Dear Parents and Carers/Stakeholders,
We are writing to inform you that, after careful consideration, the governing body of Corrie Primary and Nursery School are seeking to convert to an academy. We have been granted an academy order by the Department for Education, giving permission to start this process.
In seeking to convert to an academy, our priority is to ensure we continue to provide a high-quality education for our pupils. We believe joining an academy trust will provide the freedom to make effective financial decisions, securing our future and driving improvement.
We are seeking to join Ambition Community Trust (ACT). This will provide both a unique opportunity for our school, as it is a brand new Multi Academy Trust, but it is also in line with the ethos that currently underpins our school. Ambition Community Trust will have relational inclusion at its heart where children and young people, not only thrive academically, but also socially and emotionally. Whilst all schools will share common values, ACT is committed to each school being able to retain their own individual identity, knowing that the school is best placed to understand the needs of their local community. The collaboration with other schools will however enhance the opportunities that our staff, children and young people have further.
Ambition Community Trust is geographically cohesive and sustainable. The geographical base is Tameside, but it will also be spread across a further two authorities: Trafford and Manchester. The MAT will start as eight schools (5 Primary, 2 Special and 1 PRU) and bring together expertise from Primary, Secondary, PRU and Special.
Before proceeding with the conversion, there will be a formal consultation in which we invite you to share your views and ask any questions you may have. There are a number of ways you can take part in this consultation:
The dates for the consultation are from 23rd October – Wednesday 4th December 2024
There will be a meeting to discuss the conversion on Monday 4th November at 3.30pm in the Junior building.
If you have any questions regarding the conversion and cannot attend the meeting on Monday the 4th November please send all comments/questions to admin@corrie.tameside.sch.uk
We’d like to invite you to read through our answers to FAQs about this consultation, which you can find below.
We will be looking to regularly update this area of the school website with any further questions that have been asked, and their answers.
This is an exciting opportunity to sustain our future and to continue to bring about positive change in the way we run our school, develop our character and values, and continue to drive the best outcomes for our pupils. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us as detailed above with any comments and questions you may have.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Naomi Cartledge
Head Teacher
FAQs
Will the uniform change?
No we will still have our own logo and uniform
Will the holidays stay the same as Tameside?
Yes – we will stay in line with other Tameside schools
Will we lose staff to the other sites?
Any decisions made will be in the best interest of Corrie Primary and Nursery school. It will be managed by the Headteacher and we have the autonomy to manage our own school.
When will we convert?
If everything goes to plan it will be January 2025 – the governing board will be integral to making that decision.
Will the admissions change?
Class sizes will remain at 30 and you will still apply through the local authority.
What is an academy?
Academies are still state schools, but they’re funded and operated a little differently than maintained schools.
Instead of being funded by the local authority, academy trusts are paid directly by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This means that academies have more control over how they do things, than schools that aren’t academies.
Academies don’t charge fees to attend.
What is a multi-academy trust?
Academy trusts are not-for-profit companies. They have trustees who are responsible for their performance, in the same way that local authority (LA) maintained schools have governors.
The trustees are both company directors and charity trustees, and the academy trust employs the school staff.
We’re proposing to join a new multi-academy trust. This means that we’ll be part of a community of schools that are governed by one board of trustees. Each school in the trust will also have its own local governing body, with some delegated governance responsibilities for that particular school. The trust will also employ a team of central staff to support the group of schools and drive school improvement. As part of a trust with multiple schools, our school will have the opportunity to collaborate and share resources with the other schools across the trust.
What is the benefit of academisation for our school?
The benefits for our school will include:
- Improved teaching and learning for our pupils, because:
- Teaching expertise and resources can be shared across the trust
- There will be more training opportunities for our staff
- Greater freedom in deciding how to spend government funding
- The opportunity to collaborate
- So we can have more or better extra-curricular activities, for example
- Greater financial efficiency
- By procuring goods and services at a larger scale across the trust
A PDF booklet regarding the conversion can be downloaded here.