THERE'S change at the top of one York school.

The head teacher at one of York's best-performing secondary school, Archbishop Holgate's CE in Badger Hill is stepping down.

Marie Townsley will no longer be leading the school after only months in post.

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In a letter to parents, Andrew Daly, the CEO at Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust, of which the school is a member said: "Ms Townsley will no longer be leading the school. We would like to thank her for her efforts since September and wish her all the best for the future.

"We are fortunate at Archbishop's to have a strong and experienced senior leadership team to support our excellent students and committed staff."

As The Press reported at the time, Mr Daly became executive head teacher of Archbishop Holgate's alongside his continued role as CEO of the Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust back in 2022.

York Press: Andrew Daly with pupils at Archbishop'sAndrew Daly with pupils at Archbishop's

At that point Alexis Green-Harding became the head of school for Archbishop Holgate's and led the day-to-day life of the school with Ms Townsley becoming head last Autumn and Mr Green-Harding returning to the role of deputy. 

In a letter to parents Mr Daly continues: "The leadership arrangements for the school will largely mirror those that were in place last year, with Mr Green-Harding and Miss McDermott leading the school on a day-to-day basis whilst I will provide additional support and in-school capacity throughout the week.

"We will shortly begin a national recruitment campaign to find a new head teacher for the school and I look forward to providing families with more information in due course.

"In the meantime, the day-to-day experience for students will remain unchanged and as a staff we will continue to work collectively to support all our students to achieve both academically and in terms of their AHS journey and personal development.

"As always, communication with school should in the first instance continue to be via Form Tutors and heads of year as needed. Beyond this, Mr Green-Harding and Miss McDermott will be available to support families"

As The Press reported earlier at the time, the school was inspected by Ofsted under the rigorous new inspection framework and the school back in 2022 and came away with the top 'outstanding' judgement in all areas, something increasingly difficult to achieve.

Mr Daly said at that point that while the Ofsted did not identify anything, ‘the school needs to do better’, Mr Green-Harding's appointment was part of a plan for additional leadership capacity to support Mr Daly in running both Archbishop's and the Multi Academy Trust.