Catholic schools chief appointed interim head of JFS

THE CHIEF executive of a Catholic academy chain has been made interim head of JFS.

Martin Tissot, ceo of the Cardinal Hume Academies Trust, told parents he felt honoured and privileged to be given the role at “this remarkable school”.

Former Ofsted head Sir Michael Wilshaw was drafted in as interim executive principal mid-term during the summer after the sudden departure of headteacher Rachel Fink.

The school was downgraded from good to inadequate by Ofsted in June over concerns about safeguarding.

Mr Tissot said he had pledged to the governors “my full commitment to maintaining and enhancing the high academic standards of this school and will work with the senior team and the governors to maintain excellent pastoral care and will strive to ensure the Jewish ethos of the school remains at the heart of everything we do.”

Sir Michael will continue to provide leadership oversight, while Dame Joan McVittie, a former London school head, who was also brought on board during the summer, will continue to oversee safeguarding practice.

Mr Tissot told parents, “Given the issues identified in our most recent Ofsted inspection, we are challenged to ensure that safeguarding in the school is robust, that there is a culture of vigilance and that we have a concern for the welfare of each individual. “

It was vital that pupil behaviour “remains very good and within appropriate boundaries. I have the conviction that the steps we are taking will continue to result in rapid improvement.”

He warned that social media, while beneficial, was “too often a source of argument and harassment” and asked parents to ensure that mobile phones were left at home and that they supervised children’s internet and social media use at home.

If children carried a phone to school he suggested it should be “a basic version and it must be switched off and put at the bottom of a bag so it is not used within the school grounds at all.”

As a headtacher, he was “firm but fair”, he said. A new rewards and sanctions system would be introduced which ,”we hope, will motivate children to be the best they can be”.

Parents, he added,” often say they want good disciplinary systems in schools but then rail against sanctions imposed upon their own children. I ask for your full support and co-operation so that we can work in a constructive partnership.”