The headmaster of private school in south London is standing down after "losing his temper" at a staff party.

In a letter to staff and parents, Joseph Spence, the master at Dulwich College, said he will leave his role after an incident with a colleague at a summer party, as reported by the Financial Times. 

The 64-year-old said: “As some of you may have heard, I lost my temper with a member of staff at the staff party of July 4 — the only time in my career that anything like this happened.

“That incident has caused me to reflect on the toll which leading a complex, multinational institution like Dulwich has taken on me, particularly given the significant challenges we have all faced in recent years.”

He added that he apologised to the staff member that was involved in the incident. 

Spence, who has served as headmaster since 2009, was planning to retire at the end of the academic year in August 2025. 

However in a separate letter from Adrian Carr, the chair of governors, said Spence would now step back into “an ambassadorial and advisory capacity”. 

In May 2024, Spence was shortlisted for the Times Education Supplement Independent Headteacher of the Year award.

Robert Milne, headmaster of Emanuel School in Battersea, will take over Spence's role in September 2025. 

An interim headmaster has been appointed by the school in Dulwich Common until Milne starts. 

The school was set up in 1619 by Edward Alleyn and its former pupils are nicknamed Old Alleynians.