo on his smartphone and sends it straight away to his site manager.
"It is all about respect. Young people should be proud of their school.
"If we ask them to be smart, polite and come to school ready to work hard, we must provide them with the right environment in which they can do that."
As well as the physical environment, Mr Drew wants to create at the school an atmosphere "in which people can grow and be themselves".
He wants staff to take risks with their teaching styles, encouraging them to try out new ways of teaching, reassuring them: "If it works, great. If it doesn't, don't worry, move on."
"I have a really good team of staff here. It's clear they like being here and the pupils really like them. That's great for me. That's first base covered."
