KELLY College headmaster Mark Turner is to leave the school next summer after six years at the helm. He has secured the headship of the 850-pupil Abingdon School in Oxfordshire.
Mr Turner, 39, said this week that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would be sorry to leave Kelly and the 'super community' that is Tavistock.
'Kelly is a unique school and one could never replicate its character and atmosphere — it is a mixture of total commitment by staff and pupils who sometimes have to work in adverse conditions because of the moor and the weather.'
He was pleased that during his headship Kelly's pupil numbers had risen from 300 to 370 and confidence in the school had increased. This progress resulted in plans for a new £400,000 astro-turf all-weather floodlit sports pitch.
He was also pleased that the environment of Kelly had 'softened' with greater care for junior pupils. 'It was slightly old-fashioned here in the way it approached some things. It's more inclusive now; a softer, kinder place and co-education — which had started not long before I arrived here — has been a large part of that.'
Abingdon is an all-boys school and Mr Turner said he would miss the 'fantastic contribution' that girls had brought to Kelly.
'Elizabeth and I have been very happy here and it is with a great sense of regret that we are leaving, but we felt we had reached the stage where it was best for the school and for me to move to a bigger challenge.
'I will go with a heavy heart but I'm convinced it's the right thing to do.'
Mr Turner is a member of Tavistock Hockey Club and the town's business association and a vice-president of the cricket club. He and Elizabeth worship at St Eustachius Church — Mrs Turner played a prominent role in local events for the Christian campaign for Third World debt relief, Jubilee 2000.
Mr Turner said that, although it was a long way off, he and Elizabeth might well return to live in the area when he retired.
'Tavistock is a marvellous place,' he said. 'I love the sense of a town large enough to have the main facilities and small enough to have a village feel.
'It's a super community - I'm not sure one can better Tavistock as a place to live.'
Mr Turner will leave Kelly in next July. He has been granted a sabbatical by Abingdon School during which he and Elizabeth hope to visit the United States and Australia to see how schools operate in those countries.
Kelly College governors' chairman John Wright, a former teacher, said the governors regretted Mr Turner's decision to leave but offered congratulations on his new appointment.
'We are very happy to acknowledge the tremendous achievements he has made at Kelly. The increase in the school roll is a reflection of his impact on the Kelly community.'
Mr Wright said the post would be advertised in this week's Times Educational Supplement. It was hoped an appointment would be made in March with the new head starting in September.
He added: 'Mark's predecessor, Chris Hirst, left Kelly for a larger headship at Sedbergh and now Mark is taking up a prominent headship.
'With that sort of track record we will attract ambitious teachers who will see Kelly as a springboard for promotion to larger headships and not those who would view it as the graveyard of ambition.'