A NEW chair of governors has been unveiled at Charter Academy, the only mainland Church of England secondary school in Portsmouth diocese.

The Ven Joanne Grenfell

The Ven Joanne Grenfell, the Archdeacon of Portsdown, has now taken over as the chair of governors at Charter, which is sponsored by ARK Schools and serves primarily the inner-city of Portsmouth.

Joanne – who acts on behalf of the Bishop of Portsmouth to support parishes in Portsmouth and Havant – takes over from the Rev Alex Hughes, who combined the role with being vicar of St Luke’s and St Peter’s Churches in Somers Town, before he moved to become Archdeacon of Cambridge in the summer.

She said: “I’m delighted to become involved with Charter Academy, which has a crucial role in offering high quality education with a Christian ethos in a more deprived part of our city.”

Charter Academy recently celebrated record GCSE results, with 79 per cent of its 16-year-olds achieving five GCSEs with grades between A* and C, including English and maths.