'˜Exciting' times at village schools

Harbottle Church of England First School, Thropton Village First School, and Rothbury’s Dr Thomlinson C of E Middle School have become members of The Three Rivers Learning Trust.

The trust, which now has seven schools on its books – with a community of more than 400 staff and 3,000 students – exists to ‘achieve excellence and greater efficiency in all its classrooms’.

Liam Murtagh, executive head of Dr Thomlinson and Thropton First, said: “We feel that this an exciting development for both our schools will deliver significant benefits to the future learning and wellbeing of our children.”

Simon Taylor, the trust’s newly-appointed chief executive officer, added: “We are delighted to welcome these three schools to the trust. They are important local institutions that strive to give every child the self-confidence to develop a lifelong love of learning they can use in whatever they choose to do in the future.

“Throughout the trust, each individual is truly valued for their unique contributions, and as a larger trust, we’ll have a greater expertise to share among each school, to help us deliver the inclusive and innovative educational services that parents and students alike seek out, together with a more effective transition between Key Stages that empowers all our children to thrive.”

The trust is able to access capital funding of around £500,000 per annum that will help improve all of the school buildings it looks after.

It aims to grow to around 15 schools in the next five years. The other schools in the trust are King Edward VI High School; Newminster Middle School; Chantry Middle School; and Abbeyfields First School – all Morpeth.