I am pleased to have an opportunity to introduce myself to the Priesthorpe community. My name is Ken Hall and I took up the appointment as Head of Priesthorpe on 1st January 2007.

For the last five years, I have been Head of Spennymoor School in County Durham, a small, 11-19 school. Prior to this I worked for many years in North Yorkshire, where I still live.

I am married and have two sons, each of whom has had different experiences of school. My eldest now works as an assistant in a special school. My youngest son is taking his GCSEs this year - so I know about the pressures our young people face in the build up to examinations.

I feel privileged to be Head of Priesthorpe - it is a school where a lot of good things already happen and where achievement has recently risen. The challenge is to keep this going!

I am sure that my hopes and ambitions for the school are shared by the vast majority of parents, pupils and staff. We want a school where pupils and staff can achieve their best, where people and property are respected, where there are plenty of opportunities to develop interests and skills and where we take a real pride in ourselves and our school.

There are challenging times ahead, but there is also a real opportunity to build a school for the future, whilst ensuring we do our best for the pupils of today. I sincerely hope that you will be able to support me in this.