What’s new in Gloucester's schools?

I know the announcement of a General Election dominates the news, but schools matter. A few months ago I wrote to you on improvements seen across Gloucester’s schools. Today a quick update on some new or changing school structures. 

On the 1st May both Hatherley Infant School and St James' Church of England Junior School became separate academies within the same Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust. 

I’m sure they will both benefit from the shared resource and back office synergies as well as the values, experience, scale and access to a wider pool of teachers through the Diocese Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). I have happy memories of recent visits to both schools and know how committed the Heads and Chairs of Governors are to providing a great start for all their pupils - so congratulations to both.

Not far away, in Linden, Calton Primary School will join the SAND Academies Trust over the summer. 

SAND Academies Trust currently consists of six schools in Gloucestershire - five special schools and Willow Primary Academy, which is a mainstream school in Tuffley (formerly Tuffley Primary) with The Piper Centre, a specialist resource centre catering for 30 pupils.

I was very impressed when I went round Willow Academy in 2022. It’s good to see the SAND Trust expanding and (given the increased number of pupils with SEN challenges) their experience, led by Chair Lyn Dance (previously longtime Head of Milestones School), will be a great help to Calton Primary - as well as all the other benefits of scale from a MAT alluded to earlier.

Lastly a change at secondary Barnwood Park School, as the school's Board of Governors and Greenshaw Learning Trust (GLT) MAT have agreed the school will join GLT. 

The project was publicised and following a period of consultation, governors have confirmed the academisation will go ahead. 

They will now work closely with GLT over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition. 

Pupils at Barnwood Park School (rated good by Ofsted) have seen great improvements and joining GLT should provide extra support and depth.

Of course there is no guarantee that becoming an Academy or joining a MAT results in success. But there is plenty of evidence that it greatly increases the likelihood of that, and the percentage of good-rated schools which are academies is high. 

Crucially MATs are not just good at managing business costs better, and so enabling more money to go on educational achievement. They also have access to a much deeper pool of teachers to help if eg a key subject like maths needs more focus. MATs also offer more career development opportunities for teachers without changing employer.

All the schools involved above are determined to offer a great learning experience for their pupils, and I believe these changes, if well managed and communicated, will boost results and opportunities for them. The fact that the SAND Trust, the Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust and Greenshaw are all actively running primary schools also offers comparative data and styles of teaching which parents and future parents could and should consider. 

So a busy time this summer preparing for change. 

Best regards 

P.S. Do let me know your thoughts at [email protected]