BENTWORTH Primary School has appointed a new headteacher as it prepares to be an ARK Academy.
Governors voted to switch from council control to the hands of the ARK education charity in March after a lively consultation during which parents and teachers clashed.
With the new ARK Bentworth Primary Academy due to open in September, they have appointed Samantha Jafuneh as its new head who will leave her job as deputy headteacher at Kinsley Primary School, in Yorkshire, for the role.
Mrs Jafuneh has been credited with improving the quality of teaching and the rate of progress made by the children in reading, writing and mathematics.
She also developed parent and pupil workshops to bridge the gap between home and school learning.
She said: “I’m really excited about joining Bentworth, getting to know its pupils and their families and to working with them to make Bentworth truly exceptional.”
Mrs Jafuneh will work closely with executive head, Damian McBeath, who is headteacher of sister school ARK Conway Primary Academy.
He said: “We want to make Bentworth an outstanding school to give local children an excellent start to their school career and I look forward to working with Mrs Jafuneh and the Bentworth staff to make that a reality.”
