A Weymouth school has revealed plans to join an academy trust following the departure of its principal.

In a bid to tackle the "challenging situation" facing the town's secondary schools, The Wey Valley School has announced its intentions to become part of a local academy trust.

In a letter sent home to parents, chairman of the governors, Diane Day said: "You will all be aware of the current challenging situation of the secondary schools in Weymouth and the importance of good working partnerships to delivering school improvement.

"Wey Valley has been a stand alone academy since 2012 and the governing body believes that the time is now right for the school to be seeking a partnership with other academies in order to benefit from economies of scale and sharing of best practice.

"We are therefore working towards joining a local academy trust."

The news came as the school announced principal, Sara Adams has decided to leave the school.

Ms Adams, who took over as principal in July 2016, had been on an extended period of absence for health reasons for several months.

The school announced this week that she had now decided to retire.

Mrs Day said Ms Adams wanted to inform the school community that she had enjoyed her time at Wey Valley immensely and wished staff, students, parents and governors the very best for the future.

"The governing body extends its thanks to Ms Adams for the hard work and dedication she has given the school and wishes her a long and happy retirement," Mrs Day said.

She also thanked vice principal, Carol Watson who stepped up to lead the school during Ms Adam's absence through the second half of last term.

"We are delighted that she has now agreed to continue to lead the school in the role of interim principal," Mrs Day said.

The news of Ms Adam's departure comes the same week it was announced Budmouth College principal's, Richard Jacobs had left with "immediate effect".

The college announced on Monday that Mr Jacobs would not be returning to the school after he took a sudden leave of absence in November 2018.

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.

No reason was given for his departure.