Leaders say it is "business as usual" at a Weymouth school despite confirming it will remain without a principal.

Budmouth College principal, Richard Jacobs took a sudden leave of absence in November and the school has now confirmed he will remain on leave.

A letter was sent home notifying parents on December 18.

Mr Jacobs had only been at the school for seven months when he went on leave, after he took over as principal of Budmouth in April last year.

Budmouth was rated as inadequate by Ofsted in May and following the report, Dorset County Council used its powers to appoint a new team of governors in the form of an Interim Executive Board (IEB).

Chairman of the new IEB, Catherine Shaw said she was not able to confirm why Mr Jacobs was on leave and did not know at this time how long the leave would continue.

She added, although Mr Jacobs had a very public job, his privacy needed be respected.

Miss Shaw said: "From January 1, David Herbert, currently a headteacher at Sir John Colfox School, will be joining us as executive principal and Rob Russell from Taunton Academy will be an associate leader.

She added Mr Herbert and Mr Russell would be at the college for three days a week, working closely with vice principals Mark Cavill and Pete Hudson, and the leadership team with Mr Russell focusing particularly on pupil premium and safeguarding.

Speaking to the Echo, Miss Shaw said: "Clearly not having a principal in place is very serious. We have two very experienced people to add capacity to the present leadership team."

Miss Shaw said adding 'additional capacity' to the leadership team was vital as pupils approached exams but she reassured parents that their children's education would not be compromised.

"Any parent would be concerned not having a principal in place at the school for this length of time. What we are trying to do is act and get experienced people in place to continue leading this school at this challenging time," she said. "We are functioning and things have been as normal as they can be - it is very much business as usual.

"If any parents have concerns I urge them to come in and see us. There's a lot of good work going on."

Miss Shaw commended staff at the school who she said had been "absolutely outstanding in their commitment and goodwill".