Glossopdale says 'goodbye' to Ms McGloin and 'hello' to Ms Smith

Glossopdale School & Sixth Form has appointed a new Headteacher, Kate Smith, who will take up the role on January 1st 2025. This follows the appointment of the current Headteacher, Debbie McGloin, as the Director of Education and School Improvement for True Learning Partnership, the Trust that Glossopdale is part of. 

Debbie is delighted to be taking up this new role and it means that she will be working more closely with the headteachers of the other 4 schools within True Learning as well as Glossopdale, supporting them with their school improvement work. Debbie commented: “although I am delighted about my new role, I have not found this an easy decision as I have been working at Glossopdale for over 25 years and it has been a significant part of my life for so long.”

 Debbie began teaching at Glossopdale in 1994 after being appointed as a History teacher. She has taught history and sociology to many students over the years and has thoroughly enjoyed it. She became the Deputy Headteacher in 2009 and left to take up her first headship at New Mills School in 2014. After a successful Ofsted inspection, she moved back to Glossopdale to take up the Headteacher position in December 2020. She added: “I am sad to be stepping away from headship, I am incredibly proud of the work we have achieved at Glossopdale and I leave the school in a very strong position having secured a ’good’ judgement from Ofsted in November 2023 and achieving our best exam results ever this year.”

Kate is no stranger to Glossopdale having previously been a Deputy Headteacher at the school, and comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience, most recently as a Principaland a School Improvement Consultant in a large trust. Debbie said “I could not be happier than to be handing over the baton to Kate, Kate was instrumental in the school gaining its ‘good’ judgement last year and she knows our school community really well. I am confident that under her leadership Glossopdale School & Sixth Form will carry on being a great place for the children in our community to be educated and will go from strength to strength.”

Kate began her career as an English teacher in London 20 years ago and held various leadership positions in schools in the south-east before returning to the north to take up the post of Deputy Headteacher at Glossopdale in 2017. She is pleased to be back and confident that the school can improve even further. 

Kate commented: “I am absolutely thrilled to be returning to Glossopdale School & Sixth Form. The school is such an integral part of the community and I am immensely proud to have the opportunity to serve the students, their parents and the staff in the next phase of the school’s improvement journey. I loved my time as Deputy Headteacher and am excited to be working with the team again. I am particularly pleased to be working with Debbie as well as all of the excellent teachers, leaders and support staff who I know well. Everyone in the school community at Glossopdale cares so much and contributes to its really strong culture and ethos.

I intend to continue that collaboration to support all students in realising their ambitions and making their time at school joyful and enriching. I can’t wait to get started.”