The Eye Of Media

By Gavin Mackintosh And Chris Williamson-

Collaborative Academies Trust is set to move 8 of the 9 schools previously under its umbrella to new sponsors.

The trust, set up by the American for-profit school improvement company Edison Learning, is departing the five schools in Somerset this summer. The trust will be giving up its flagship Willow Brook Primary School & Nursery in Essex, as well as two other primary schools – Lumbertubs and Spring Lane – in Northamptonshire.

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The eye of media.com has heard from ‘school week’ that the trust will keep control of just one school- the ‘good’-rated Kingsthorpe College in Northants, currently the chain’s only secondary institution. Chair of the trust, Robin Imms, said the changes came about following a full strategic review.

During the review, the trust concluded that improvement to the schools would be best achieved through “stronger partnerships with multi academy trusts operating more locally within Somerset, Essex and Northamptonshire”.

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The Eye Of Media.com also heard from school week that the trust will also give up its flagship Willow Brook Primary School & Nursery in Essex, and two other primary schools – Lumbertubs and Spring Lane – in Northamptonshire.

Willow Brook, which is rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, will transfer to The Kemnal Academies Trust, while ‘requires improvement’-rated Lumbertubs and ‘good’ Spring Lane will move to the Bourton Meadow Education Trust. Only one school, the Kingsthorpe College in Northants, rated good by Ofsted, will remain with the trust.

Robin Imms, the chair of the trust, said the changes are being made “following a full strategic review”, in which the trust concluded that improvement to the schools would likely best be achieved through “stronger partnerships with multi academy trusts operating more locally within Somerset, Essex and Northamptonshire”.

That review has angered union members, who are blaming the government for the decision. School week, who first released the news are also not happy with the news.

An insider who anonymously informed The Eye Of Media.Com of the development described the decision as a ”retrograde step”, not in the best interest of the abandoned schools concerned.

However, school week, a respectable publication read by 15,000 education professionals that reports on schools news and conducts a number of investigations in relation to UK schools, have not taken a formal position on the news, which is still be looked into. The whisper is that the development has not got down too well, but the critical review itself is to be reviewed by investigators.

The Eye Of Media.Com will be joining the investigation to establish the robustness and competence of the decision. Jon Richards, head of education at Unison expressed surprise at the speed with which the trust has been dismembered. He told school week:

“The national unions have been trying to meet with them for months,” Richards told Schools Week. “Then out of the blue they told us that the Somerset schools were going. Now they drop another bombshell with two Northants schools going.”

That bombshell might be linked to a finding by Ofsted in 2015 that too many schools had not improved since joining the trust. Ofsted also concluded that the impact of the trust on pupils’ achievement was “inconsistent and limited”, Other schools affected by the decision includes a primary school rated inadequate by Ofsted -Manor Court Community Primary School, which will move to the Preston Primary Academy Trust, while the ‘inadequate’ Priorswood Primary School will join the Redstart Learning Partnership.

Willowdown Primary Academy and Woolavington Village Primary School, which are both rated as ‘requires improvement’ will transfer to the Clevedon Learning Trust. Wellesley Park Primary School, which is ‘good’, will be taken on by The Castle Partnership Trust.

Pic Credits: Northampton Chronicle.co.uk

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