HELEN Salmon is a self-confessed workaholic in term time. The walls of her office, lined with laminated, inspirational quotes, bear testament to her 'can-do' personality.

She has been working as Tavistock College's principal for a year — a period which has seen big changes and some big decisions at a school that had only one way to go.

Placed into special measures by education watchdog Ofsted in the winter of 2010, Helen had a major job ahead of her — but it was a challenge she grasped eagerly.

Her previous headship was at St James' School in Exeter — a school which was failing to a quite incredible degree.

She said: 'St James was really, really poor. It's results were way below Tavistock College's. At the point when I joined, only 10% of students got five grade A to C at GCSE, which is pitiful.

'We had to really turn it around, and I am very proud of what we did there.' St James is now in the top ten most improved schools in England.

'Having said that, the potential at Tavistock is just fantastic, which is what is so exciting.

'The community is so supportive, the children are bright, they could be achieving really great things.'

Getting the right team together in Tavistock has meant changes in personnel. Times must have been grim in the staff room on occasion.

But Helen, aged 57, is delighted with the new appointments she has made, including two new vice-principals.

'It's about getting that mix of new talent and new people, a mixture of new staff coming out of training and some who have been teaching two or three years, plus the experienced staff we already have.'

Helen said she was also delighted to have been able to promote some of her teaching staff.

'I don't like putting people through on the nod. They've had to earn it, I put them through it. They have to do a presentation, they have to go before the student panel.

'The thing is if we get it wrong we live to rue it, so it has to be right.'

Helen said she was excited about the new balance of staff.

'We have 20 new members of staff starting in September and I've been very choosy about who we employ.

'We've been going out to the universities, to the teacher trainers, because I want the best to come here. One of the appointments I am delighted with is our new drama teacher, who actually won the Ted Wragg student teacher of the year award, which is fantastic.'

Helen believes there has been a change in the college in very recent months — and despite the school being under special measures, she is not finding it hard to attract new blood to her teaching staff.

'The change is difficult to explain, but it really is palpable. Someone said to me recently, "I want to come and be part of the change" — I know that sounds a bit trite, but I want to attract people who really genuinely want to make a difference for the youngsters, and to inspire them.'

Helen admits that the last 12 months have not been easy. But the principal is optimistic that a corner has now been turned.

'I feel we have the momentum now, which we didn't have at the beginning of the year. I think the teachers were really up for Ofsted this time, there was a feeling of "We can do this", whereas at the beginning of the year, it wasn't like that.

'When Ofsted came in March, morale was very low. I've had to do some quite tough things, dealing with poor teaching and redundancies, and you don't get out of bed in the mornings wanting to do that.

'Now, there is a palpable difference in the feeling. They've worked really hard, they've been really pressured, but there's a critical mass now that thinks we can do it. I want this positivity, I want this can-do mentality and it's great to be seeing it.'

Helen said she realised it took time to build confidence — on the part of parents, students, staff and the wider community.

'It's not a one year turn-around and I think we need to have a good set of results and see a good report from Ofsted to show that we are getting there.

'The leadership team is now in place and I've also promoted two people internally to new roles which weren't there before.'

These include fostering links with the business community, to promote engagement with local employers.

The school is developing the vocational side of the curriculum and has just held a successful animal careers fair.

'It really was tremendous. The point was that we live in a rural community and a percentage of our youngsters will want to stay in the area. The fair was about showing them what was on offer, and I have to say, the community support for it was fantastic.

'We had farriers, dog groomers, vets and all sorts of animals here — you can imagine the risk assessment for this took a bit of doing.

'We are going to hold one of these every year — the next one will be about public services.'

Helen is also keen to foster and support the school's real 'high fliers', through a new 'Aspire Project', aimed at encouraging youngsters to go through sixth form and really aim for the top when it comes to higher education. A bespoke programme is being built, which will include a residential in London, to open students' eyes to careers and experiences they may not have thought possible.

'The idea is to give them an extra dimension, so that when they do their UCAS applications they really want and believe they can achieve the best,' said Helen, who is actively developing partnerships and links in business and education to give as wide a range of choice and opportunity for all students.

Originally from Humberside, Helen has a home in Bristol, although she is now living in Tavistock during the week, which she says she loves.

Ultimately, she hopes she and her husband will buy a house in the area — when a dog may even be on the cards.

The couple enjoy walking, which they are keen to do on holiday in Ireland this summer.

'I've never been to Ireland before. I'm really looking forward to a good break, to chill properly, and have lovely meals, pints of Guinness and some great walks.'

A passionate lover of the arts and music, she adores theatre and has a constant supply of books to enjoy — of all types and genres.

While admitting she is pretty welded to her work, turning into the school car park at 7am most mornings, she said she now knows when to step back.

She became seriously ill with cancer several years ago — an experience which, she said, put things sharply into perspective.

'It was very scary. I'd got this lump in my neck, which I thought was swollen glands, but it turned out to be a lymphoma.

'I had six months of chemo. I did work through it part-time, which actually kept me going, but it really made me realise that there are more important things than work.

'It made me determined to get on with life and enjoy it.'

Another thing which is concentrating her mind at the moment is her 23-year-old younger son. A Royal Marine, he is currently serving his first tour in Afghanistan.

'It's interesting — we are not a military family at all, but he was passionate about doing it.

'I had a lot qualms about it personally, but I've had to work through my own prejudices,' said Helen, whose elder son is a 29-year old, working in the construction industry.

Heading what is essentially a multi-million pound business and large employer, doesn't she miss teaching itself?

'I do enjoy teaching, and at my last headship I did teach year 11, but there is a danger you can let the kids down if you are getting called off for meetings.

' I do think you have to get into the classroom and be seen around the school though,' said Helen.

Her wish list for Tavistock College, apart from a swift exit from Ofsted's special measures list, includes replacement of the school's ageing science block.

Despite living in an age of public spending cut-backs, she is determined to tackle that particular mountain.

'There are some fantastic facilities here, but it is a mixed bag. The sports facilities are fabulous — our new vice principal, who was originally a PE teacher, is itching to make the best of them — and the language block is good, but then there are the older bits.'

The school day has been re-structured to create one lunchtime, instead of two, and more changes are in the pipeline for September.

The students will be grouped differently next year.

'At the moment they are scattered all over the school — next year they will be in their own area. And for year 7 we have doubled the number of tutor groups, so they will be in classes of 14 or 15, and will have much more individual attention and support.

'Unfortunately, we haven't got enough accommodation to do it throughout the years, but if you are going to do it, it makes sense to do it with the youngest students.

'The idea is to give the kids more of a sense of belonging, make them feel more secure and to enable the head of year to get round the tutor groups.'

Helen admitted there had been some criticism of the year zones idea — but she argued that the old system had to go and the new one could only work if it went ahead in 'one fell swoop'.

Summing up her first year, the words most often on the principal's lips seem to be 'optimistic', 'exciting', 'partnership' and 'team'.

'There are some great people here, who have huge potential — they just need to be able to fly. This school can go just like that — and that's why I took the job.'