New head’s aim to bring stability to school

5:40pm Friday 2nd January 2009

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A FORMER King Alfred’s College, Winchester, studenthas been appointed as head teacher of Romsey Primary School.

Ruth Linsley who is currently in charge of Eling Infant School, Totton, and the Harbour Children’s Centre, takes up her new job in April at the start of the summer term.

The married mother-of-four, who was brought up in Staffordshire, will be the school’s fourth head teacher since it was created in September, 2006, by the merger of Romsey Infant and Junior schools.

Nick Hutson, the school’s first head teacher, left suddenly last September, just months after the new purpose-built premises at Mercer Way had opened. Retired Hythe Primary School head, Pam Fyfe, was then put in temporary charge, but she left at Christmas. Acting head, Alec Smith, will be hold the fort until Mrs Linsley arrives.

“I’m very much looking forward to coming to Romsey to teach,” she said. “It is an exciting challenge and Romsey is a lovely market town. I like a lot of stability. This is very important for the school, the governing body and the children. I will be focusing on high-quality teaching and a motivation curriculum.”

Mrs Linsley’s teaching career began in 1987 at Sun Hill School, Alresford. Her next appointment was at Foxhills School, Colbury in the New Forest.

She then went on to teach at Brockenhurst Primary, followed by a deputy headship at Ashley Infants, near New Milton. In 2005, Mrs Lindsey was appointed to her current job at Eling.

“From the age of 16, I wanted to be a teacher and there is a strong background of teaching in our family. Eling School has a good community spirit and is a popular school. Brockenhurst is a similar size to Romsey Primary School,” she said.

“Getting parents to take part in school activities is also very import to me,” added Mrs Linsley, whose hobbies include reading and walking the family dog in the New Forest, where she and her husband, Kevin, live. Chairman of Romsey Primary School governors, Jane Hodgson, said: “We are delighted that Ruth has been appointed as our new permanent head and she will start after Easter. We are very grateful to Pam Fyfe for leading the school last term but, unfortunately, due to her other commitments, she was unable to stay beyond Christmas. We have therefore arranged for another experienced headteacher, Alec Smith, to be our acting head until Easter.