Emma Soar, who has been Head of Senior School at Priory School of Our Lady of Walsingham since 2016 and Vice-Principal since 2023, will take over next September as Principal when the current Principal, David Lloyd, steps back for family reasons.
Mr Lloyd will take up a part-time teaching & mentoring role in the school.
Mrs Soar joined the school in 2013 and has led a talented and dedicated staff to make Priory School a leading school for GCSEs, with over 90% of grades at 9-4 (A*-C). The national average is 67%.
She has previously been Head of a 6th Form in Staffordshire before moving with her family to the Isle of Wight. Mrs Soar is also a Team Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate – ISI.
The Proprietor Edmund Matyjaszek, who took over the school at the invitation of its founders in 2009 and remains on the management said:
“I am delighted Emma Soar has accepted the post of Principal. She knows the school inside out and is a dedicated and very effective teacher and leader, with considerable management experience, and with her team has made Priory School the powerhouse for GCSE success it now is.
“I am equally delighted that David Lloyd, who has steered Priory through two successful ISI inspections, will be staying with us to continue his teaching and mentoring which has been so effective over the last 3 years.
“Priory School is very fortunate to have such a calibre of educational management to consolidate its position as the school of choice on the Isle of Wight.”
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