Firth Park Academy: New name, new uniform and new principal for Sheffield secondary school

More than 30 parents and guardians gathered in December to voice their frustrations with Firth Park Academy before taking their complaints to the school in a series of meetings.

Issues raised ranged from claims of “constant suspensions” for their children, harsh isolation periods, and a prevailing sense pupils were being punished “with no legitimate reason” because they had been labelled “the bad ones” by staff.

Now, Firth Park Academy, operated by Lift Schools academic trust, has kicked off 2025 by announcing an image change.

Both a new principal and a new vice principal will be taking their posts in the spring term.

Nigel Whittle will take over from current regional executive principal Gemma Simons, who temporarily held the role after the departure of Dean Jones. The school’s letter home to parents announcing the change said Mr Whittle “has led schools in particularly challenging areas, helping one school in Grimsby to achieve its first ever ‘good’ rating by Ofsted in just 3 years under his leadership.”

Craig Nicholson, Regional Education Director for Lift Schools said: “We are delighted to have appointed such a strong candidate to lead our community at Firth Park Academy. I look forward to working with Nigel to give every child in every classroom an excellent education, every day.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Claire McMurdo, formerly of Huddersfield Grammar School, will join as vice principal.

Letters sent home in January also say, by the end of the year, the Fircroft Avenue school plans to roll out a new name - ‘Lift Firth Park’ - with a new uniform and logo.

A letter home on January 21 reads: “These changes reflect our hi aspirations for all students. You can expect to see these changes introduced this year.

“Current students will continue to wear their existing uniforms until our stock has run out, at which the supplier will transition to selling the new uniform.

“We’re incredibly excited about what this new chapter means for our school.

“While the day-to-day experience at Lift Firth Park won’t change, a new name and fresh look gives us the opportunity to create environments that are even more inspiring, inclusive, and focused on helping every child thrive.”

For the parents who met in December, the changes have been cautiously welcomed.

Tom Ransom is the organiser of the ‘Firth Park Academy Parents’ Facebook group, which formed in October to gather complaints and has since grown to nearly 400 members made up of current and former parents.

He told The Star: "We have left the ball in the school's court since the new year.

“We got our points across at the school parents meeting [held in December]. They made promises of big changes so we will give them the chance to make those changes before pursuing our next steps as yet we have no plans.

“It depends how the school approaches our issues."

Editor’s note: A former version of this story claimed Mrs McMurdo would replace current vice-principal Mirus Iwaskow. This is not the case and they will both be at the school as vice principals. The story has been updated to correct this.