A NEW headteacher has been appointed at Budehaven Community School.

Ms Tracey Reynolds was appointed by governors prior to half term and she will take over from headteacher David Barton in September.

Ms Reynolds is one of the deputy headteachers at the school and Mr Barton has been working closely with her over the course of this half term as they plan for the 2016-17 academic year and beyond.

Mr Barton said: “Tracey will lead the school with great distinction. She has great intellect, drive, energy and enthusiasm, and she has been an outstanding deputy with many years’ experience on our senior team. Tracey joined us in the 2004-5 academic year (she was previously head of history in a large 11-18 Hertfordshire school), and since January 2015 I have entrusted her with leading our post-OfSTED Action Plan.

“I am confident that she will lead the school back to a ‘Good’ judgement when the inspectors return. We obviously do not know precisely when OfSTED will visit, but it will almost certainly be before Easter 2017.

“We live in a rapidly changing educational and political climate, and Tracey’s own background as a teacher of history and sociology will hold us in good stead. She has a genuine interest and profound knowledge in how governments look upon education to impact upon their social policies.

“Parents will be aware that the current government are pursuing an agenda of all schools becoming members of a multi academy trust; governors and I are in deep discussions with possible partners on this journey. As an academy in a trust, leadership and management structures of individual schools are ever changing, and the governors decided therefore, wisely in my opinion, to appoint my successor to a two-year interim headteacher post to take the school through its next OfSTED and on to August 2018.”

Mr Barton explained that in order to ensure that Budehaven is well placed to be a strong partner within a trust, and to ensure that the very special community spirit of Budehaven and its students are not lost this requires leadership of the very highest level.

He added: “Leadership sits naturally on Tracey’s shoulders and she leads confidently, effectively and with an eye on continual improvement. Always willing and able to model good teaching practice herself, she sets and expects the highest professional standards of colleagues, and never accepts anything less than students’ best work in her own classes. She has a very strong work ethic and a ‘personal best’ mentality.

“Ambition lies at the centre of Tracey’s educational philosophy; she is always looking to raise aspiration and confidence in students and staff, she is constantly looking to improve our school and is at the ‘cutting edge’ of learning developments, always drawing on best practice from across the country and around the world to challenge us.

“Tracey always places the student at the heart of every decision she makes; this year, for example, she has redesigned our curriculum structures for students making their GCSE options in a way that both meets government requirements but, more importantly is suited to the needs of each individual child.

“Whilst excited by the opportunities that lie ahead of me in my new position working alongside Cornwall’s headteachers, I am of course very sad to be retiring from the headship at Budehaven at the end of August. However, I am to be succeeded by a very high calibre person indeed, and I shall watch with both great interest and optimism as Tracey leads the school into its next phase of development.”