Head’s shock resignation

PRINCIPAL TELLS STAFF HE WON’T BE BACK AFTER HALF-TERM

THE head of a 1,500-pupil academy has suddenly stepped down.

Craig Taylor, executive principal of Excelsior Academy, announced on Tuesday he was leaving the school to “pursue new opportunities in education leadership consultancy”.

On Wednesday, the Laidlaw Schools Trust, which oversees the academy announced he would be replaced by interim executive principal David Thornton, an “experienced head teacher”, who previously headed up North Durham Academy.

The Chronicle understands the sudden departure was first announced to staff on Tuesday, when Mr Taylor told colleagues he wouldn’t be coming back to the school after the half-term break, which begins next week.

Mr Thornton is set to take control of the school on November 1 while leaders search for a permanent replacement.

Until the arrival of Mr Thornton at the beginning of November, Mick Connolly, principal of Collingwood School, will act as head of school supported by business manager, Dawn Charlton.

The trust thanked Mr Taylor for his work, and reassured parents it was “committed to providing a high-quality education”.

Mr Taylor took over leadership of Excelsior, Newcastle’s first academy school, which which replaced the failing Westgate Community College in 2007, after founding executive head Phil Marshall retired in 2015. The school caters to students from the age of three to 19 across separate school campuses, and Mr Taylor had previously served as individual head of Hadrian School, one of the schools under the Excelsior banner.

The school had been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2013, but fell to ‘Requires Improvement’ last year. Inspectors said the school faced “formidable challenges” but that leaders responded with “astonishing tenacity”. More than half of the school’s population is classed as “disadvantaged” while 49% speak English as a second language, with many having low literacy levels when they start the school.

However, inspectors said teaching was “inconsistent”, and that while pupils who started with very low attainment tended to improve while at the school, those with average or above-average skills tended to underperform. Provisional GCSE ratings, released by the Department for Education last week, show in this year’s exams just 14% of Excelsior’s pupils achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE – the lowest rate for a mainstream school in Newcastle for which data was available. The ‘Progress Score,’ which shows how pupils have improved from where they started, was ‘below average.’

Chief executive of the Laidlaw Schools Trust, Jane Spence, said: “We are pleased to welcome David Thornton to Excelsior Academy and delighted that he was able to join us at this busy time in the school year.

“He will work at Excelsior Academy until we find a permanent replacement for the role of executive principal.

“Mr Thornton is an experienced headteacher who will provide strong leadership to deliver the standards of education our students deserve.

“In making this interim appointment I should like to reassure parents and carers that Laidlaw Schools Trust is committed to providing a high-quality education and wide-ranging learning opportunities for all students so that they leave us with the best possible skills and confidence to make a success of their future lives. I should like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Taylor for his work. He has been a much-valued colleague. We have appreciated his loyalty and professional contribution to the development of Excelsior Academy and the Laidlaw Trust.”

Laidlaw Schools Trust is committed to providing a highquality education... for all students