THE search has been launched for a �115,000-a-year boss to lead another Norfolk academy, this time at Thetford.

THE search has been launched for a �115,000-a-year boss to lead another Norfolk academy, this time at Thetford.

Adverts have been placed for the role of principal designate of the �50m Thetford Academy, which is set to open in September in the buildings of Rosemary Musker and Charles Burrell high schools in the town.

Within a few years, the academy will move to new buildings on three sites - the two high schools and a “Thetford Forum” development in the centre of the town. It will cater for more than 2,000 11-18-year-olds.

The academy could be the sixth in Norfolk, following in the footsteps of Open Academy and City Academy Norwich, both in Norwich, and planned academies at Costessey, King's Lynn and Gorleston, which are also set to open this September.

It is sponsored by Wymondham College, alongside co-sponsors Easton College, West Suffolk College and Norfolk County Council.

The advert for the principal designate - a title that will remain until final government consent is granted - flags up a “substantial salary package to exceed �115,000 per annum”.

It says: “The sponsors seek applications from outstanding school leaders with the energy, skill, creativity and integrity to take on this unique role.

“The academy will not only provide unrivalled facilities and an aspirational curriculum for students, it will also form the centrepiece of an ambitious agenda which will address decades of educational underachievement and related deprivation in the town.”

The closing date for applications is Friday, March 12 at noon.