The new head teacher of a Watford girls school said she hopes to share her enthusiasm for history with students.

Governors at Watford Grammar School for Girls (WGGS) have appointed Clare Wagner as the new headteacher, but she will not take up her post until September.

Former head Helen Hyde resigned in January after 29 years at the Lady's Close school - to help refugees coming into Watford.

Mrs Wagner will be joining WGGS from South Hampstead High School for Girls, GDST, where she has served as the senior deputy head since 2013.

Having completed her initial teacher training at Upton Court Grammar School, she then worked in both the private and maintained sectors in a range of schools, including Slough Grammar School and more recently North London Collegiate School where, as well as teaching history and politics, she was also head of middle school.

Her own academic interests lie in 17th Century England and 18th Century France and she hopes very much to share her enthusiasm for these periods of history with the girls at WGGS.

On her appointment, Mrs Wagner said: “It is a great honour to have been appointed to succeed Helen Hyde at Watford Grammar School for Girls.

"The school has a proud tradition of providing its girls with the skills and confidence they need to love scholarship and to contribute as widely as they can.

"I am looking forward to working with the whole school community and indeed the wider community to further enhance WGGS’s excellent teaching, caring pastoral support and rich wider curriculum for the benefit of all girls.”

Percy McCloskey, chairman of governors, said: “As governors, we are delighted to have appointed Mrs Wagner as the new head of Watford Grammar School for Girls.

"In her we believe we have found a leader who will uphold and enhance the school’s ethos of excellence in all areas of school life, enrich its distinctive culture and build on the outstanding work of Helen Hyde in ensuring its continued position as one of the country’s leading girls’ schools.”

Mrs Hyde, 67, was recognised in the 2013 New Year’s Honours list for services to education.

She is also president of Freedom and Autonomy for Schools – National Association and a fellow in Holocaust studies at the Imperial War Museum.

She told the Observer she plans to work in Watford with the vicar for local immigrants Tony Ridl and in London for Maurice Ostro in Collaboration House, which is trying to bring a number of interfaith charities together to be more effective.