On 1st June, Excelsior Academy pupils, staff and governors welcomed their new principal James Andriot to lead them into the next exciting and successful chapter of the school’s journey.

The Chair of Governor’s Professor Tim Goodship said “Mr Andriot has been working closely with the school since his appointment in November 2019 but we are delighted he is now officially in post  and we are confident the academy will go from strength to strength under his leadership”

Having successfully led Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, Mr Andriot joins the Laidlaw Schools Trust with a wealth of experience from a number of schools including Sandhill View School in Sunderland, Washington School in Sunderland and Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School in the London Borough of Barnet. Mr Andriot shares the Trust’s vision not only to educate, but to transform lives, and is fully committed to making a difference to our school community.

Mr Andriot takes over the helm from Dave Thornton who has been the interim principal since November 2018, Mr Thornton has done an excellent job of steering the academy resulting in a positive Ofsted report in March 2020 and leaving it in excellent shape on which to drive further improvements. The Trust and school thank Mr Thornton for his dedicated leadership