THE deputy head who was controversially turned down for the top job at Woodhey High School, Ramsbottom, is to leave.

Mrs Lynn Dunning is to take up a post as headteacher at a high school in Darwen.

But she leaves at the end of the present term - after 20 years at the school - amid claims by some angry parents that she was given little choice after governors rejected her for the post of headteacher at Woodhey, vacated by the long-serving Mr Frank Bennett.

It now seems unlikely that the two top posts will be filled in time for the start of the new school term in September.

In April, governors decided to re-advertise the headteacher vacancy after exhaustive interviews resulted in two "equally good" candidates topping the short-list. One of those was Mrs Dunning. It is understood that neither candidate has re-applied. This week, in a letter (see p10) to the Bury Times, a group of "Very Concerned Parents" said that after 12 years as deputy head Mrs Dunning's rejection by the governors must have been a "humiliation" for her.

"Mrs Dunning was the most qualified and worthy candidate. Now, because of the governing body's collective indecision- some might even regard it as incompetence - they now need to appoint not only a new headteacher, but a deputy as well," the letter continued.

They said that Mr Bennett and Mrs Dunning had been mainly responsible for the school's outstanding record in recent years and said many parents would be concerned about the inevitable lack of continuity of leadership. They called for the governing body to resign.

Mrs Dunning was this week unwilling to discuss the circumstances surrounding her leaving, except to say: "I will miss the parents, pupils and the community which has given the school a lot of support over the years. It will be sad to go but at the same time I am looking forward to my new post."

Mrs Dunning, who joined the school when it opened in 1979, is taking the head's post at the bigger Darwen Vale High School, near to where she lives.

Chairman of governors, Mr Steve Ratcliff, dismissed the claims of parents that their decision had left Mrs Dunning with no choice but to leave. "We, along with everyone else at the school, will miss her and we wish her well. It is nonsense to suggest that we subjected her to public humiliation."

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