Dear Parents / carers,

 

We have come to the end of a long term; I don’t think any of us have finished an Autumn term on December 22nd before. It is a credit to the students and staff that they have kept working hard until the end and I think we are all very much looking forward to a well earned break. In the New Year, there will be some changes to the leadership team at Co-op Academy Priesthorpe which we believe will help continue the journey of improvement. This progress has really gathered pace in the last few years and we want this to be sustained into the future. 

 

From January 2024, Martin Blacoe will continue to be Headteacher at Priesthorpe but will work 3 days a week; he will still be working for the Trust on his other 2 days a week. Louise Pratt, Deputy Headteacher, will lead the school as Headteacher on those 2 days. This joint Headship is unique to Priesthorpe and will be an asset to the school because of the quality and experience of Martin and Louise as leaders. It will also give us extra capacity in the short term and continuity in the longer term. Alongside this, we are delighted to announce that Emma Moss (Quality of Education) and Liam King (Behaviour and Inclusion) have been promoted to substantive and permanent Deputy Headteacher positions. 

 

Earlier in the term, we had a rigorous recruitment process for new Assistant Headteacher positions which attracted a strong external field. Chris McArdle (Geography) and Chris Chapman (Science), 2 of our excellent middle leaders, were successful and will start their roles in January 2024.

 

Priesthorpe Leadership Structure

 

Headteacher  Martin Blacoe - 3 days a week Louise Pratt - 2 days a week
Deputy Headteacher Louise Pratt - 3 days a week	Deputy Headteacher       Emma Moss	Deputy Headteacher          Liam King
Assistant Headteacher Chris McArdle	Assistant Headteacher Chris Chapman	Assistant Headteacher Rebeka Gupta

 

As a Trust, we are proud that we have developed the next generation of leaders at Priesthorpe from the talented people we work with everyday; colleagues who understand the values of the school and who are committed to the long term success of the school, its students and the wider community.

 

Have a restful break and we will see you all in the New Year.

Brian Kelly

Executive Headteacher - West Yorkshire

Co-op Academies Trust