Aylestone High School's headteacher has resigned.

Students and parents were told yesterday (Wednesday October 31) that Stephen Byatt would no longer be working at the Hereford school.

George Nairn, who chairs the board of governors, said in a letter to parents that Mr Byatt had resigned and his decision had been accepted by the governing body.

"Since coming into post in September 2004, Mr Byatt has led the school through a period of change which has not been easy in the context of falling rolls and budgetary and staffing problems," the letter said.

"During this time, the school has had some notable successes, in particular, gaining specialist school status, a good Ofsted inspection and its best ever GCSE results in 2006.

"He has now decided to pursue other professional challenges and to develop his undoubted talents as an educator."

Alan Boxall, deputy headteacher, has been asked to take over as acting head with immediate effect and governors will begin the process of appointing a new head this week.

Mr Byatt joined the school from Ellowes Hall School in Dudley. He started his career as a maths teacher and enjoyed two spells at Ludlow School.

Aylestone High, which is based in Broadlands Lane, has recently been granted special ist school status, becoming a business and enterprise college.

An Ofsted inspection carried out in March 2006 described Aylestone High, which caters for pupils aged between 11 and 16, as a "good school that gives good value for money". It was given an overall rating of good.

The report also stated that the school needed to improve communications with parents and develop a greater consistency in its assessment procedures.

It stated that although the school was well-managed at al l levels, parents remained to be convinced that the school was improving.

This year's GCSE results saw a fall in the number of students recording five A* to C grades compared to the recordbreaking year of 2006.