Epsom College has appointed a new headteacher who has pledged to honour the legacy of suspected murder victim Emma Pattison.
Former Brighton College and Wellington College headmaster Sir Anthony Seldon will take on the top role at the independent Surrey school from March 1 to September 2024.
It comes less than two weeks after former headteacher Mrs Pattison, her husband George Pattison and their daughter Lettie, 7, were found dead in their home on the grounds of the prestigeous college.
A firearm recovered from the scene was registered to George Pattison.
Mrs Pattison had been in the role just five months before her tragic death, which has rocked students and staff and led to the school’s early closure before half-term.
Epsom College announced Sir Anthony’s appointment on Friday.
He said he is “committed to ensuring Emma’s legacy is honoured and that Epsom College moves forward in the manner she intended”.
He explained: “This is what Emma would have wanted for all the pupils and staff she had worked with, supported, and for whom she had such high hopes. Emma was driven, ambitious and courageous – there is no better way to respect her memory than for Epsom College to forge ahead and embody the values that guided her life.”
Sir Anthony, 69, said his role as head of the school will be to provide “confidence, stability and maturity” in the “aftershocks of the deaths of Emma and Lettie Pattison”.
Sir Anthony had met Mrs Pattison briefly before her death, and described her as “a dedicated, visionary educationalist”.
The political biographer served as a headmaster for more than 20 years. He was then vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham for five years until 2020.
The school’s president, Lord Alex Carlile KC CBE, said the board wished the appointment “had never been necessary”.
“Emma was a wonderful person, an educator of distinction and someone who was set to take the College on an exciting journey. That her time was so cruelly cut short is devastating to all that knew her, and all those who were yet to know her but would have benefitted immeasurably from her talents”
A new permanent head will lead the college, which won Independent School of the Year, from September 2024.
It comes just days after Mrs Pattison’s family paid tribute to her and Lettie, calling the pair “inseperable”.
“To see the esteem in which Emma is held by all who knew her is an enormous comfort. She was everything one could hope for in a daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, teacher and so much more,” family said in a statement.
“We are an extremely close family and family was at the centre of Emma and Lettie’s universe.”
The police investigation continues.
