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Widewell Primary School

Background

Widewell Primary School, on the outskirts of Plymouth, has places for just over 200 pupils from age seven to eleven, drawing half of its intake from armed forces families and a large proportion from local social housing. There is high proportion (30%) of mobility among pupils. The school has good resources and facilities. As the school is some distance from local secondary school provision, the decision was taken for Widewell Primary School to form a single school trust; Widewell School Educational Trust. Initially a ‘pathfinder’ school, the trust opened on 1 September 2007 and is the first single primary school trust in the country.

Vision

Widewell Primary School had already developed strong community links and wanted to become the ‘hub’ of activities in the local community, providing a broad range of activities where opportunities are currently limited. There was a clear vision for the school to be a ‘learning village’ where children and adults could work and learn together. Trust status has given the school the freedom and flexibility it needed to fully exploit its significant resources in areas such as outdoor education, art and sport through extended school provision, and the Ark Community Project Charity serves the wider community from its base at the school.

External partners

Widewell Primary School has taken the approach to identify partners by focusing on the areas it needs to develop from its geographical location as well as addressing areas highlighted through Ofsted. The governing body has appointed three external and autonomous trustees with responsibility for outdoor education, community learning and children from armed forces families. These trustees were all local and known to the school for their expertise, with two of them having a background in education and the third in the armed forces working in family and educational support. A fourth trustee has come from the organisation Dyslexia Action, with whom there were already strong links. This process has already resulted in a close working relationship between the governors and the trustees.

Partners are keen to work with the trust and are enthusiastic to promote a greater range of activity in the school. They all have a philosophy of education, which incorporates ‘learning for life’ and educational opportunities for the whole family using the school as a base for out-of-school learning.

The benefits of Trust status

• The added autonomy, independence and flexibility that trust and foundation status has given the school have meant it is better able to look at the use of its resources and take charge of its own destiny. The school is already considering incorporating nursery provision, along the lines of a children’s centre, providing parents and the wider community with greater access to the school’s facilities
• There have already been direct benefits to pupils since trust status was established. The training of a member of staff by Dyslexia Action has increased personalised, one-to-one teaching opportunities. There has also been a greater focus on outdoor education opportunities for pupils, such as participation in a Primary Ten Tors Programme and mapping the school grounds for orienteering
• Owning the school’s land and facilities has meant the trust has been able to make facilities available for use by the local community for sports activities, extended schools service, outdoor education, subsidised music tuition, and dance and drama lessons.

Trust status has also had a positive impact on governors and teachers: ‘The governing body has become more visionary and imaginative in its thinking about the future and there is a phenomenal sense of common purpose and teamwork amongst staff. When trustees meet I would say that they are more ‘future-thinking’ as they do not have to deal with everyday stuff that governors grapple with.’ Barbara Young, Headteacher, Widewell Primary School

Challenges

• With the vision for the school clear, the challenge now is not to ‘coast’ but to focus on the numerous practical issues that need to be worked through
• A new housing development of around 500 homes is soon to be built close to the school and this will put pressure on the school. The school will need to react quickly to the changing community and carefully consider how it copes with increased numbers of local children and the affect this will have on its admissions policy. Being a trust school gives it the flexibility to do this

Top tips

• The headteacher initially needs to allocate time to communicate with all stakeholders - ahead of the informal consultation - seeking their views. This helps unify governors, teachers and parents in their understanding and therefore support for the change of status
• In order to successfully bring stakeholders on board, you need to have a clear vision, and be transparent and open

‘Develop what you do best – work on your strengths and use partners to help you with your weaknesses’, Barbara Young, Headteacher, Widewell Primary School.