Sidbury Primary School to become an academy

The institution will become part of a ‘multi-academy chain’ with ten other schools.

SIDBURY Church of England Primary School will begin a new year in September with academy status.

The institution will become part of a ‘multi-academy chain’ with ten other schools.

Governors at the Church Street hub revealed this week a ‘rigorous’ consultation process saw children, parents, staff and other stakeholders ‘unanimously’ decide to go ahead with the move.

Sidbury primary will become part of The Primary Academies Trust along with Orchard Vale and South Brent Primary Schools, five schools in the First Federation and three in the Children First Federation.

The change will take effect from September 1.

In a letter to parents, chairman of governors Carole Turner and executive headteacher Gary Chown said: “This will provide us with the opportunity to combine and consolidate resources.

“It also provides us with a great opportunity for all the primary schools to work together to continue to improve the quality of education even further and provide first class education for the benefit of all the children in our communities for many years to come.

“We would like to reassure parents and carers that any change to academy status would not change the ethos or educational principles of our schools or the way that our schools work in partnership as a family of schools.”

Academies are publicly funded independent schools, free from local authority and national government control.

Mrs Turner and Mr Chown said the move has the potential to provide Sidbury primary with greater flexibility to the curriculum, freedom from local authority bureaucracy and greater control over an increased budget, among other benefits.