A RURAL village school near Winchester has appointed a new headteacher.

Andrew Harvey, who is currently in charge of The Paragon independent school in Bath, is to take over from Dr Steve Bailey upon his retirement in September 2020.

Mr Harvey described his appointment as a "tremendous honour".

He continued: "I have been given the opportunity to lead and serve Twyford School as the 17th head in its 221 year history.

"From my first visit to the school I was struck by the warm and friendly atmosphere, the tremendous opportunities available to pupils and was hugely impressed by everyone I met.

"I am keen to build on Twyford’s long tradition and outstanding education and I am excited to be part of its future.”

Andrew studied theology at university, followed by a PGCE. His experience of prep school education began at Perrott Hill School, where he taught history and English.

He was a housemaster at Chafyn Grove School, and then moved into management, as head of pastoral care at Sherfield School.

Later he was appointed deputy head of Lambrook School in 2007, before becoming head of The Paragon in 2012.

Chairman of Twyford School governors, Fiona Dunger, said: "We received an outstanding response for the post, and this made the selection process challenging.

"Andrew was our unanimous choice from a final shortlist of very strong candidates, and we are delighted that he has accepted our offer.

"He shares a passion for academic excellence as well as inspirational, skills-based learning and extracurricular enrichment. He has a wealth of experience in the prep school sector.

"We look forward to welcoming Andrew to Twyford School over the coming months as he prepares to take up his post next September.”