PROPOSALS UNVEILED TO MERGE SUCCESSFUL NORFOLK ACADEMY TRUSTS

Plans have been announced to merge two of Norfolk’s most successful Academy Trusts to form a new body which will support three high schools and two primary schools across the central and southern part of the county.

A consultation period has been launched to gather views about the merger of The ieTrust, which supports Wymondham High Academy, Long Stratton High School, Spooner Row Primary School and Kenninghall Primary School, and Mid Norfolk Academy Trust (MNAT), which supports Neatherd High School in Dereham.

All of these schools are rated ‘Good’ by OFSTED, with Wymondham High’s Sixth Form rated ‘Outstanding’.

It is proposed that the new organisation will be called Enrich Learning Trust, reflecting its focus on the holistic development of each child, with high quality learning enriched by opportunities outside of the classroom.

The merger plans envisage benefits including even better staff development and support, greater opportunities for inter-school support, and further improved pupil outcomes.

In addition, with five schools and more than 3,000 pupils, the new organisation will be able to access additional funding which is only available to larger academies trusts.

The new Trust would be led by current ieTrust chief executive Russell Boulton, with current MNAT head Peter Devonish taking up the role of director of education, responsible for leading the improvement of schooling for all children across the Trust.

“The cultures of ieTrust and MNAT are very similar, with both focussing not just on academic excellence, but providing an enriched learning experience for our young people,” said Russell Boulton.

“Both have a strong track record of supporting good schools and delivering excellent pupil outcomes, and by bringing the two together we can capitalise on those strengths, as well as potentially accessing considerable extra resources to enhance the education of all of the pupils across our schools.”

Peter Devonish added, “As well as the immediate benefits to pupils, bringing the two organisations together will enable us to offer our staff even better career development, which in turn will help us attract and retain the very best teachers and other staff, enabling us to build on the very high standards of education that all the schools in both current Trusts deliver.”

Consultation on the proposed merger is now underway, with the proposed merger due to happen in January 2019.  Anyone wishing to view the proposals and take part in the consultation can do so by visiting www.enrich-learning.org.