A NEW headteacher has been appointed for Oakworth Primary School.

Jenni Mayo, who has been at the school since 1999, has been in charge since the start of the new school year. She had been assistant headteacher for the previous four years.

Responding to her appointment, she said: "I'm absolutely delighted.

"This is a fantastic school and we've got a great tradition of excellence and achievement here.

"I'm really looking forward to working with parents, the wider Oakworth community, and with the other schools in our local learning partnership."

Mrs Mayo was born in Keighley, brought up in Cullingworth and now lives in Wilsden.

Her first job in teaching was at Howe Green House School in Hertfordshire, where she worked for three years.

From 1997, she spent two years at Keighley's former Swire Smith Middle School where she was a PE teacher and head of year six.

She joined Oakworth Primary as a teacher 16 years ago and has also been head of key stage two.

Mrs Mayo said: "I know the staff and children at Oakworth very well, and I now have parents at the school who were pupils in my classes when I first came here.

"We've been an [Ofsted accredited] outstanding school for eight years, which we're very pleased about, and we want to continue to grow and develop.

"We look to provide an all-round education for children by giving them exciting learning opportunities so they understand citizenship and gain the skills they need for lifelong learning.

"I have spent a morning with all the staff and governors talking about what we'd like to see happen at the school in future, and that was a very successful exercise. A lot of the ideas that came out of it have been fed into our school improvement plan for the next year."

Mrs Mayo replaces former headteacher Kath Waddington, who has retired. Another recent departure has been chairman of governors, John Barnes, who retired after serving as a school governor for 30 years.

As well as Mrs Mayo's appointment, the school has chosen a new motto – 'Together we learn, together we grow'.

Mrs Mayo explained: "At the start of the year, we thought it would be nice for the school to have a motto chosen by the children, parents, staff and governors.

"We put out some suggestions and the parents and children wanted 'Together we learn, together we grow', which really reflects our vision and the ethos of the school. We're having some banners and signs made with the motto on, and hope to incorporate it into our school sweatshirts in due course."