Coventry
school King Henry VIII has appointed an acting headmaster in an attempt to "steady
the ship" after being rocked by recent events.
Neville Ireland today begins his first full week in command at the school and believes
his job is to reassure. He said:
"I think everybody here including the teachers and the parents have been genuinely
upset and unsettled by what has happened.
"I have already been trying to contact as many parents as possible, and I will be
writing to them all to reassure them that the school is afloat, on an even keel and
sailing forward."
Mr Ireland was previously headteacher of a 1,000 pupil all boys school in Loughborough,
before retiring last August after 14 years at the helm.
He said:
"I had been planning to start some D.I.Y and sort out the garden at our family
home which is just outside Loughborough, but I have had to put that on hold.
"This came out of the blue, a week ago I had just flown back from holiday and I
was contacted to see whether I would be willing to come over and look after a school for a
while."
The acting head believes that a full-time principal will be in place by the beginning
of the year 2000, allowing him a return to retirement.
He said:
"One blessing about my being called out of retirement is that my wife has got a
professional in to do the tiling instead of me, so we will have straight tiles in the
kitchen rather than wonky ones."
The temporary appointment was made after the schools previous headteacher Terence James
Vardon appeared in court facing charges of possessing indecent photographs of children.
Mr Varden was bailed on the following conditions, that he:
- Resides at his mother’s address , Temple Hewell, Dover.
- Signs on at Dover police station daily between 2-3pm.
- Keeps out of Coventry except to see his solicitor
- Has no contact with any member of staff, pupils or parents at King Hentry VIII except
Bursar Vincent Iwanek.
He is due to reappear before Coventry magistrates on 4 May.
