Sir John Arthur Townsley is a British educator.

Biography

Townsley began teaching in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

''c''. 1987 at John Smeaton High School. He spent ten years at The King's School in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

, before becoming Deputy Headteacher at Prince Henry's Grammar School in

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

. He became headteacher at Morley High School in 2003. The school had been rated Satisfactory by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

before his appointment, but after a 2009 inspection it was upgraded to Outstanding; it then became an

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in 2011 under Townsley's leadership. The school then became an Academy sponsor and linked with Farnley Academy in Leeds and several primary schools to form part of The Gorse Academy Trust; Townsley had taken over leadership at Farnley in 2009, and saw it increase from an Inadequate Ofsted ranking in 2009 to Outstanding in 2013, and later being reduced back down to Requires Improvement after an impromptu Ofsted inspection following accusations of off-rolling. He also became Executive Headteacher of

The Ruth Gorse Academy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

free school in Leeds. Townsley was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

"for service to education".Darren Evans
"Inspirational educators recognised in New Year's Honours list"
''Times Education Supplement'', 30 December 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Concerns have been raised by education unions and staff regarding his professional management style and culture established, describing it as bullying.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsley, John Heads of schools in Yorkshire People from Leeds Knights Bachelor Living people Year of birth missing (living people)