David Pearmain

Headteacher, Kenton School, representing Headteachers and Newcastle 14-19 Local Partnership

David was educated at Collyers School in Sussex and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read English Language & Literature. He began teaching in an urban comprehensive school in 1974, at a time when it was unusual for an Oxbridge graduate to choose this path.

He has worked in challenging schools in: Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Bradford, Doncaster and Newcastle, as an English teacher, Head of English, Deputy Head and Headteacher (twice), but his current role, at Kenton School, where he arrived in 1998, is both the most challenging and the most rewarding.

David is Chair of Schools NorthEast, Chair of the Newcastle Education Improvement and Aimhigher Partnerships; he is the Newcastle 14-19 Learning Partnership representative for the North East Regional 14-19 Commission, as well as Vice Chair of the Tyne & Wear Aimhigher Steering Group and a member of the Newcastle Specialised Diploma Strategy Group. David is a member of the national DCSF Secondary Headteacher’s Reference Group, advising the Government on education policy.  He was also one of 5 headteachers nationally invited to HM Treasury in February 2007, to advise on, “Creating a high aspiration culture for young people in the UK.”