Principal appointed to lead new UCL Academy

Sylvia Jones, headteacher at Valentines High School in Redbridge, north east London, has been appointed Principal of the new UCL Academy, and will take up the post in September 2010. With more than 25 years? experience in multi-cultural comprehensive schools in London and Essex, Mrs Jones has been a headteacher for eight years, most recently as head of Valentines High ? a school judged by OFSTED to be ?Outstanding? in all categories. Mrs Jones is one of just 300 headteachers to be awarded the title ?National Leader of Education? by the National College for School Leadership and Valentines High is one of the most successful comprehensives in the country. The Sixth Form was ranked in the country?s top five percent for the last four years, while 89 per cent of children in the main school achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE and no child left the school without earning any qualifications. ?This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to help shape an academy from the very beginning,? said Mrs Jones. ?From my point of view, one of the most exciting things about this move is the fact that the new school is being established on the principle that children from all , and of all abilities, can achieve success if they are given the right support, teaching and curriculum. We demonstrated that at Valentines High, and I?m looking forward to proving it again at the new Academy. ?In addition to shaping our own school, we also have the opportunity to support and strengthen the existing network of schools in Camden,?