Headteacher Tim Lee took over the reigns at St Mary's Church of England Junior School, Studley, on Monday

When Paul Crankshaw retired as headteacher in November, Michael Parkhouse took over as acting head.

Mr Parkhouse had recently retired but was happy to be parachuted in to steer the school forward before a permanent appointment could be made.

He did so well in the temporary role, he has been made acting head at Dunnington School in Warwickshire, where Mr Lee has just left, until they appoint a permanent head.

Mr Lee was born in South Africa, in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains on the border of the Transkei.

He trained as a teacher near Durban, where he became involved with Scripture Union, leading and later directing weekend and holiday camps and beach missions for children.

After his period of compulsory military conscription, he started his career at a primary school, also near Durban.

He married Pam in 1991 and they have two children.

Mr Lee said: "I love working with children, which is why I think I have the best job in the world.

"I also enjoy furthering my education and at the moment, I'm toiling towards an M.Ed. in Educational Management.

"I believe in working together and that no one person has all the skills to do everything on their own.

"Mother Theresa said, 'I can't do what you can do and you can't do what I can do but together we can do great things.' There's a lot of truth in that."