Duchess's Community High School in Alnwick becomes an Academy

Formal approval has been granted by the Department for Education and the school has joined the Ponteland-based Pele Trust.

Co-heads James Wilson and Alan Rogers said: “We firmly believe that this conversion is in the best interests of students and staff at DCHS.

"We have found working with Pele Trust over the last two years of real benefit in supporting our continued school improvement.

"We welcome the opportunity to formalise this working relationship and expand the benefits to other areas of the school.”

A commitment has been made that neither the school name, badge, nor uniform will change.

School leaders had already undertaken an 18 month process of fact finding and discussions with Multiple Academy Trusts before beginning consultation on the Academy conversion process last March.

They were particularly impressed by the results of its work with the Pele Trust since Oftsed inspectors judged DCHS to ‘require improvement’ in late 2021.

From an educational perspective, they say conversion to academy status will improve pupil progress and open the door for increased extra-curricular opportunities.

Financially, there would be joint procurement and purchasing opportunities and improved retention of high quality staff.

Thirdly, it would reduce the risk of being left in a position in the future where the school felt the need to join a large trust but without the opportunity to retain any autonomy at school level.

Ofsted inspectors praised improvements being made at the school on the last monitoring visit in July 2022 and said it was making progress towards a good judgement.

Whilst the conversion has been taking place, the Trust has been working with DCHS in various areas.

Pele Trust CEO Kieran McGrane, in a letter to parents, said: “Our Trust is founded on a clear vision and set of values, and prominent in this is the desire to work with ‘schools brought together by choice’.

"This has driven the early work within our founding group of schools and has enabled us to avoid growing the Trust for growth’s sake. I believe we now have a well-established and strong Trust that is in an excellent position to welcome additional schools who will add value to our work as we seek to be the best schools we can be.

“I have had the pleasure of working with senior leaders within Duchess’s Community High School in recent years, which has allowed me to spend time in the school. In this time, I have witnessed firsthand the positive changes that have been made and the secure improvements in place as the school responded to the Ofsted inspection in October 2021.

"I can see that school leaders and staff are rightly proud of their school and there is a shared and deep commitment to providing the best educational experiences and outcomes for the young people in the school, both now and in the future.

"This matches the commitment in existing Trust schools and I am certain that, as we all work together, we will be more successful in realising our shared ambitions.”