'There's been a big change' - New era dawns at South Shore Academy where killer teacher Jamie Varley worked

South Shore Academy is undergoing a major period of change in culture and ethos as its new leadership team seeks to overcome the school’s ‘historic perceptions’.

The Blackpool high school has been through a turbulent period recently following the arrest of former teacher Jamie Varley in 2023

Varley, who lived latterly in Grimsargh near Preston, spent several years teaching textiles at South Shore, holding numerous roles including head of year, until his suspension in 2023. He was subsequently handed a whole life sentence at Preston Crown Court for murdering 13-month-old Preston Davey and multiple offences relating to the abuse of the child.

Since then, South Shore has joined the Cidari Multi Academy Trust and taken on a new leadership team, including former St George’s High duo Neil Kay (current South Shore headteacher) and Victoria Danson (current deputy-headteacher).

Victoria Danson, Deputy Head at the school, spoke to The Gazette to explain the change in culture and ethos at South Shore. She said: “I think there’s been a big change in the culture and a big change in the expectations of what the young people can achieve.

“There’s been a lot of work on routines, building good habits with the pupils. The staff have really taken that on board and implemented a lot of what Neil’s brought in.

“We have significantly improved over the last two years, and we’re predicting more big improvements in that over the next two years. So, we felt like this was a good time to launch the new face of the school with a new badge and a new uniform.”

South Shore’s new uniform will be implemented from next September, and the school’s new colours will be grey blazers with red ties. New skirts with a red tint will also be available for girls, and a new PE kit will be launched too.

“We want to build up to be a fantastic school- we very much acknowledge the community we are in. We are here to serve them, but we feel like this is a new chapter, a new era,” mrs Danson said.

“I also think we need to overcome the historic perceptions of this school. For a long time, it struggled with its results and struggled to attract parents and pupils. We want parents to be choosing us as a first choice school, we want them to choose to send their children here.

“We’re trying to create the foundations of future greatness in our young people by developing young people who will not just make a difference in their own lives, but will have a positive impact on the wider community.”

• The Lancashire Post has teamed up with the Blackpool Gazette to call for a national public inquiry into the Preston Davey case to the Prime Minister. Armed with the voices of more than 120,500 supporters, we delivered our petition to Downing Street last week.