Dear parents and carers,
You will by now have read Mr Sparks’ letter about his new role working for Ofsted from Easter onwards. Whilst his three-year tenure has been fairly short, it has been very successful, resulting in the best set of GCSE outcomes the academy has ever achieved in 2025. We understand his reasons for moving on and are grateful for his service. We wish him and his family well for the future.
To give time for Mr Sparks’ permanent successor to take up his position, we are putting interim arrangements in place for the Summer term. Mr Ben Russell, Principal at Leigh Academy Halley (LAH) – also in Greenwich – will lead over both schools for the summer term. You may have heard that LAH was recently inspected under Ofsted’s new inspection regime and was awarded five “exceptional” grades. This is the best report for any secondary school in England published so far.
Mr Russell will be supported by Mrs Tracey Trusler, our Academies Director who has worked with both LSA and LAH for many years and knows them extremely well, plus a very able leadership team including Mrs Rachel Dooley, LSA’s Deputy Principal.
From September, I am delighted to say that we have appointed Mr Kevin Watson to lead the school permanently. Mr Watson is an experienced Principal within Leigh Academies Trust and was previously Head of College at LSA. He knows the academy and the Trust extremely well so can make a seamless transition to the new academic year. I know he is looking forward to reintroducing himself to staff, students and parents.
We are very confident that these careful arrangements will enable LSA to enjoy a successful summer term and a strong start to next academic year and beyond. Thank you for your continued support.
Yours faithfully,
Simon Beamish
Chief Executive
