Louise Hindmarch Appointed as Headteacher of Harry Watts Academy

Prosper Learning Trust are delighted to report the appointment of Louise Hindmarch as Headteacher of Harry Watts Academy, following the retirement of current Headteacher Derek Cogle.

Louise is from Sunderland and has lived and worked in the North East for her entire career. She trained to become a Secondary ICT Teacher at the University of Sunderland after completing her undergraduate degree in Business Computing. After graduating, Louise worked as a Teacher in a mainstream secondary school in Durham, which had a hearing and visual-impaired provision. Following this, she moved to Newcastle Bridges School, a school within Prosper Learning Trust, to work in middle leadership and focused on curriculum across all sites. Louise briefly left the Trust to work at an independent special school specialising in SEMH and ASC as an Assistant Headteacher, before returning to the Trust as a Deputy Headteacher at Harry Watts Academy. Louise has been part of the Harry Watts Academy journey prior to opening, through to the current day, and will be commencing her post as Headteacher in September 2023.

When approached about her new role, Louise said

“Working at Harry Watts Academy is an enormous privilege and I am delighted to have been appointed as the new Headteacher. The whole culture and ethos of Harry Watts Academy is embedded in absolutely everything our staff team do on a daily basis and I am proud to have led the school to this point in our journey.”

She added

"I am really excited to start my role as Headteacher at Harry Watts Academy. Using my in-depth knowledge of special education and our school, I am confident we will continually drive forward improvement for the benefit of our pupils and staff. Those who know me both professionally and personally, know how incredibly passionate I am about Harry Watts Academy and the outcomes for our pupils and our future success."

Alongside her work in special education, Louise has presented at both national and international conferences, and supported schools with curriculum design and school improvement. Louise is also a governor at a local mainstream primary school, sits on the Sunderland University Teacher Professional Development and CPD Advisory Board, and has been part of #WomenEd (Women Leaders in Education).