BOTH Darwen Aldridge Community Academy and Darwen Vale High School are on the lookout for new headteachers.

Brendan Loughran, former principal at DACA, has been permanently appointed as executive principal for four Aldridge schools in the town.

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These are DACA, Darwen Vale High School, Sudell Primary School and Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio.

This has left a permanent vacancy for his former role at DACA.

David Cane has been interim principal at the school since September and will continue in his post until the end of the spring term.

David Hallam has been interim principal at Darwen Vale since the retirement of Fiona Jack and now the school is looking for its own permanent leader.

Mr Loughran, who was principal of DACA for eight years, said he was ‘delighted’ to be starting his new role.

He said: “It has been a privilege leading the development and growth of DACA over the last 10 years in what has been an incredible experience of improving education provision.

“I am delighted that in becoming executive principal I can continue to work with everyone at DACA and at the same time work with all of our schools on their journeys of school improvement.”

Having been appointed into the interim executive principal role in July, Mr Loughran’s permanent appointment follows a formal interview process with the multi-academy trust last month.

In September, it was announced that Mr Cane would take up the role of interim principal at DACA.

This was to be shared with vice principal Fiona Beaumont from Christmas, but will now continue into the spring term, due to her intention to undertake school improvement training next year.

The roles both offer a negotiable annual salary of between £70k and £90k.

Chris Tweedale, Aldridge Education’s chief executive, said: “Brendan has shown by his track record that he is an exceptional school leader, and his appointment is a natural progression for the trust.

“We are very ambitious for our schools in the North West. Brendan will work with each of the schools to improve the education we offer.”

The closing date for both positions is Monday, January 9, and prospective candidates can apply by visiting www.tes.com/jobs.