Earlier this month Queen Elizabeth’s Academy in Mansfield, part of Diverse Academies, welcomed more than 140 new students beginning their secondary education journey, at the same time as unveiling its new principal.

From September, Kimberley Willmot has become the new academy principal, stepping up into the role from her position as vice-principal. Having spent 18 months in her previous role, she has a thorough understanding of the academy and the community it serves, with big plans to drive the academy forward.

Shet said: “I am delighted to be able to lead this fantastic academy and look forward to continuing the progress we have made during the past three years. Queen Elizabeth’s Academy has been educating generations of people from our local community since 1561, and we are committed to continually developing our ability to provide top-class education for the young people of Mansfield.

“In 2017 we introduced our knowledge-based curriculum and are the only school in Mansfield delivering their curriculum through a direct-instruction approach. This ‘grammar-style education’ has empowered our students with knowledge and we have seen real progress in results because of this, together with a positive shift in the behaviour and attendance of students.

“We have enhanced our curriculum offering with experts in their subjects, and have just achieved the Artsmark Silver Award – a superb accolade and evidence of providing our students great opportunities in art, music, drama and dance.

“Another thing we introduced was the provision of free breakfast for our students. Coming together as an academy community to eat before lessons has a really positive effect on students’ mood and ability to learn, together with nurturing friendships.”

Queen Elizabeth’s Academy have been on a rapid improvement journey since joining Diverse Academies in September 2016 the academy was rebrokered from its previous sponsor – this was highlighted in a recent Ofsted inspection, which praised the high aspirations set for students, SMSC education, the sixth-form provision and the behaviour of students.

Mrs Willmot continues: ”It is my immense pleasure to work with a very talented group of staff. We have exciting plans and aspirations for our students and for our academy, and I am thrilled to be able to lead us into the next phase of our journey.”

There is an Open Evening at the academy on Wednesday, 18th September from 5.30pm to 8pm.