Warwickshire News Mine

Mr James joins from his current role as joint acting headteacher at Sir Frank Markham Community School in Milton Keynes.

The George Eliot School is scheduled to open its doors in September as a National Challenge Trust School run in partnership between George Eliot and North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.

In his in three-year stay in Milton Keynes David was part of a leadership team tasked with improving the school when it was faced with significant challenges.

Before Mr James joined in 2006 Sir Frank Markham was at the bottom of all local performance tables and ranked in the bottom 20, for raw results nationally. In 2008 results jumped significantly - more than doubling top grades in all key areas - making the school the most improved in the local authority and one of the most improved nationally.

From September the new George Eliot School is set to have a new uniform and new logo, and Mr James has pledged to look at revamping teaching spaces with improved ICT facilities and extra resources.

Mr James said: “The George Eliot Community School has worked very hard over recent years to raise standards and it is my great privilege to lead the school as it reopens as The George Eliot School in September.

“With the new, special relationship with North Warwickshire and Hinckley College and additional National Challenge funding, the school aims to significantly increase student success. Over time the school will develop a new and exciting curriculum and focus on delivering very high quality, exciting teaching and learning.

“My aim is that The George Eliot School will rapidly become the school which provides the greatest academic and personal success in the Nuneaton area. I am very aware, however, that this will take time and significant effort from both students and staff.

“However, I have been extremely impressed by the enthusiasm and determination of the staff to move the school forward and am relishing the challenge of building on the existing strong foundations to make the new school something really special. I want us to be the best – nothing less than this will do for the local community.”

Originally from London, Mr James studied Electronics and Physics at Warwick University where he worked for a number of years as a physics researcher while living in Coventry and Kenilworth.

He trained as a teacher at Nottingham University in 1994 and began his teaching career in Canterbury in Kent. A married father-of-two, Mr James also taught in Gravesend in Kent and Wantage in Oxfordshire before moving to Milton Keynes.

Marion Plant, Principal of North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, said she was delighted to welcome Mr James on board and was looking forwarding to working alongside him in the future.

“These are exciting times for George Eliot School and we have high expectations of its future achievements as a Trust school,” she said.

“David’s dedication to improving the academic and vocational offering to students aged 11 to 16 mirrors the college’s own ethos, and I’m looking forward to working with him to improve the opportunities available to students by enhancing its curriculum offering and increasing the work experience they can gain whilst still in education, to help them make more informed choices about their future.”

Link to WCC