Academy Status

Greenshaw becomes Academy

Wednesday 1st June 2011

Following an extensive consultation with stakeholders, Greenshaw High School has become an Academy. 

Greenshaw High School has now been granted Academy Status from the 1st June. Part of being an academy means that we will continue to work very closely with other primary and secondary schools and the Local Authority to plan for, and shape education for Sutton's young people; but students and parents will not see any changes to the education we provide and we will continue to be called Greenshaw High School!

Thank you to all who have supported us throughout the process.

Mr Smith

Greenshaw Governors make decision on academy status

Wednesday 6th April 2011

 At a special meeting of the governing body on Tuesday 5th April 2011, the governors decided to apply for Greenshaw High School to become an academy.

The Governors at Greenshaw High School have been exploring the possibility of academy status for the School. Over the last month a wide ranging consultation with students, parents, staff and the wider community has taken place.

The governors want to thank all staff, parents, students and members of the community who took part in this consultation. All contributions were a very valuable part of the decision making process.

Updates on the progress of the process will appear on the schools website.

Greenshaw Governors to decide on possible move to academy status 

The Governing Body of Greenshaw High School will meet on Tuesday 5 April to decide whether or not to apply to become an academy.

The Governing Body will consider the evidence it has gathered and all the views received during the consultation, and then after careful consideration they will decide whether or not to apply for academy status based on what they believe to be in the best interests of Greenshaw.

The consultation period ended on 31 March, and the governors will see all the questions and comments made in individual consultation responses (anonomised so that governors do not see the personal details of respondents), and the notes of the various consultation meetings held with different groups of stakeholders,  before they take a decision.

Please click here to read a question and answer sheet on academy status

 

Greenshaw High School consults on possible move to Academy status - 28th February 2011

The Governing Body of Greenshaw High School believes that it should seriously consider whether the school should become an academy. In so doing, as well as gathering expert advice and evidence, it wishes to know the views of its stakeholders, including parents and carers, staff and students, before deciding whether academy status is right for our school.

The Government has stated that it wishes all schools in England and Wales to become academies, and is encouraging groups of schools to become academies together. Academy status would give the school additional freedoms from the Council and the Government and greater control over its budget.

All the14 secondary schools and the one EBD Special School have been considering the possibility of becoming autonomous academies working together collectively to maintain and develop the strong partnership that exists between the schools.

Whether or not the school were to become an academy, the Governing Body is committed to: maintaining the essential character and operation of the school as it is; continuing with current admission arrangements; and continuing to work in partnership with the other secondary schools in Sutton and with the local authority.

You can give your views on whether or not the School should apply for academy status by:

• Writing to the Clerk to the Governors at the usual school address
• Sending an email to Linda Welch, Clerk to the Governors at lwelch@suttonlea.org
  

The deadline for sending in your comments is 9am on Thursday 31^st March.

The Governing Body will decide whether or not to apply for academy status on the basis of what it believes to be in the best interests of the school, having carefully considered the issues and the evidence, and the views received from parents and carers, staff, students and stakeholders in the wider community.

Letter to parents

Letter to staff

Leaflet - 'What is would mean for Greenshaw'

Statement - Schools Partnership

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Academy Status Update - 10th February 2011

Earlier last year the Chairs and Headteachers of all the secondary schools in Sutton entered into discussions about the possibility of collective academy status with the aim of maintaining and developing the strong partnership that exists between schools. The Chairs and Headteachers set up a Working Party with representatives from the different types of schools to coordinate the process, and carry out the requests of the Chairs and Headteachers, in line with the decisions of their Governing Bodies. The Working Party met with the DfE in November, who said that Government Ministers fully supported the way in which the Sutton schools were considering becoming academies in a partnership - this remains the case.

On 9th December 2010 the Governing Body agreed to explore the possibility of collective academy status in partnership with other secondary schools in Sutton, and to submit an initial application to commence this process. In doing so the Governing Body was clear about the importance of continued partnership between schools, protecting our most vulnerable students, not changing the character of the school, continuing to work with the Local Authority in the planning of schools places and retaining the nationally agreed pay and conditions for staff. The Governing Bodies of all the other secondary schools are considering similar proposals. The details of the resolution are in the minutes of the meeting of 9th December. Please click here to download the minutes.

A decision on whether or not Greenshaw will apply for academy status will be taken by the Governing Body after a thorough consultation with all stakeholders, including staff, parents and students.

Following the Governing Body meeting, the Chair and Headteacher wrote to all staff and parents to inform them of the decision to submit the application. Please click here to download the letter.

Next steps

Formal Consultation will take place between 28th February and 31st March.

This will include;

• formal consultation with staff and unions (including TUPE*), parents and students
• the provision of information on the proposal, including frequently asked questions and answers;
• meetings with staff, parents and students
• wider community consultation as part of joint community consultation with other partnership schools
• updates to, and meetings with, governors to discuss issues

The Governing Body will then consider the evidence and the responses to the consultation before deciding whether or not to apply to become an academy.

We welcome your comments and suggestions throughout this process. Contact can be made with the school on this matter by emailing Linda Welch, Clerk to the Governors (lwelch@suttonlea.org) or writing to the usual school address.

*the TUPE process is a statutory consultation process where existing staff continue to be employed on current terms and conditions.