THE NEW headteacher of The Manor Preparatory School in Abingdon has said he is ready for an 'exciting chapter' as the school gets ready to welcome more boys.

The Manor Preparatory School currently teaches girls two to 11 and boys two to seven.

From September 2018 The Manor will be extending its co-educational provision so boys will then be able to progress through the school to the end of Year 6 alongside the girls, keeping families together.

Alastair Thomas, joins the school as headteacher this term, has most recently been the headteacher at The Elms School, Colwall, a coeducational boarding and day prep school for children aged three to 13.

Prior to that he was Deputy Head Academic at Lambrook School, Ascot and in his earlier career covered a range of teaching roles including Head of French and Latin and teacher of Maths, English, History and Sport.

He said: “I believe that every child should have the opportunity to reach their potential in all fields of education and this is what attracted me to The Manor.

"The Manor has offered a wonderful education to many children over the last 100 years and I am very much looking forward to continuing that tradition whilst enabling the school to evolve further.”

Mr Thomas added: “The opportunity for me to lead the school as it embarks on this exciting new chapter to becoming fully co-educational is one that I did not want to miss."