Dear Parents/Carers,

I am delighted to be writing my first letter as the new Headteacher for St. Peter’s Church of England Primary Academy. I am passionate about education and feel privileged to be leading the establishment of a brand new school. My vision for St. Peter’s is that we will create a school with exceptional standards and a culture of critical thinking, tolerance and aspiration for pupils and staff alike.

I have worked in a number of schools as a teacher and leader. As a Deputy Head in two challenging settings and, most recently, as a Headteacher in Portsmouth, I have learnt that every child is capable of loving learning and achieving their potential. I have high expectations of myself, staff and parents in this endeavour and in doing so, create an environment where children thrive and succeed.

Throughout my career in school leadership, I have maintained a passion and expertise in primary maths, working to support a number of schools and teachers in this subject. Designing creative and rigorous curricula, planning exciting and challenging lessons and enabling enthusiastic, skilled teachers is my greatest passion and when we get this right, children love school.

Since my appointment, I have been in regular contact with Mark Lacey, CEO of the academy trust and with Yvonne Morrison, Project Manager. One of our key priorities is to start building a shared history with the emerging community. Links with the church will underpin the ethos of the school. Transparency and good communication with parents will enhance this further. Over the next few weeks and months, we will be holding a number of events to give me a chance to meet you and for us to work together on the vision and values we want for the school. My daughter has just started in reception class so I appreciate how critical it is that we start a dialogue now.

When the school year starts in September, I will be available to you in a number of ways. In the meantime I would like to invite you to a ‘Meet the New Headteacher’ meeting at the Diocesan Education Centre on Thursday 4^th January 13:00 – 14:00 or Friday 5^th January 18:00 – 19:00. I look forward to meeting you there.

Best wishes,

Ollie Martindale

Headteacher Designate