Village school WLTM a new head (From Echo)

Village school WLTM a new head

6:00pm Tuesday 9th June 2009 in

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POPULAR, attractive school seeks enthusiastic and happy headteacher for fun and friendship – GSOH required.

That’s the appeal from governors at Ridgewell Primary School who certainly displayed their Good Sense Of Humour when they penned this advert for a new head.

The school, which feared looking “like any old village school” on paper, wanted to attract attention.

And the lonely hearts-style ad seems to be working.

Sarah Howard, chairman of governors, suggested the method.

She said: “The thing is, it’s such a difficult market out there at the moment. About 27 per cent of headteacher vacancies are unfilled. We have really got to stand out.

“On paper we just look like any old village school. We know we are not, we’re special. We want to attract someone who would respond to that.”

As well as the Times Educational Supplement advert, the school’s website displays a letter from children to the prospective headteacher, suggesting they are “nice and kind” and do “interesting and fun assemblies”.

It also includes a letter “to our new headteacher” which ends with the suggestion “You especially need to like children”.

The advert has already attracted two inquiries for the post in three days.

Mrs Howard added: “We did two runs of normal boring adverts and got nothing, then I had this brainstorm and bashed this out.”

Andy Richbell, the current head of the school, near Halstead, is moving to Brighton.

The new headteacher will start in January. In the meantime, deputy Karen De Pietro will look after the school’s 88 pupils.