Saltus headmaster Ted Staunton will retire in June 2013, it was announced yesterday.In a letter to parents, students, staff and alumni Mr Staunton wrote: “My wife, Jane, and I intend to retire in Southern Ontario close to our three daughters and our five grandchildren.“After 40 years of involvement in private schools, the time has come to focus solely on family.”Mr Staunton said he thoroughly enjoyed his time at Saltus and considered it a privilege to have served the school as its ninth headmaster.“Entering my final year, I remain as enthusiastic as I was on my first day. While there have been numerous challenges, I am pleased with the progress we have made in many areas of the school,” he wrote.The headmaster praised his “hardworking” and “talented” staff and students.He told chairman of the school board Gil Tucker of his plans to retire in June 2012.In his own letter, Mr Tucker wrote: “We have been fortunate as a school community to have enjoyed Ted's strong and able leadership as he guided our school through a significant management transition and forward through challenging times.”Last month, Saltus celebrated improved GCSE pass rates and a record number of students being awarded Advanced Placement scholar status.However, there was controversy in December 2010 when Mr Staunton expelled eight students after “birthday punches” got out of hand and put the recipient in hospital. Parents protested the move.A total of 14 staff redundancies were announced in 2010, together with news that student enrolment would be cut from 1,015 to 900 over the next two years.Mr Staunton blamed the economic downturn which led to international families leaving the Island.However, the school ended up beating the predictions by enlisting 913 students for the 2012 school year.Yesterday, Mr Tucker said the board of directors is “now very much focused on the search for Ted's successor, and to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition in leadership”.A committee has been set up to search for the next headteacher, and an executive named Colleen Keenan from international recruiting firm Odgers Berndtson has been enlisted to help.Mr Tucker said: “We will be advertising the search widely and Colleen will also be consulting with members of our school community on the issues and challenges that will face our new head and what we ought to be seeking in this person, so that the committee has the benefit of this input as we move forward.“We anticipate that the search will run several months, and that we will be in a position to make an announcement about our new head this winter.”