As you are aware from the Trustees’ announcement on Monday 1 September, I am retiring at the end of December. This has not been an easy decision for me. I still remain deeply committed to ensuring more good things happen for children, young people and school staff.
My entire career has been spent teaching and leading education in Gloucestershire, having started at Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School in Wotton-Under-Edge as an Early Career Teacher in 1985. I moved to Cirencester Deer Park School in 1989 to take up the position of Assistant Head of English. I had the privilege of working for three headteachers, all called David, and I will forever remain grateful for the opportunities I was given to progress my career before becoming Headteacher myself in 2003 and, subsequently, with the formation of the Trust.
Having been institutionalised for so long, I approach retirement with some trepidation. However, the time feels right – 40 years is a good innings and over 20 years of this have been spent as headteacher and/or CEO, roles that have not been without their challenges! However, I am not getting any younger. I am also very mindful of the relatively recent deaths in service of local school and college leaders and, most recently, the loss of Dave Baker, CEO of The Olympus Trust. My partner, Tim, who continues to support me, has also recently had a health scare and our children, now grown up, are financially independent!
With a new Ofsted framework coming in, both the wider national curriculum and SEND reviews coming to conclusions and the postponement of the opening of the new primary school to 2029, I am content to hand over the reins and planning to someone new. I will leave our Trust in a secure position with all of our schools now judged by Ofsted to be good.
It has been an absolute privilege to teach and touch the lives of so many of the county’s young people, as well as to work and learn alongside so many inspirational colleagues and to be able to contribute to a range of different forums over time, locally, regionally and nationally.
Thank you.
Chiquita Henson
Trust Lead (CEO)
September 2025
