ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
Manchester's King David Primary School is losing its new headteacher after less than a year for "personal reasons".
Myra Macklin took up the post in September, having previously previously headed Ightenhill Primary in Burnley. During her short time at King David, the school - with its 420 pupils plus two nursery intakes - has maintained its status as the best performing primary in its area.
Although taking early retirement, Mrs Macklin has agreed to stay on until a replacement is found.
Joint governors' chair Stephen Verber said: "Myra feels that for personal reasons she is giving up work. We are very upset about it and are very sorry to see her go. She's been fabulous for the school, has helped us put through changes and worked exceptionally hard coping with the merger of our infant and junior schools and our move to our new building. We have confidence we will find an equally good successor."
Mr Verber also revealed that local authority funding cuts have tightened the school's budget. Mrs Macklin was due to meet the council this week to learn about further potential cuts. But the school's search for a head means it will not be applying to change its funding arrangements. Its sister King David High has applied for academy status, which would see its funding shift from local to central government.
"The council has been supportive and I don't believe we are alone in these cuts. But we are finding our budget more difficult. We are starting a campaign to address the arrears of voluntary contributions which help us to provide academic excellence. Without this financial assistance from parents we won't have a fantastic school," Mr Verber warned.