Academy head to step down

NIGEL McQuoid

NIGEL McQuoid is to step down as principal of Waterhead Academy.

The 53 year old joined the school as acting principal in September 2011, following the resignation of David Yates. The plan had been for Mr McQuoid to remain for a year, splitting his time between Oldham and his family home in Newcastle.

“I agreed with my wife that I would go down and help the school for a year,” he explained.

But Mr McQuoid felt that he needed to stay longer at Waterhead, to oversee the move to a new £26.4 million building in Huddersfield Road in November 2012. He then decided to see the school through its first Ofsted inspection a year ago, with his wife’s agreement.

“What we did not want was for me to spend a year here and to go and everything to fall over. I would have wasted a year of my life leaving something that wasn’t stable.”

Mr McQuoid, who has been praised in the past by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, says he believes it is the right time to leave. He will stay until a successor takes over and will continue as an adviser for Oldham College Communities Academies Trust (OCCAT), which runs the college, Waterhead Academy, Stoneleigh Academy and University Campus Oldham.

Mr McQuoid praised the commitment of staff and the way the community had become involved in the academy.

“The Waterhead Academy vision is wonderfully positive for the communities of East Oldham. It’s a continuing privilege to be involved in it,” he added.