A PRIMARY school will welcome its new headteacher in the new year.

Fiona Pattison, 48, will assume the reins at St James’s Primary School in Clitheroe in January.

Mrs Pattison, currently deputy headteacher at Sacred Heart Primary School in Accrington, will replace Paul Adnitt at the Greenacre Street school, who retired in July.

Since then, the school has been led by deputy headteacher Mrs Filder, who temporarily took over the school after Mr Adnitt’s 17-year stint.

Mrs Pattison, of Chorley, said she was relishing her new position.

She said: “I am really looking forward to getting started at St James’s and all the challenges that come with it.

“I think it is very important first of all for me to get to know everyone, not just at the school, but in the community, among the parents and the church.

“It has been an absolute pleasure here at Sacred Heart and I couldn’t thank everyone enough.

“But I am excited about moving to St James’s, if a little nervous!”

Mrs Pattison, who is married to architect Ian and has two sons, Samuel, 21, and Thomas, 18, has been a teacher for 25 years.

She said: “I knew I wanted to be a teacher from when I was about five.

“My reception teacher was absolutely fantastic and I knew from then I wanted to teach as well.

“But until the past couple of years I never really thought about becoming a headteacher.”

Mrs Pattison, a Manchester United fan who loves cats and has her own pet called Lulu, officially starts at the school on January 1.

St James’s Primary School received a ‘good’ rating at its most recent Ofsted inspection, back in February 2012, and Mrs Pattison plans to maintain those high standards.

A spokeswoman for the school said: “We look forward to welcoming Mrs Pattison in the New Year.”