AN EAST Dorset headmaster will bid a fond farewell to his students this summer before starting a new life in China.

Andy Puttock, who has been at QE School in Wimborne for 12 years, has taken on a new role as the principal of the British School of Beijing in China.

He will be replaced by Martin McLeman, currently the deputy head at Tewkesbury School in Gloucestershire.

Mr Puttock, 52, said: “My wife and I visited Beijing and my new school for three days, and it is an absolutely amazing place.

“It’s such an interesting city. I am learning to ask people who have visited when it was that they went. If it was more than three years ago, things have moved on so quickly that much will be completely different now.”

Mr Puttock, who studied linguistics at university, said he has heard Mandarian is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

“I would hate to go to a country and not speak the language at all,” he said.

“I will be living there with my wife and my daughter, and we are learning some rudimentary language which will be really important for shopping and getting around.”

While East Dorset is home to 87,300 people, Beijing has more than 20 million residents, and is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai.

“We are all very excited about it and very much looking forward to it, but of course it is a massive change,” said Mr Puttock.

“It is a great opportunity and I want to make the most of it, both professionally and personally. Time has flown at QE, and people have been asking me why I’m leaving, as everyone knows how much I love working here. I would happily have stayed for a number more years. But age is important – at the moment I am still appealing for jobs like this, even without any international experience, but I may not be in a few more years. You have to take these opportunities when they come.”

New head Mr McLeman said: “I am completely blown away by this school – it is amazing and I could not be more impressed with that I have seen.

“It will be a huge privilege to lead the school through the next stage of its development.”