The new headteachers of Westwood Academy and Kenilworth School are both "incredibly proud and excited" to take up their new posts this year.

Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust (KMAT) has announced the appointment of Deborah Talbot at Westwood and Simon Bennett at Kenilworth following a "rigorous" selection process for each position.

Deborah - who has worked at both schools - will take up the role at the start of the summer term and says she is excited to continue the great progress over the past few years which saw Westwood achieve a 'good' Ofsted rating in 2025.

Meanwhile Simon will start his new position at Glasshouse Lane at the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

"It's certainly not a case of ripping everything up and starting again," the pair said.

"Everything that we've done at Westwood in the time that Sarah Hatch - the previous head - has been here, we've done together as a school.

"We have our motto, 'Better Never Stops' - so it's continuing with the journey.

"And at Kenilworth, the team has done an incredible job to achieve an 'outstanding' rating - we want to continue to pursue and uphold those highest standards for our students and improve wherever we can."

The selection process for the two new heads was completed this year, and - among a number of interviews and tasks - included panels of students putting questions to both of them.

"I am confident that their leadership will enhance the Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust and both schools will work well together"

Speaking on the two appointments, Malcolm Graham, Chair of the KMAT Board of Trustees said: "I am delighted to report that the KMAT Board of Trustees unanimously agreed the appointments of Deborah Talbot (The Westwood Academy) and Simon Bennett (Kenilworth School and Sixth Form) as the next headteachers of our schools in the multi academy trust. 

"They have both been selected after a very rigorous recruitment process consisting of a range of panel interviews and tasks over a two-day period. 

"We are confident that we have very strong professionals who will lead their respective schools, building on the achievements of their predecessor headteachers."

Journey to headship

Having qualified and joined as an English teacher in 2002, Simon has spent his whole career at Kenilworth School.

His progression started as assistant to a head of year, then full head of year, before joining the leadership team and eventually becoming assistant head. That led him to becoming deputy head with a responsibility for pastoral care and behaviour.

As well as speaking of his "privilege" at being on the leadership team when Kenilworth School was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted, Simon said he is one of many teachers who have been at the school for an extended period of time.

"People want to stay at this school," he explained.

"When I had to give my presentation to the staff as part of the recruitment process, there were some staff sitting there who had been at the school when I joined 24 years ago.

"We have very high retention rates, because people love this school.

"We're very, very child-centred.

"Throughout everything, there is a drive that the child is absolutely at the centre and number one. All of our staff know that."

For Debs, her career began in Erdington as a chemistry teacher before moving to Stoke Park where she was head of science for seven years.

That was when she made the move to Kenilworth School where she became an assistant head before her three years as deputy head at Westwood Academy.

"I live in the catchment, I have children that have been to the schools in the trust, I've worked in both schools in the trust, so I'm a big advocate of the trust," she explained.

"For me, I think one of the things that's really important is the professional development.

"I have always been given opportunities to develop and progress.

"And also inclusion. I think ensuring that every child does get the best opportunity, I think that's kept me within the trust.

"Having worked at both schools, I do think the children absolutely remain at the heart of what we do, and I think that is felt at all levels.

"That's really important to me, that that happens."

The two appointments were confirmed by KMAT over the past few weeks.

"It's certainly not a case of ripping everything up and starting again"

Having worked with both new heads for several years, KMAT CEO Hayden Abbott said he had always seen something in both Simon and Debs which showed they had the potential to be a headteacher one day.

"Congratulations are due to both Deborah and Simon on their appointments," he added.

"I am confident that their leadership will enhance the Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust and both schools will work well together to provide the best inclusive practice for all of our young people."

Next steps

Both new heads were quick to praise the work of their predecessors and reiterate that they want to strengthen and continue the progress that has been made across the trust.

Debs pointed to the holistic support Westwood wants to provide its students, ensuring pupils leave with the best outcomes as possible, with their learning going beyond the curriculum.

"In terms of personal development, we have done a lot over the last year and a half in terms of giving students further opportunities in terms of enrichment days so they can go to the zoo, they can go to the theatre, and so on," she explained.

"One of the things we're most looking forward to is giving the students a suite of options.

"So we talk about personal development, so by the time they leave Westwood they have had a huge range of experiences and a cultural capital that not all of our students will already have.

"We are a small school and have a lot of teachers who have a lot of ideas about pulling the community together.

"So I think seeing how the school pulls together is really important."

Among other priorities, Simon highlighted a desire to improve support for children with SEND and to make sure every pupil feels engaged at Kenilworth School.

"I'm excited about - particularly working in collaboration with Westwood - the opportunities to enhance how we help our children with special educational needs and also how we work with our children from more disadvantaged backgrounds," he said.

"There's so much we can do there to welcome them and to ensure that they feel engaged, supported, to ensure that they have all the enrichment and extracurricular activities.

"We're very confident about our teaching and learning here, but we just want to ensure that there isn't a student who ever feels, this isn't for me, just because they've come from a certain background."

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