A NEW “super-head” has been appointed to preside over two schools with around 1,600 pupils.

Ben Parnell will step up from running the all-boys Winton Arts and Media College to heading the girls’ Glenmoor School as well.

He has already led the Winton school as its standards improved and it came out of special measures.

Roger Allen, executive teacher of the two schools – which are governed jointly as a federation – is to retire from the post.

Mr Parnell will be headteacher of both, without the “executive” designation, on an interim basis from June 1 as the governors work on the way forward for the two schools.

He said: “I see the job as an opportunity to change life chances for children.”

He added: “My real function is going to be ensuring both schools continue in the upward trajectory that’s been seen in the past three years.”

He said he was keen to continue improving academic standards and students’ behaviour, as well as turning out “well-balanced individuals that know how to relate to each other”.

Mr Parnell said the two schools had 1,600 pupils between them but that figure could rise as standards continued to improve.

“If both schools are at capacity, it could be as large as 2,000,” he said.

Mr Parnell had worked for a private troubleshooting firm before being recruited to Winton in 2011.

He saw Ofsted remove the school from special measures and praise its leadership and management as “outstanding”.

He will be supported in the new role by two interim deputy heads – Ben Antell at Winton and Guy Trotman at Glenmoor – who will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the schools. “It’s a really exciting time for the school but also our community. We’ve got a fantastic community here in Winton and I feel we’re just on the threshold of being really able to provide a real top-class educational experience for the children that live here,” he said.

“I’m absolutely delighted that I’ve been selected to lead on that. It’s a real privilege.”