by Graham Tutthill

gtutthill@thekmgroup.co.uk

Less than two years after taking charge of Dover Christ Church Academy principal Richard Williams is moving on.

Confirmation of his resignation has been given today by Canterbury Christ Church University, together with the announcement that Senior Vice Principal Samantha Williamson will become Interim Principal in September.

Paul Carney, chairman of the board of governors, said today: "We would like to extend our thanks to Richard Williams who successfully helped launch the Academy and led it to its current successes, including the expectation for the best ever exam results this summer and the lowest exclusion rates the school has ever seen. We wish him well in his future endeavours."

Mr Williams was appointed principal-designate in January 2010 in preparation for its transformation from Archers Court Maths and Computing College.

New uniforms, a new house structure and a tutoring system were introduced, lunch hours were split and the upper school curriculum was broadened.

However, not all the changes proved popular with the students and a demonstration was staged in October 2010. Police were called and two excluded pupils and a man were arrested.

But one of the positive aspects that came out of the incident was the formation of the junk band R!OT who went on to win through to the national finals of a music festival.

Mr Williams also had to implement job cuts to balance the academy's books, but inspectors reported an improvement in the teaching and learning, and
examination results improved “against every measure.”

A celebration lunch was held when some Year 11 students crammed two years learning into less than 12 months to gain GCSE English a year early.

Earlier this month director of music Michael Yeoman left the academy after four years, to take up a job at River Primary School and it is understood some other members of staff in the English, maths and science departments may also have decided to leave.

Full story in today's Dover Mercury.