New Charter Academy appoints Top Head

Published by Peter Bird for New Charter Housing Trust Group in Education

Pupils and staff at an Academy in Tameside have welcomed the New Year with the appointment of a top head.

Mr Stephen Ball takes up post as Executive Director of the New Charter Academy from a leading role as head of three academies in Birmingham.

Mr Ball, 56, has more than 25 years’ experience in education holding a number of senior positions at different schools across the North West and the Midlands.

In 2004 he became head of Calder High School in West Yorkshire during which time he was praised by OFSTED for ‘outstanding’ leadership skills.

Born and educated in Nottingham, Mr Ball started his career as an English teacher after graduating from Warwick University.

At the age of just 38 he took over as head of Ivy Bank High School in Burnley. His work to transform the school into one of East Lancashire’s most successful and popular schools won him a National Teaching Award in 2003.

During his 10 years at the helm, the school also achieved specialist status becoming one of the first Business and Enterprise colleges in the country.

Mr Ball joins New Charter Academy as it starts a second term at its new £40m state-of-the-art campus in Ashton-under-Lyne. He replaces Mr George Lloyd who has moved in to consultancy work.

The Academy is sponsored by New Charter Housing Trust Group and was formed in 2008 after the merger of two under-performing high schools in the area.

Since then, it has seen a significant improvement to GCSE results with 83 per cent of students last year (August 2011) gaining 5 A* - C grades – its highest ever pass rate.

Mr Ball said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed to this role and I’m very fortunate that my predecessors have done an outstanding job in establishing the Academy as a place which is totally committed to the success of its students.

“The new Academy campus is an incredible building and it’s a privilege to be working at a school that has some of the best learning facilities in the country.

“This is a very exciting role for me and I’m looking forward to the day-to-day engagement with pupils and teachers that comes with it.

“In just a short space of time I can already see that the pupils are a credit to the Academy and I’m confident that with support from young people, staff and the community, the school’s excellent reputation will continue to grow.”

Ian Munro, New Charter’s chief executive added: “In just three years since the Academy formed we have seen dramatic improvements with a 10 per cent increase on the GCSE pass rate from 2010 to 2011.

“We’re delighted that Mr Ball has joined the Academy and we’re confident that with his wealth of experience, the school and its pupils have an even brighter future.”

ENDS

Photo caption

Mr Stephen Ball

Notes for editors

New Charter Academy is a publicly funded independent school which is accountable to the Government.

New Charter Housing Trust Group, the Academy’s sponsor, has invested £2 million into the school to enhance its opportunities.

The Academy is the largest learning centre in Tameside and in September it moved into a new £40m building on the Broadoak campus in Ashton-under-Lyne.

The new building provides state-of-the-art sports, performing art and science and technology facilities.

New Charter formed in 2000 as the new landlords to own and manage homes transferred from Tameside council in Greater Manchester. With a turnover of £90 million a year and a workforce of 800, New Charter is one of the region’s largest registered providers of social housing, and is regulated by the Tenant Services Authority, a Government watchdog. By incorporating Gedling Homes and Aksa Homes the Group owns around 18,600 homes. It was named in the Sunday Times best 100 companies to work for in 2011.