12/10/22
Dear Parents,
You may be aware that the Government has stated the aim that all schools should be part of, or in the process of joining, strong multi-academy trusts by the year 2030.
The governors and I have been discussing this potential scenario for some time now and we want to make the right decision for our school and our community.
We feel that it is imperative that the school is part of a strong group of schools where there is the opportunity to learn from each other with sufficient support and challenge to enable our school to continue to grow and develop. However, we also want to ensure that we retain our unique ethos and curriculum with continued input and control over these decisions at a local level.
As a church school, we are already closely aligned to the Diocese of Newcastle and have always received excellent support from them- including during the consultation in 2017-2018 when our school was identified as being under threat of closure by Northumberland County Council. An opportunity has arisen to join their multi-academy trust (the Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust) and, having visited schools within the trust and talked to other heads, the governors and I are interested in exploring this further. We feel that joining this Trust would give us the opportunity to benefit from effective support and wider networks but would still enable us to work in close partnership with our local community and school neighbours.
However, before making any decisions, we need to know what you think and what questions you might have.
So, we would like to invite you all to a discussion meeting on Monday 17th October at 6.30 pm.
The purpose of the meeting is to gather your thoughts and views on the possible future direction of the school before potentially beginning a more formal consultation process later in the autumn.
We want and value your feedback and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at this initial meeting.
Yours sincerely,
Jo Trotter (Headteacher)
Barbara Mansfield (Chair of Governors)
