JFS to hire new headteacher

JFS HAS announced that it is to end the interim arrangement which has seen the school run jointly by an executive and an acting headteacher.

In a letter sent to parents, Geraldine Fainer, chair of governors, said the dual role would be replaced by a single person.

The post will be advertised in “open competition”, Mrs Fainer added.

Deborah Lipkin, a consultant headteacher who works with Brent Council, was brought in last year to run the north-west London school after a disappointing Ofsted report. She has worked alongside deputy headteacher Simon Appleman, who took over as acting head after Jonathan Miller resigned from the job.

Mrs Fainer wrote: “We are delighted to report that the school has achieved phenomenal success over the last 12 months culminating in the recent outstanding exam results. The arrangement of an executive head and an acting head was part of a wider strategy to lay solid foundations and meet the standards expected by us all across the board, and was never intended to be permanent.

“We firmly believe that these foundations have now successfully been laid.”

The school has appointed a team of educationalists to help in the search for a new head, led by Dr Chris Ray the former head of Manchester Grammar School.

A meeting with parents to discuss the new appointment is to be held on September 25th.