PARENTS whose children returned to a Worcester academy this week were dismayed to find the head was still missing without explanation.

Pupils at Perry Wood Primary School returned back to the classroom on Tuesday but, according to parents, headteacher Ange Beddow has still not returned.

Anxious parents contacted your Worcester News before the end of term last month frustrated by a lack of answers from the Griffin Schools Trust, which runs the academy, regarding Mrs Beddow’s absence.

One grandmother called it “ridiculous” that they had to contact the local paper to get answers about what was happening at the school.

Your Worcester News has tried to contact Liz Lewis from the Griffin School Trust but she has been unavailable. 

Previously, she confirmed that Ange Beddow was still the head at the school.

A concerned parent said they had expected to receive a letter from the school after the first day of the new term but were still being kept in the dark.

She added that parents had been very happy with Mrs Beddow’s job as headteacher and just wanted to know what was going on at the school.

A reader, alfiepie, commented on the online version of the original story that parents already had concerns when the school became an academy in December last year.

“This is why I should imagine some parents went to the paper, as the Worcester News was very helpful in trying to fathom out exactly what would happen to the school once it became an academy,” they wrote.

“This story is not a load of parents asking why the head isn't at school for personal reasons etc, this is a load of parents who actually love what the head has done for this school and hopes that there is no motive by the academy.”

Perry Wood Primary School was on the brink of becoming the first school in the country to have been forced into becoming an academy after it was put into special measures in November 2010.

However, Mrs Beddow, along with deputy Kay Butler, had been praised by Ofsted inspectors for being “determined and resolute” in their bid to improve performance after it was taken out of the measures.

Related articles: