Page 3 Profile: Alex Reppold, Headteacher

Alex Reppold, Headteacher (CATERS NEWS AGENCY)

They say experience is the best teacher…

Not so for Alex Reppold. The 28-year-old Master’s student has just become the youngest head teacher in the UK. Mr Rippold, who is still awaiting the results of his dissertation, was put in charge of Pocklington Community Junior School in York this week.

Head teacher? He’s barely out of short trousers.

Age is just a number. Mr Reppold, who has previously taught in several primary schools in Yorkshire, secured the position after dazzling the school’s governors. “Age didn’t come into it,” Ann Hodgson, vice-chairman of governors, told the Hull Daily Mail. “It never crossed our minds because he was absolutely the right candidate”.

Has he always aspired to be a head teacher?

Mr Reppold became interested in the teaching profession while he was pursuing his undergraduate degree in psychology. He realised he enjoyed working with young people after volunteering at a local school.

And it was as easy as A,B,C?

He went on to train as a teacher with a focus on primary education and was named Hull’s Newly Qualified Teacher of the Year in 2008. He was under no pressure to finish his latest degree in a set time so took a number of years to complete it while working in a school.

Is he prepared for the challenge?

“Teaching has a lot of downsides but I like working with people who are always pleased to see you, still know how to have fun and don’t care what people think about them,” Mr Rippold told the Daily Telegraph.

Still, it’s a big responsibility for someone so young.

“The age of the candidate was not relevant,” stressed Mike Furbank, council head of children and young people, education and schools. “The judgment was made on how well they met the needs of the school and the skills set the governors had defined prior to the process”.

Sounds like he’s in a class of his own.

Mrs Hodgson described Mr Reppold as “very dynamic” and insisted he would be a valuable addition to the 204-pupil school. She said: “He has a very different approach and we are looking forward to working with him. I think he’s going to be great.”