Highbridge’s King Alfred School has this week confirmed that it is considering seeking academy status.
The school’s Governing Body said it is exploring the opportunity of converting to academy status following months of discussions and investigation.
It’s intended that King Alfred School will form a partnership with the existing Clevedon Learning Trust (CLT), which currently has a secondary school, of similar size to King Alfred School, and two primary schools, with two more primaries due to join shortly. Clevedon School is an outstanding school (Ofsted 2011), which has been turned around in the last 10 years by focussing on learning and teaching.
King Alfred School headteacher Denise Hurr told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The concept is to develop a Burnham Hub, with other local schools joining the Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). A major benefit in entering into a partnership with the CLT is that it is committed to a local focus and being modest in size.”
“This will allow The King Alfred School to focus on educational improvement, and to share the developmental skills offered by the CLT.”
“CLT have a vision and values very similar to The King Alfred School, and have a well established Learning Hub that provides career development opportunities for teachers and support staff, and there will be scope for the good practice of our school to be taken up by the CLT. There will be no visual changes at The King Alfred School with the school’s identity being retained.”
Hugh Mackay, Chairman of Governors, added: “This is a great opportunity for all students and staff at The King Alfred School, and bearing in mind the current political context, allows us to be in full control of our future direction.”
“There may be some modest financial economies of joining the MAT, with direct revenue funding from the Government’s Education Funding Agency (EFA), and access to capital grant funds for building improvements, which have been minimal in recent times from the County Council.”
The plans come after the Government pledged that by 2020 all schools in the UK will be required to become academies.
