Carl Sugden, headteacher of King James’s School in Knaresborough, will leave tomorrow after 15 years in charge of the secondary school.
Mr Sugden first came to Knaresborough as deputy headteacher aged 33 in April 2000.
He left in 2005 before relinquishing his role as head of Sherburn High School, at Sherburn-in-Elmet to succeed David Hudson as headteacher of King James’s in 2008.
The 1,575-pupil Knaresborough school was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted this year.
Clare Martin, principal of Bradford Girls’ Grammar School, will succeed Mr Sugden as head at the start of the summer term on April 17.
Mr Sugden said he had totted up that he had done about 600 assemblies, 400 staff briefings, 13 founder’s says, 80 prize-givings and 2,500 bus duties, adding:
“And I even managed to keep teaching history until just about the end. That is what I will miss the most, being in the classroom with our young people.”
Mr Sugden said:
“The school is a great community and there is a special history and ethos here, which I have tried to nurture and to maintain.
“I’m immensely proud of what this school has achieved, with the support of many great colleagues, over the past few years. In particular the challenges of the pandemic, and the post pandemic, which stretched us to the limit.
“When you look back at the last three years it is incredible what we all dealt with; lockdown, key workers’ children supervision, online learning, lateral flow tests, bubbles, centre assessed grades, masks and vaccinations.”
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He said that for all the challenges, he didn’t regret a moment:
“It has been fulfilling and I am grateful to have worked in such a vibrant education community. I am not retiring, I will continue to work in education, but I plan to have a little more time to do some of the things I enjoy.”
Mr Sugden praised colleagues for “doing a pretty amazing job, going above and beyond to deliver a very high quality of education and enrichment opportunities” despite “extreme funding pressures”.
He wished Ms Martin well.
“Clare and I worked together back in the early 2000s, when she was, like me, a young teacher at King James’s.
“She has a strong track record as a deputy head and headteacher in schools in Leeds and Bradford. I wish her all the very best in the new role.”