Good legacy for incoming Bradford on Avon head (From Wiltshire Times)

Good legacy for incoming Bradford on Avon head

3:00pm Friday 3rd August 2012 in Wiltshire By Craig Jones

St Laurence School is looking to the future after the appointment of a successor to retiring headteacher James Colquhoun.

Mr Colquhoun will be leaving the Bradford on Avon school, in Ashley Road, in December.

Fergus Stewart is arriving in January, from Swindon’s Nova Hreod School, where he is the deputy head.

Mr Colquhoun, the head for nearly nine years, will work part time during the autumn term, to prepare for the handover.

He said: “Every effort will be made to help Mr Stewart prepare for a calm transition in 2013. The selection process was intense and involved external consultants, working alongside the appointment panel of seven governors.

“I’m looking forward to the new academic year, working hard but part time, as executive head alongside Mrs Hand as acting associate head.”

Cliff Stevens, the chairman of the school’s governing body, said Mr Colquhoun would be greatly missed but he was convinced right replacement had been picked.

Mr Stevens added: “James Colquhoun has done an excellent job in his time, to improve the school, both academically and structurally.

“He will leave the school in very good shape for his successor, Fergus Stewart, to take to the next level of excellence.

“Mr Stewart was appointed by the governors on July 18, after a rigorous three-day selection process, where he abundantly demonstrated all the required attributes to lead St Laurence forward to become a truly outstanding school.

“Mr Stewart will start in January 2013, but will be working with governors and staff in the interim, to facilitate a seamless takeover.

“Mr Colquhoun will be missed, but there is also a buzz of excitement around the school in anticipation of the new headteacher and the beginning of a new era for St Laurence.”