THE new headteacher for Lakers School has been named as Ben Parnell, who will take over the reins from interim head John Reilly in September.

The change comes as the school switches from local authority control to becoming a sponsored academy within the Greenshaw Learning Trust.

Mr Reilly said: “Mr Parnell is an experienced principal with an excellent track record of school improvement.”

Ben Parnell joined the senior executive team at Greenshaw in November last year and has a strong record of achieving rapid improvement in some of the most challenging schools in the country.

In a letter to parents, Mr Reilly who took over in January last year, said: “It has been an honour to work at Lakers School.

“Whilst I am pleased by the improvements we have already started to make, I believe the school has fantastic potential and will benefit from the professional expertise and extra resources the Greenshaw Learning Trust can provide.”

Mr Parnell is due to meet parents at the school next Monday, May 8 with other meetings planned in the future.

Mr Reilly has guided the school through a period of rapid improvement since it was placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection in December 2015.

A monitoring Ofsted inspection in July last year said school is well on the road to having its ‘special measures’ status lifted.