After 40 years of service at Loreto College, Ms Clynch (pictured right) has retired as Principal. To celebrate her tremendous service, a special mass and dinner was organised in her honour and was a fitting tribute to a leader who has done so much for so many.

The occasion was attended by hundreds of staff, students, and community leaders, past and present. The mass was celebrated by Father Kevin Murphy, who also worked at the college as a teacher and Senior tutor for some time. Once the mass had ended, Ms Clynch had made a special request that Father Murphy, perform a song that he wrote many years ago when she first became Principal. The song was called  ‘the old school’ and was a touching and light song about the end of an era and the beginning of a new time; in this performance, the song had a new relevance and poignancy.

The college will be in excellent hands, Peter McGhee (pictured left) will be Executive Principal of both Loreto Sixth Form College and St John Rigby College from August 2018. During his eight years at St John Rigby College, Peter has led continuous improvement resulting in an Ofsted judgement of ‘outstanding’ in every category in February 2017.  In addition, in December 2017, he was appointed as one of seven National Leaders of Further Education and is the only sixth form college Principal to have been appointed to this role. He was also recently awarded ‘Headteacher of the Year’ from the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Earlier in his career, Peter spent twelve years working at Loreto College in roles, which included Head of Mathematics and Senior Tutor. Therefore, in addition to being a nationally recognised leader of sixth form education he is also entirely familiar with and supportive of the Loreto values. Peter writes:

“Loreto College is a very special place and I owe much to Loreto for the experience and the opportunities that I had over twelve happy years earlier in my career. Whilst a little daunted to be taking over from Ann Clynch following her unrivalled work in sixth form education, I am delighted to be returning to such an outstanding College and once again being part of the Loreto family that continues to provide so much for our students and for the community which we serve.  I look forward to doing everything that I can to continue the tradition of improving the life choices of thousands of young people through an educational experience which is based on Loreto values and from which my three children have very much benefited”.