NOT every retiring headteacher has commissioned a yacht and plans to sail the Atlantic Ocean.

But then Toby Hufford has just spent 20 years in charge of one of Bexley’s largest and most demanding schools.

Mr Hufford was appointed head of Erith School in 1989, when it was still on two sites, split between buildings in Avenue Road, Erith, and Brook Street, Northumberland Heath.

Brought up in Africa until he was 14, because his father worked for the World Health Organisation, he studied philosophy at Cambridge, after getting a degree in geography at Southampton University.

Mr Hufford says one of his finest achievements was attracting the £12m which enabled the school to consolidate in new buildings on the Avenue Road site.

He said he was also proud of achieving Ofsted’s top accolade of “outstanding school”.

But he said he was most proud of the thousands of pupils who left Erith School “with the wherewithal to make their way successfully through their lives”.

He said: “They have made good, and we have done our bit for north Bexley and for society.

“That is a very satisfying feeling for me.”

He acknowledged the bilateral school, with more than 2,000 pupils, was a challenging one.

But he said Erith School had proved to the world that large schools do work.

Mr Hufford said he had always wanted to be the captain of a ship and compared the school to a large passenger liner.

He explained: “At the end of a term the pupils disembark and there is another voyage the following term.”

In preparation for his retirement, Mr Hufford has been swotting up on new sailing qualifications and is itching to get back to sea on his new yacht, which will be ready in November.

He is also a keen gardener and angler and will be spending more time with his wife, Margaret.

When pupils return in September, they will find a familiar face waiting for them.

Julie Turner, who has been deputy head since 1990, has been appointed as the new headteacher.