Background

The Governing Body has been considering carefully the school’s future plans in a fast changing and increasingly challenging educational landscape.  Our priority is to enable the school to continue to provide an excellent education for our children while protecting the school’s role at the heart of our community and retaining the school’s unique qualities and strengths.

For some time our school has been part of the Rushcliffe Learning Alliance (RLA), a collaborative network of 33 local schools. We will continue to be part of the RLA but can see huge benefits from working more closely with a smaller group of partner schools, all from within the RLA.

Over the last year we have therefore been working closely with other Governing Bodies to explore how partnership could provide even greater advantages for our schools. As part of this, we have also considered the current Government policy that all schools become academies.

Proposal

The Governing Body believes the best way forward is to establish a local multi-academy trust and for our school to convert to an academy. The proposed Nottinghamshire Learning Together Trust would have seven founding member schools, listed alphabetically below.

·         Burton Joyce Primary School

·         Cropwell Bishop Primary School

·         Crossdale Drive Primary School

·         Heymann Primary and Nursery School

·         Keyworth Primary and Nursery School

·         Robert Miles Junior School

·         Tollerton Primary School

We believe pupils and staff will benefit from the greater opportunities that formal partnership, through the Trust, will bring, which include;

·         extending the learning opportunities and activities for pupils,

·         enriching the curriculum through partnership working and shared resources,

·         enabling the sharing of excellent practice in teaching and learning,

·         enhancing the professional development of teaching and support staff,

·         building mutual support and accountability between the Headteachers and between the Governors, and

·         securing cost and resource efficiencies through joint commissioning of services.

Our school shall continue to play an important part in the local community. We will remain active members of the Rushcliffe Learning Alliance and will continue to work closely with the Local Authority.

Consultation

We are now consulting with parents, carers, staff, pupils and the community. The consultation period will run between Tuesday, March 29^th and Friday, May 6^th 2016. The Governing Body will then consider a report on the academy consultation before making a final decision on whether to proceed with the proposal. If the Governing Body agrees to proceed, the plan is for the Trust to be established and for the schools to convert on August 1^st 2016.

We would like to invite parents and carers to attend one of the joint consultation meetings detailed below.  You will be welcome to attend any meeting, regardless of which school your child attends. At all meetings, there will be a brief presentation and then Governors and Headteachers will be available to answer any questions you might have.

Monday 18^th April, 6.00pm at Robert Miles Junior School

Tuesday 19^th April, 6.00pm at Burton Joyce Primary School

Wednesday 20^th April, 2.00pm at Cropwell Bishop Primary School

Wednesday 20^th April, 6.00pm at Heymann Primary and Nursery School, Key Stage 1 Building

Thursday 21^st April, 2.00pm at Keyworth Primary and Nursery School

Thursday 21^st April, 6.00pm at Tollerton Primary School

We are aware that the consultation meeting time at KPNS may be difficult for working parents to attend as we were unable to schedule meetings at every school location at convenient times. However, as stated above, we expect parents to attend the meeting at the most convenient location and on the most convenient date for them, regardless of which school their child attends. The Chair of governors of both KPNS and Crossdale will be attending the meeting at Tollerton Primary school to address questions about their respective schools.

This proposal does not affect our 2 year collaboration agreement with Crossdale Primary School. Governors will continue to monitor the impact of the collaboration arrangement as previously planned.

All parents will have received a Frequently Asked Questions  document (FAQs Link) and a feedback form. If you have any feedback on the proposal that you would like to share with the Governing Body, then please  complete the survey form and return to the school by Friday, May 6^th 2016. Alternatively, contact Mr Demetriou (Chair of Governors) through the school office or parent governors who will be happy to discuss it further.