Governors reassure parents of Woolton Hill school

Seven members of staff to leave at end of term

School governors at a Hampshire junior school have moved to reassure parents after it announced that seven members of staff – including the headteacher and deputy headteacher – were leaving.

Parents received a letter on Thursday from the current headteacher of Woolton Hill Junior School, Lisa Hodgkinson, stating that the headteacher of Ashford Hill Primary School, Helen Borley, had been appointed as interim headteacher of both schools from September, and that Angela Nicholls from Manor Field Junior School, in Basingstoke, had been appointed interim deputy headteacher.

The letter also confirmed that four new members of teaching staff (Mr Gazzard, Mr Moseley, Mr Griffiths and Miss Dickson) would start in September, as five members of staff were due to leave at the end of term (Mrs Coulson, Miss Fulker, Mr Froggett, Mrs Liddell and Miss Rodwell).

The letter said that Amanda Bailey, who is currently working as special educational needs co-ordinator at the neighbouring St Thomas' Infant School, would be taking on that role at the junior school from September.

The letter finished: “The new staff are looking forward to meeting the children on Monday, July 6, when all pupils will be spending the morning with their new class teachers.”

On Tuesday, the junior school's governing body issued a statement, via its chairman, Rebecca Cooke, to say that they were looking forward to welcoming the new staff from September.

It said: “The school has been guided into a very good position by an exceptional leadership team over the last four years. The headteacher, Lisa Hodgkinson, and deputy headteacher, Ed Dawson, have both been promoted within the county and we wish them well with their new challenges.

“Other staff have been promoted also to new positions elsewhere, or are re-locating.

“While this is a big change and a sad loss, we have successfully recruited replacements for all teaching positions and are extremely confident we will start the new school year in a great place.

“We are really pleased that a very experienced and well-respected interim headteacher, Helen Borley, from Ashford Hill Primary School will share her time between the two schools. She has already started the handover with the current leadership team to ensure a smooth transition.”

Woolton Hill Junior school received an overall good (grade 2) marking following the school's last Ofsted inspection, in 2013.

The junior school is recruiting for a new headteacher to start at the school from January.