A SECONDARY school with a turbulent leadership past is to recruit a new head from September.

Bosses at Philip Morant School and College, Colchester, say the newly-created head of school role is needed to support the existing executive head teacher Scott Holder.

Philip Morant School is now part of the Sigma Trust, comprising ten north Essex schools and whose chief executive is Jeff Brindle.

But Mr Brindle said the head of school - being offered between £73,903 and £81,515 a year – will be crucial to the day-to-day running of Philip Morant School which has around 1,600 pupils.

Mr Brindle said the school’s new structure replicated the Colne’s in Brightlingsea, the other secondary school taken on by the Sigma Trust this year after the Thrive Academy Trust which both belonged to, folded.

Mr Brindle added: “One of the key things for us is to make sure the school has stability in the leadership because it has had a turbulent time.

“There won’t be any changes going on – this is about having additional capacity at the school.”

Mr Brindle said Mr Holder was not only executive head at Philip Morant but the Sigma Trust’s director of education.

As executive head he is accountable for the school’s performance and to set the strategic direction of the school.

Mr Brindle said his own role was to oversee ten schools – eight secondaries and two primaries - and said academy models are changing, with different structures to those traditionally held.

“We are a group of ten schools that work closely together and support each other and when we were asked to support Colne and Philip Morant, we were able to do that immediately because we had the people and capacity to support those schools.

“Schools need that support immediately – that’s key to what Sigma is about, having that leadership support in this area.”

At Colne School, the executive head teacher is Neil Gallagher and head of school is Steven Crane.

The Sigma Trust is also recruiting a deputy head for Colne and for the Stanway School.

The Stanway School’s deputy head teacher Carol Anne Moffat is leaving to become the head teacher of the new Paxman Academy in Colchester which open this September.

Philip Morant and Colne schools were run by the Thrive Academy Trust but last March its chief executive Nardeep Sharma and executive head Catherine Hutley were suspended.

Ms Hutley resigned last August with no disciplinary action taken against her and colleagues calling for her to be issued with an apology.

Mr Sharma resigned last September with no disciplinary action taken against him either.