A NEW headteacher of Queen's College's junior school has been appointed.

Starting from September, Henry Matthews is set to take over from Tracey Khodabandehloo as she makes plans to retire after 10 years leading the junior school.

Mr Matthews is currently headteacher of St Joseph’s School in Launceston, Cornwall, where he started his teaching career in 2012.

He became deputy head three years later and was appointed as head in 2018.

The junior school includes nursery, pre-prep and junior departments catering for children from babies to 11 years and, like Mrs Khodabandehloo, Mr Matthews will oversee these areas.

Queen’s College headteacher, Dr Lorraine Earps, said: “We were delighted to appoint Henry from an extremely strong field of candidates.

“We were all impressed by both his vision and approach, along with the wide experience he has gained in a relatively short time as a Head.

“We are looking forward to him joining us from September and are confident he will build on Tracey’s outstanding work in our junior school and younger years.”

Mr Matthews hopes to give the pupils the best possible start as they grow into an 'ever-changing' world.

He added: “As soon as I stepped through the doors at Queen’s I knew it would be a special place to work. The caring community ethos and the desire to continually improve echoes my own philosophy on education.

“My passion is to ensure we constantly strive to provide the best possible start for our children, to prepare them for the ever-changing world they will go into.

“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to guide and shape their futures.”

Mr Matthews and his fiancée have two daughters, aged four and two, and the family is excited to explore the Somerset countryside.

“We love to spend time together at the beach surfing and out exploring the countryside of the South West,” he said.

“I also enjoy sport (especially rugby), cooking, walking my dog Ginny and travelling around Europe camping in some fantastic places during the holidays.

“I am very excited to be taking on the role at Queen’s and I look forward to seeing everyone in September.”