A SECONDARY school under orders from inspectors to improve has been left stunned after a headteacher appointed to take over walked away from the job.

The New Journal can reveal that Paul Guenault has declined the offer to fill the vacant headteacher job at Acland Burghley School in Burghley Road, Tufnell Park, just days after accepting it.

Governors had told how they were "delighted" to announce his appointment in a newsletter to parents last week.  

But after the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Guenault is understood to have contacted the school and told them that he no longer wanted to take up the role, citing family reasons. 

Having come through the recruitment process, he was due to start work at the beginning of the next academic year.

This afternoon (Wednesday), governors were putting a brave face on their disappointment that the recruitment process must now be run again.

They had already advertised once without finding a suitable candidate.

The final choice is a hugely-sensitive decision for the school due to the scrutiny placed on it by Ofsted inspectors and a demand for improvements. In September, the school fell from its more familiar rating of 'good' into the 'requires improvement' bracket. A follow-up visit by Ofsted said the rate of improvement was not fast enough.

Historically, the school has a good reputation among parents on both side of the Camden and Islington border. Former pupils include singers Ms Dynamite and Eddy Grant, writer Robert Muchamore and Sarah Brown, wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Mr Guenault had been seen as an ideal choice to help pull the school back to its previous rating. He had been the "founding principal" of an academy school in Wapping and his CV also includes a former deputy headship at Highgate Wood School in Crouch End. His current job is at an academy school in Clacton.

He was due to replace Jo Armitage, the headteacher who stepped down while governors worked out how to improve.

After Ms Armitage's departure, "superhead" Sue Higgins, who is headteacher at the highly-regarded Parliament Hill School nearby, was brought in as an "executive head" to run the two schools on a temporary basis. 

On Friday, Dr John Clark, chairman of governors, had written in the school bulletin: "Governors are very happy to have found a new headteacher who shares our values and who will be able to lead us on our journey to Good and Outstanding, achieving well on both national performance measures and with our arts provision."

Today (Wednesday), he said: "Following a competitive selection process an offer of employment was made and accepted, however on reflection and following discussions with his family the candidate has decided to decline the role. We respect his decision and wish him the best for the future. We hope to be in a position to announce the results of a future recruitment process in due course. In the meantime, Executive Head Sue Higgins and Associate Head Anna Peduzzi will continue the excellent work they have started at the school.”