A new head has been appointed to a troubled Bradford school - the third in a year.

Immanuel CE Community College at Thackley was supposed to be a "flagship" Church of England school when it opened in its multi-million pound new buildings in September 2000.

But it has been dogged by reports of poor discipline and its weak GCSE performance last summer left it second bottom in the Bradford league table. Only 15 per cent of pupils achieved the benchmark of five "good" passes, compared to a Bradford average of 33 per cent and a national average of 50 per cent.

New head Brenda Hadcroft today promised to redouble efforts to improve standards at the school and to forge positive links with the local community.

Her appointment comes after Tim Cloke, the original headteacher, quit in July 2001, at the end of the new school's first year in business.

His place was taken by Alan Hall, the experienced head at Belle Vue Girls' who was seconded to lead the school, supposedly for a year.

In fact, he only stayed for a term and a half.

Mrs Hadcroft is from Leeds but has spent 26 years teaching classics and religious education in some tough Glasgow schools.

Before accepting the job at Immanuel she was deputy head for three years and head teacher for one year at Coatbridge High in the East End of the city.

"I have seen everything, I am tough," she said.

She said there were "perceptions" in the community that Immanuel pupils were not well-behaved but her observations of them did not bear this out.

Without warning, she had chosen to take a party of VIPs including the Mayor and Bishop of Bradford into a dining hall where youngsters were having lunch. "That was an act of great faith," she said. The children behaved well during the visit.

She says a new discipline policy is being imposed in September and there has been a reshuffle of some top managers' roles.

"We have had a lot of problems with absence of staff but they are returning to us and things are becoming stable," she said.

"We will turn it round although some of it doesn't need turning round, as it is fine."

She is particularly keen to create a better "spirit" in the school by forging links between youngsters and elderly members of the local community. It is a similar scheme to that she has set up at previous schools.

She says at her last school children grew hyacinth bulbs for local elderly people and delivered them at Christmas.

"It's about bringing children up to be good citizens," she said.