New head for bad pupils

A new head has been moved into a Croydon school because the council is so worried about pupils' behaviour.

Croydon council has asked George Varnava, the immediate past president of the National Association of Head Teachers, to take over as acting head of 900-pupil Ashburton High School. The council wants to avoid Ashburton becoming another Ridings, the Yorkshire school which closed down earlier this year because pupil behaviour was so bad. Judith Judd