A message from our headteacher, Mr. Heeley

2 September 2026

A message to the Lemington Riverside community, from Mr. Heeley

Dear parents, carers and the Lemington community,

After almost eight years as headteacher of Lemington Riverside, I have made the difficult decision to leave the school at October half term.

Lemington Riverside was my first headteacher role, and being headteacher here has been the greatest honour of my career. Back in 2019, the school was a very different place, and it has been a real privilege to work alongside this community to build the very special school we have today and can all be proud of.

During my time at Lemington, I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of fantastic children and their families. Together, we have transformed our school building into a modern and attractive place to learn and worked hard to ensure that our school is a place where every child in our community can grow and thrive.

I have always encouraged the children we educate, and the staff I have had the privilege to lead, to follow their hearts. After 20 years working in schools, I have decided that now is the right time for a change of direction for me personally.

Following the recent successes of our school, I also feel that this is the right time to hand over to somebody new to lead Lemington Riverside into its next chapter.

From October half term, I will be taking up a new role where I will be supporting schools more widely across the city. I am really excited about this new challenge and the opportunity to use some of what I have learned during my time at Lemington Riverside to help other schools and their communities.

I leave our school in the hands of an incredible and dedicated team of staff who will make sure that Lemington Riverside continues to thrive in the years ahead. The Governing Body is currently busy recruiting my successor and will communicate further with you about this in due course.

In the meantime, we have a busy and exciting half term ahead of us. I also want to reassure you that I have been carefully planning the next steps alongside Mr. Murphy and the wider senior leadership team to ensure that the school continues to run smoothly beyond October half term.

I will write to you again before I leave in October, when there will be plenty of time to reflect properly on the last eight years. For now, I simply want to place on record my heartfelt thanks to you all for welcoming me so warmly into your community and for the support you have shown me during my time as your headteacher.

It really has been an honour.

With best wishes,

Mr. Heeley
Headteacher