TORQUAY BOYS� GRAMMAR SCHOOL PROPOSAL TO ACQUIRE AC HARITABLE TRUST

							                       CHURSTON FERRERS GRAMMAR SCHOOL
                     PROPOSAL TO ACQUIRE A CHARITABLE TRUST

1. Introductory Information:

a. School Details:                       Churston Ferrers Grammar School
                                         Greenway Road
                                         Brixham
                                         Devon TQ5 0LN

                                         (01803) 842289

b. Category of School:                   Foundation

c. Dates:                                The planned implementation date for the proposal is
                                         1 September 2010.

d. Comments or
Objections:                              These should be sent to the Clerk of Governors by
                                         21st May 2010.

                                         The address for comment is:
                                         Mrs Lynda Heath
                                         Clerk to the Governors

                                         e-mail: secretary@churston.torbay.sch.uk
e. Consultation:
                                         The changes involved in acquiring a Trust are
                                         relatively modest for a Foundation School and this
                                         has been reflected in the consultation. The school
                                         has met all its statutory requirements to consult
                                         interested parties. The following were sent details of
                                         the proposals (the consultation documents) during
                                         the initial consultation: all parents of children
                                         currently on the school roll, school staff, Torbay area
                                         Head Teachers, Trade Unions with affiliation to the
                                         school, the Member of Parliament, the Mayor of
                                         Torbay and the Local Authority.

                                         There were no objections. One response sought
                                         reassurance that teaching staff and parents would
                                         still be represented on the Governing Body.




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2. Why the School Proposes to Acquire a Trust:

a. Name
The Trust is known as the “South West Academic Trust”.

b. Rationale and Objectives of the Trust
The Trust brings together partners who share a common interest in the development
of educational provision and opportunity for able students in a way which will also
promote the aspiration and standards achieved by all students in partner schools and
other schools in the community. Participation in this Trust will allow the School to
build on existing relationships, formalise the joint working that already takes place
with partners, and join with those partners in having a stronger, more unified voice.

The Trust will enable the following additional and enhanced activity for the benefit of
students, staff and the community as a whole, activity which the School could not
provide to the same extent by itself:
    Working together to promote and support aspiration in the community by
       making available the expertise and experience of the Trust through existing
       local partnerships, specifically through workshops and masterclass provision
       for able and very able students within the framework of the specialist school
       community programme.
    Promoting teacher research opportunities through partnership with Further
       and Higher Education Institutions, initially Exeter University.
    Providing opportunities for educational research into the most effective means
       to promote effective teaching and learning to meet the needs of able and very
       able students.
    Sharing in curriculum development to improve and extend the provision
       available to able and very able students and to improve their transition from
       school to higher education.
    Supporting the network of best practice and the outcomes of research through
       other existing partnerships and work with our local authorities.
    Providing opportunities to support the professional development of staff
       through shared activities and opportunities as a consequence of collaboration.

Further benefits of the Trust for the school include:
    Building on the autonomy and expertise gained as a Foundation School.
    Energy and expertise that will support the school’s leadership and direction.
    Working in partnership to raise its overall standards and improve the overall
      quality of its provision through the development of its practice.

c. Proposed Member Organisations:
The school believes that working together can help raise standards through the
development of good practice.

        Bournemouth School for Boys is a long established, selective school and
        has worked for more than six years as a member of the Leading Edge
        partnership. It has a specialism in Modern Languages.

        Bournemouth Girls’ Grammar School
        An established selective school with Humanities Specialist Status



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        Colyton Grammar School is a Leading Edge school and has specialisms in
        Science and Mathematics.

        Exeter University has a first class reputation and is internationally recognised
        for excellence. The school has many alumni on staff and currently supplies a
        significant number of undergraduates each year.

        Poole Grammar School is a similarly long established selective school with
        specialisms in Mathematics and Computing, and Cognition and Learning.

        Torquay Boys’ Grammar School has close links with the Leading Edge
        partnership. It has Modern Languages and Business Enterprise as its
        specialism.

        Torquay Girls’ Grammar School
        An established selective school with Humanities Specialist Status

        South Wilts Grammar School is a long established, selective school with a
        specialism in Mathematics and Computing.

d. Proposed Trustees:
   1. Mrs A Tully
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Churston Ferrers Grammar School)
   2. Mrs D Atkins
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, South Wilts Grammar School)
   3. Mr B Wills-Pope
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Torquay Boys’ Grammar School)
   4. Dr C Bastin
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Colyton Grammar School)
   5. Mr T Webb
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Bournemouth School)
   6. Mr J Howe
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Poole Grammar School)
   7. Mr S Avery
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Torquay Girls’ Grammar School)
   8. Mr N Spreadbury
      (Chair of the Board of Governors, Bournemouth Girls’ Grammar School)
   9. Professor W Robinson
      (School of Education and Lifelong Learning, Exeter University)

e. Proposed Constitution of the Governing body of the Trust
The trustees of the Trust will be appointed by the nine member organisations. Each
organisation will have the opportunity to nominate up to two trustees each to the
Trust.




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f. Proposed Changes to the Governing Body of the School
Once the Trust has been established, the Board of Governors of the school will
consist of 19 members. The Trust will appoint a minority of governors and at least
one but no more than two of the total. The Board of Governors will comprise:
Parent             7
LA                 1
Community          2
Staff              4
Foundation         2
Partnership        3
Parent Governors will continue to make up at least one-third of the membership.

g. Charitable Objects:
As a non profit making charity, the Trust will use its resources to support and
promote its exclusively charitable objects and aims. The charitable objects of the
Trust will be to advance the education of the pupils at schools in respect of which the
Trust acts, it being acknowledged that in carrying out its objects the Trust must
(where applicable) have regard to its obligation to promote community cohesion
under the Education Acts.

h. The Trust will meet the requirements of a Trust as set out in the schools’
organisation regulations 2007/1287.

i. The anticipated benefits of the Trust in enhancing diversity of school
provision, community cohesion and aspiration, and the improvement of School
Standards
The school has recent evidence of its outstanding practice and the advancement of
provision for able students confirmed by Ofsted (2009). As described in the
Rationale above, the Trust will enhance this by:
           a) contributing focused research and development of educational practice;
              and
           b) a programme of application of enhanced educational practice that will
              support the diversity of school provision in the area and the promotion
              of community cohesion.

Although primarily focused on provision for able and very able students, the Trust will
expressly aim to raise the aspiration, standards achieved, and Every Child Matters
outcomes for all students in its member schools and the broader community that it
will serve.

Signed:




Mrs Anne Tully
(Chair of the Board of Governors, Churston Ferrers Grammar School)




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