Stowmarket High School’s new headteacher is Lucie Hernandez, who has been interim head there

A Suffolk high school’s trust has announced its new headteacher, commending them for their ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘ambition for the school’.

Stowmarket High School’s permanent headteacher is Lucie Hernandez, who has been interim head at the school since September last year.

SuffolkNews interviewed Ms Hernandez last year about her aims and hopes for the school, after she took over from the previous head Dave Lee-Allan.

In a letter to families, Craig Morrison, chief executive of the Kingfisher Schools Trust, which runs the school, said: “Over the two days of interviews and activities, Ms Hernandez demonstrated her energy, her ambition for the school, and the strength of the relationships she can build.

“Her experience of working in leadership roles in very successful schools could be seen throughout.

“Ms Hernandez also brought a great deal of knowledge of the school into this process and could draw upon many examples of the impact she has made since beginning as the interim head at the start of the academic year.”

He said it had been ‘a very important appointment for the future success of the school’ so they had advertised nationally and secured a very strong group of candidates with significant experience.

Ms Hernandez joined Stowmarket High from Barnhill School in Middlesex.

She said: “I am looking forward to working more closely with parents and the local community to bring about rapid and sustained improvements here at Stowmarket High.

“It is an exciting time for both me and the school, and I am fully committed to overcoming barriers especially the issues facing schools across the land - in particular around SEND, mental health and attendance to ensure Stowmarket is the school of choice that delivers strong outcomes and produces kind tolerant young people “

Kingfisher Schools Trust is the new name for Waveney Valley Academies Trust from January 2024.

In December, the Department for Education issued a Termination Warning Notice to the school’s trust over the pace of the improvements at the school.

An Ofsted inspection in January last year graded the school 'requires improvement' .