Pomphlett becomes an Academy!
POMPHLETT IS NOW AN ACADEMY!
I wrote to all parents and carers yesterday to inform them the school was converting to Academy status today and joining the Horizon Multi-Academy Trust. This has been in the pipeline for quite a long time – school governors took the decision to investigate becoming an academy school over two years ago and we received approval from the Government just over a year ago. Our actual conversion was delayed due to legal complexities surrounding land ownership and our forthcoming building programme. These issues have all now been resolved, allowing both the building programme and academy conversion to proceed. A copy of my letter can be found below.
This conversion means we are no longer maintained by the Plymouth Local Authority, though we will continue to work in partnership with them on a range of matters, including Child Protection and Safeguarding along with several other aspects of school life. We are very grateful to the Local Authority for its care of the school and for the support we have received from them over the years. The decision to part from the Local Authority was a difficult one, but the fundamental changes in recent years to Local Government, especially relating to Education, made this inevitable for Pomphlett. However, we are especially grateful to PCC for their faith in, and appreciation of, Pomphlett for its decision to make a major investment in the school by providing us with brand new teaching and play facilities, the building of which will commence very soon.
We are delighted to be joining the Horizon Multi-Academy Trust, a growing group of Plymouth Primary Schools who share a similar approach and ethos to our own. We’ve been working with other Horizon schools for some time now and have already begun to benefit from our association with them. (Three of these schools had already joined before us, and four other schools are in the process of joining.) A link to the Horizon website can be found below
All in all, these are very exciting times for Pomphlett Primary School, with major ‘once in a lifetime’ changes happening at the same time. All these changes will greatly benefit Pomphlett children, parents, staff and the wider community for many years to come and I can assure the whole Pomphlett community that school staff will be doing their level best to ensure this all happens whilst our children continue to enjoy school and make good progress in their learning and development.
Letter to parents and carers concerning academy conversion