A MAJOR change to the former Bretforton First School has been revealed as the newly-converted Bretforton Village School opened its doors to pupils and parents.
The school took its first step in partnership with sponsor Bengeworth Multi Academy Trust, which was also launched last Thursday and sees Bengeworth CE Academy included as part of the trust.
Apart from the name change, no further moves have taken place but work behind the scenes at Bretforton Village School to strengthen the teaching and leadership over the last few months has already had an impact on the standards, expectations and culture of learning.
The former Bretforton First School was placed in special measures in September 2016 after Government inspectors branded the school ‘inadequate’ in a damning report.
“Ineffective leadership for at least the last two years has resulted in declining pupil outcomes, staff retention, parental confidence and pupil numbers,” the report said.
Acting head of school Kevin Riley welcomed the new look and said village schools provided a unique educational experience.
“Relationships are highly developed because of the smaller setting, and there is a distinctly nurturing aspect to Bretforton because of this. We are all invested in the success of each individual.”
“Being sponsored by a trust with access to a wide range of resources and a vast bank of knowledge, teaching expertise and leadership experience is also an attractive option for a small school.”
Chair of Governors Tony Mealings, who also sits on the Directors Board for the new MAT said, “We’ll have the best of both worlds as a sponsored Academy.
“A partnership which allows us to draw on a depth and breadth of support in every area of school improvement, whilst we retain our own identity as a smaller setting, working towards a vision of being an outstanding school in our own right.”
As an ambitious new academy, Bretforton will be looking ahead to its first Ofsted visit in 2021 with a view to achieving a coveted ‘Outstanding’ grade for overall provision.
David Coaché, Executive Head of the MAT, believes the ambition can be achieved: “Bretforton Village School has all the ingredients to be an outstanding school.
“Overwhelming parental support, delightful children who want to learn and staff who are committed to achieving the best outcomes for the children that they teach.
“Together, Bretforton and Bengeworth teachers will ensure that every child who comes to this school will have the best possible educational experiences and will achieve the best possible outcomes.”
