Lancashire County Council appoints new director in charge of schools in Preston and county

Paul Turner is the new director of education, skills and culture at LCC Pic: Lancashire County Council

A new chief in charge of Preston and Lancashire’s schools has been appointed.

Paul Turner takes on the role of director of education, skills and culture at Lancashire County Council.

Mr Turner takes responsibility for steering all education provision from early-years settings such as nurseries through to further education colleges and all schools in-between.

The role was advertised with an annual salary of between £98,919 to £107,384.

Mr Turner joins from Blackpool Council where he was Assistant Director of Children’s Services and spent nearly eight years at the local authority where he worked his way up from a school safeguarding advisor when he joined in 2015.

Paul said: “Having spent the last 22 years working in schools and local government, I am committed to improving education in disadvantaged communities and creating sustainable change to help others treat learning as a lifelong journey. I know that communities require bespoke solutions to address the educational issues that they face, and I hope my expertise in this area will have positive outcomes for children, young people and families in Lancashire.

“I believe bringing the local community into the wider life of a school is integral to continued and sustained improvement of educational outcomes. I also know that children must be at the heart of every decision we make, and that my new colleagues at Lancashire County Council share this vision. I am looking forward to working with Lancashire’s Education, Skills and Culture teams and seeing how I can support them to further develop and improve our services for the future.”

County Councillor Jayne Rear, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills at Lancashire County Council, said: “I welcome Paul to Lancashire County Council and look forward to working with him to further improve educational outcomes for all our children and young people.”

Jacqui Old CBE, Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services at Lancashire County Council, said: “Paul’s career to date spans all areas of education from teaching, early help and SEND to safeguarding, audit and inspection. I am confident Paul can help lead our committed service to help children and young people thrive in Lancashire. We are all looking forward to working with Paul and I know he will receive a very warm welcome.”

Mr Turner’s teaching career included being head of history at Bedford High School in Leigh, director of safeguarding at Salford City Academy and assistant headteacher at The Swinton High School Academy Trust in Salford.

He also spent two years as chair of the board of trustees at Blackpool Multi Academy Trust between September 2017 and August 2019. He remains a governor at Golborne High School.

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