WIREDGOV

More than 100 teachers from the South-East have been praised for their commitment and hard work after earning a leadership qualification which prepares them for the role of headteacher.

A total of 128 teachers from Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and Medway have been awarded the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH). A graduation ceremony on Saturday December 1 is being held to mark their achievement.

NPQH is awarded by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) and provides aspiring headteachers with training in leadership and management.

Heather Du Quesnay, Director and Chief Executive of the College said:

''Good leadership in schools is key to raising standards and ensuring pupils are getting the high quality education they deserve.

''I want to congratulate all the teachers who have completed NPQH for the time and effort they have put into preparing for the crucial role of headteacher.''

Professor John West Burnham, deputy director of the International Leadership Centre at the University of Hull will make the presentations at the award ceremony. There will also be a talk by NPQH graduate Caroline McKenney, who has successfully become a headteacher at Swadelands School.

The NPQH, which was first introduced in 1997, is delivered across the South-East region by Education Management South East (EMSE), the regional provider. EMSE is a consortium of LEAs and HEI. They are based at the Kings Hill Institute, part of The University of Greenwich.

Chair of EMSE, Maggie Roger, said:

''To gain this prestigious qualification these teachers and deputy heads have demonstrated a significant range of leadership skills and qualities. The centre is proud of its impressive record of those gaining the qualification and then going on to lead successful schools.''

The qualification was recently revised and amongst this cohort of graduates are some of the first to complete the new-model NPQH.

A variety of study methods are used including online learning, school-based assessment and residential training. The programme is designed to fit around teachers'' individual circumstances and can take between 6 months and two years to complete according to previous experience.

The graduation ceremony will take place at the Kings Hill Institute, University of Greenwich, West Malling, Kent between 2.30pm and 6pm. Press are welcome to attend. Photographs of the graduates will be available after the event.

Notes for Editors:

A total of 472 teachers in the South East region have completed NPQH with Education Management South East (EMSE) since it began in 1997.

The group of NPQH candidates graduating on 1 December 2001, completed the qualification between April and July 2001. The list of graduates is as follows:

Catherine Rachel Anwar Ash Manor School ALDERSHOT Wendy Armstrong Midhurst Intermediate School MIDHURST Martin Arnold Oakwood School HORLEY Joanne Ashworth Clarendon County Primary School ASHFORD Penelope Austin Ardingly College HAYWARDS HEATH Michael Bainbridge Buriton County Primary School PETERSFIELD Gareth Balch The Hundred of Hoo Comprehensive School ROCHESTER Fran Beckett Bidbury Infant School HAVANT Graham Bollands St Ann''s Heath County Junior School VIRGINIA WATER Val Brandt de Stafford College CATERHAM Anne Deborah Bristowe Grayshott Primary School HINDHEAD David Thomas Brixey The Angmering School LITTLEHAMPTON Matthew Francis William Brown Hextable School SWANLEY Anne Frances Cameron Michael John Chandler Boundstone Community College LANCING Laura Cooper St Luke''s CofE Infant School TUNBRIDGE WELLS Diana orbin Yapton CofE Primary School ARUNDEL William Lance Cotterell Homewood School TENTERDEN David George Craggs Gad''s Hill School ROCHESTER Judith Crofts St John''s CofE Junior School CATERHAM Kate Dadd Hempstead County Infant School GILLINGHAM Denise Danielsen The Robert Napier (GM) School GILLINGHAM Jennifer Day Saltdean Primary School BRIGHTON Jackie Desmond Chennestone Primary School SUNBURY-ON-THAMES Christine Dey Crookham Junior School FLEET Karen Amanda Dhanecha Park Way County Primary School MAIDSTONE Hilary Dobbie Oakley School TUNBRIDGE WELLS Vanessa Penelope Dunnet Leybourne CofE (Aided) Primary School WEST MALLING Karen Eastwood Walton Leigh School WALTON-ON-THAMES Malcolm G Edwards Ashburton High School CROYDON Giles Falconer Dover Grammar School for Boys DOVER David Forward The Hollyfield School SURBITON Amanda Gard Plumpton Primary School LEWES Jenny Gibbons Newlands Infant School SOUTHAMPTON Andrew Gillin Ellington High School RAMSGATE Sally Glossop Behaviour Support Service London Janine Godly The Forest School HORSHAM Jane Goodison Heatherside Infant School FLEET Barbara Jean Grandi Borough Green Primary School SEVENOAKS Rebecca Greenhalgh Padnell Infant School WATERLOOVILLE Cheryl Hill Ashcroft High School LUTON Wendy Anne Hodgkinson Rudyard Kipling Primary School BRIGHTON Jim Holditch Davington Primary School FAVERSHAM Beverley Homer Stepgates Primary School CHERTSEY Roger John Humphries The Royal Alexandra and Albert School REIGATE Mary Ann Jackson St Mary Magdalene''s RC Primary School BEXHILL-ON-SEA Shirley Patricia James West Byfleet County Infant School WEST BYFLEET Jenny Jeffery Howard of Effingham School LEATHERHEAD Beverley ohnston Hillview School for Girls TONBRIDGE Catrin Mari Jones Thomas A Becket Middle School WORTHING David Jordan St John Fisher RC School CHATHAM Jennifer Jupp St Andrew''s CofE Primary School COBHAM Shirley Lall Wayfield Primary School and Nursery Unit CHATHAM Linda Anne Lewendon Davison CofE High School for Girls WORTHING Graham McManus The Hundred of Hoo Comprehensive School ROCHESTER Gail McNay The Gattons Infant School BURGESS HILL Peter Midwinter The Cavendish School EASTBOURNE Simon Morris Esher CofE School ESHER Shane Morton Upper Beeding County Primary School STEYNING Mary Mulholland The Rydon Community School PULBOROUGH Terry Patrick O''Leary Quinn Abbotsford School BURGESS HILL Ann Oddy St Aidan''s RC Primary School COULSDON Graham James Olley Senacre Technology College MAIDSTONE Hilary Pam Gravel Hill Primary School BEXLEYHEATH Martyn Parker Charters School ASCOT Sophie Parker Jane Partridge-Dyer Northfleet School for Boys GRAVESEND Maureen Peacock The Archbishop''s School CANTERBURY Maureen Pearson English Martyrs'' RC Primary School ROCHESTER Jane Sigrid Percy Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls TUNBRIDGE WELLS Jacqueline Margaret Plummer Robert May''s School HOOK Martin David Ross Quaife Worthing High School WORTHING John Paul Rice Ambleside County Junior School WALTON-ON-THAMES Josephine Riglar St Augustine''s RC (Aided) Primary School FRIMLEY Maria Rimmer Watchetts County Junior School CAMBERLEY Ian Rix Hale Primary School FORDINGBRIDGE Karin Rowsell-Dickens The Beacon School BANSTEAD Eric Sampson Epsom and Ewell High School EPSOM John Sawyer Abbeylands School ADDLESTONE Iain Richard Scott William Parker School HASTINGS Nigel Sharman St Bede''s School REDHILL Anne Smith Cudham CofE Primary School WESTERHAM Cathy Smith Swakeleys School UXBRIDGE Heather Soanes Bedonwell Junior School BELVEDERE Margaret Spencer Valerie Anne Spinks Upbury Manor High School GILLINGHAM Margaret Linda Stanford Chilton County Primary School RAMSGATE Clifford Stokes Dame Janet County Junior School RAMSGATE Neil Sykes Beacon Community College CROWBOROUGH Christopher Tapley The Channel School FOLKESTONE Caroline Julie Lawley Thomas St Paul''s County Infant School MAIDSTONE Alison J. Thomas Kings College for the Arts and Technology GUILDFORD Carol Townsend Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School ASHFORD Jennifer Ann Wager Marjorie McClure School CHISLEHURST Wendy Wallace-Holman Seal CofE Primary School SEVENOAKS Susan N Watson Burghclere Primary School NEWBURY Elizabeth Jane Webster Aldingbourne County Primary School CHICHESTER Julia Mary Welford Herstmonceux CofE School HAILSHAM Fiona Wheatley Prior Heath County Infant School CAMBERLEY Adrian Williams Woodchurch CofE Primary School ASHFORD Janet Ann Wood Herne Bay County Infant School HERNE BAY Glynda Woodhouse Ocklynge Junior School EASTBOURNE John Worgan Abbeylands School ADDLESTONE Elizabeth Anne Wren St Joseph''s RC (Aided) Primary School GUILDFORD Andrew Wright The Grove School ST LEONARDS-ON-SEA

Roger Burgess Dartford Grammar School for Girls DARTFORD Colin Campbell Churchwood County Primary School ST LEONARDS ON-SEA Pamela Mary Cooper Holland Junior School HURST GREEN Deborah Joyce Coslett The Hayesbrook School TONBRIDGE Alison Lewis Edwards Byfleet Primary School BYFLEET David John Gilbert Furze Platt School MAIDENHEAD Richard James Hart Angley School CRANBROOK Angela Hubbard Hampden Park Infants'' School EASTBOURNE Nicola Claire Knight The Winston Churchill School ST JOHN''S Elizabeth Jane Leaman St Mary''s Catholic Primary School WHITSTABLE Gillian Jean Marels The Winston Churchill School ST JOHN''S Valerie Marshall North Lancing First and Middle School LANCING Philip Joseph Morris The Judd School TONBRIDGE Judith Nettleton The Park School WOKING Gillian Marie Pedersen Holy Trinity CE (Aided) Primary School CUCKFIELD Coral Romain St John''s College BRIGHTON Kathryn Elizabeth Stonier East Brighton College of Media Arts BRIGHTON Thomas Joseph Sweeney Sunbury Manor School SUNBURY-ON-THAMES Jayne True Mongeham Primary School DEAL Heather Kathrine Mary Walding St Margaret''s at Troy Town ROCHESTER Isobel Joan Wood Rouge Bouillon School ST HELIER