Durham council suspend high-flying headteacher Anne Lakey pending investigation (From The Northern Echo)
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Durham council suspend high-flying headteacher Anne Lakey pending investigation
7:30am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in News
Exclusive By Mark Tallentire, Reporter (Durham)
SUSPENDED: Anne Lakey
THE HIGH-flying headteacher of one of the most improved schools in the country has been suspended, pending an investigation.
Anne Lakey is chief executive of the Durham Federation, which includes Durham Community Business College (DCBC), in Ushaw Moor, and Fyndoune Community College, in Sacriston.
Yesterday, Durham County Council confirmed she had been suspended since before Christmas.
In a statement, Caroline O’Neill, the council’s head of education, said: “I can confirm the chief executive at Durham Federation was suspended in December pending the outcome of an investigation.
“It is important to say that suspension is a neutral position and not an implication of any wrongdoing. Until enquiries are complete it would not be appropriate to say anything further.”
David Bell, the Federation’s chair of governors, said Mrs Lakey’s suspension had come as a shock but she was no longer attending school and Trevor Dunn, principal of DCBC, had taken overall control.
He added: “She has guided the schools to both getting outstanding Ofteds and Fyndoune has been the most improved school in the whole country.
“She’s very dedicated to the school. She’s from a pit village so she knows what the situation is at both sites. She’s guided the school to where it is today. Everything she’s done has been positive.
“But there’s an investigation at the moment so I can’t comment any further.”
Last year, Fyndoune was named the most improved secondary school in the country, after the number of pupils achieving at least five good GCSEs including maths and English rocketed from 26 per cent to 80 per cent. This year, it was named in the top ten.
Both Fyndoune and DCBC have been judged outstanding by school inspectors Ofsted and DCBC has led the region in offering vocational education.
Last spring, Mrs Lakey was appointed to the National Leaders of Education body, with a mission to support struggling schools, and last summer Sir Michael Wilshaw, HM’s Chief Inspector of Education, said she was one of the best examples of inspiring leadership.
Mrs Lakey entered teaching in 1982 and became headteacher at the former Deerness Valley Comprehensive School, now DCBC, in 2001. The Durham Federation, one of the first of its kind, was formed in 2006.
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