The new principal of the Energy Coast UTC has defended claims made about her leadership skills following an article in a national magazine.

Cherry Tingle, who is set to take the helm of the college at Lillyhall on September 1, has been criticised in the satirical magazine Private Eye.

Although Ms Tingle has recently worked as a curriculum specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, there are claims about leadership and governance problems in two previous schools where she was head.

The article highlighted a staff walkout at Collegiate High School in Blackpool a number of years ago, with teachers blaming “the management style of the headteacher”.

And it stated that Ms Tingle led her next school, Pleckgate High School in Blackburn, into special measures.

Ms Tingle defended the claims, saying: “My leadership experience, skills and previous performance speak volumes”.

She said when she took the post in Blackpool, the school had just received an Ofsted notice to improve, and was graded inadequate.

She says under her leadership, within 16 school months, the school received an Ofsted monitoring report showing ‘good’ in every area and a full inspection grading of ‘satisfactory’ overall with ‘good’ in 10 areas.

“The school then went on to win an award as the fifth most improved school in the country,” she said.

Ms Tingle failed to comment about staff walkout claims.

She said she was later drafted in to improve the Blackburn school which had just been judged as inadequate.

“During my time there, all outcomes for students improved with Ofsted making positive comments about my leadership performance.”

But, Ofsted also stated: “Governance of the school is inadequate.”

Ms Tingle says: “So, although the leadership and management review was positive, if governance is judged as inadequate, then this impacts on the judgement for overall leadership and the school overall and, unfortunately, because of this, the school went into special measures.”

She says she is delighted to take the post at the UTC, adding: “I am committed to offering excellence in all that we do and ensuring we deliver the highest in academic standards for our students.”

The Energy Coast University Technical College specialises in science and tech-based studies for 14 to 19-year-olds.

Its partners include Sellafield Ltd, Gen2 and the National Nuclear Laboratory.

The UTC spokesperson said Ms Tingle was appointed after a “thoroughly robust leadership recruitment process,” which was “completely transparent”.

They said Ms Tingle has a “proven proven track record of leading improvements in schools” which they say is a testament to her wealth or leadership skills. And working as a curriculum specialist “demonstrates her capability to really move schools forward”.

They added: “During interview, Cherry showed credibility and had a clear vision for education excellence at UTC, and the Board of Governors has every confidence in Cherry, and her senior leadership team, to continue to deliver the UTC’s ambitions ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive and succeed while leading the school into its next stage of development.”