Turnaround specialist appointed as new head
A TEACHER who helped a struggling school to become one of the most improved in the country is to become head of academy at a Birmingham school.
Joanne Cottle will join Bournville School on Monday – and she has big ambitions for its staff and pupils alike.
Mrs Cottle has spent the past 10 years working in senior leadership positions at Trinity High School in Redditch.
She was part of the team which took the Worcestershire school from ‘National Challenge’ in 2009 to becoming ‘Most Improved Secondary School in England’ in 2013.
She was also part of the leadership team which helped Trinity High School to secure ‘good’ Ofsted ratings in both 2010 and 2014.
An ‘all-through’ school, Bournville School is run by Fairfax Multi-Academy Trust and educates pupils aged four to 16.
Mrs Cottle said: “I am delighted to have been appointed head of academy at Bournville School.
“I am passionate in my commitment to providing a strong and stable leadership and ensuring the trust’s values of high expectations and ambition for all are embedded within the school.
“I also want to preserve and celebrate the school’s distinct ethos, history and tradition, of which it is justly proud.”
Andy Bird, chief executive of Fairfax Multi-Academy Trust, said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Joanne Cottle to our family of schools.
“Her extensive experience in senior leadership and school improvement will no doubt be an asset to pupils and staff alike at Bournville School.”
Fairfax Multi-Academy Trust was established in 2014 and sponsors Fairfax Academy, in Sutton Coldfield, Bournville School in Bournville, Erdington Academy in Birmingham and Smith’s Wood College in Solihull.