‘Outstanding’ aim for Oakmeeds

After poor results last summer, the school was placed in special measures, and head Colin Taylor was delighted to see an improvement this year.

He said: “We’ve made real progress this year, we’re building on what we have started.

“This is the start of a journey, we’re building the foundations we’ve set.”

The number of students achieving five A* to C grades rose from 50% last year to 55% this summer.

“This is a process of improvement,” Mr Taylor continued.

“We hope to see academic results to match the pastoral strength we already have to become an outstanding school.”

Academies are independent of direct control by the local authority, though they must meet the same National Curriculum core subject requirements as other state schools and are subject to inspection by Ofsted.

Academies often have specialist subjects and are sometimes funded by corporate sponsors, but the details of the conversion are yet to be confirmed.

“At this moment in time it’s very early days, there have been no decisions about who we go with,” Mr Taylor explained.

“We need to consider different options then when we have more information we will keep people informed.”

“We want people to understand the school ambitions and help us on this process,” he added.

The school intends to complete the move in September next year.

The college plans to continue its relationship with Millais School in Horsham, a centre for excellence, which has seen head teacher Leon Nettley visit Oakmeeds on a regular basis to offer guidance and advice.

In a letter to parents from chair of governors David Fry, it was explained Oakmeeds felt academies place greater emphasis on academic support and the sharing of best practice, whilst they generally have a less prescriptive approach to governance which preserves the character and ethos of their member schools, areas Oakmeeds believes to be of great importance.