Here we are again at the end of another week, rain and all. Looking out of the window at the moment it looks really miserable and cold – a great introduction to the weekend! I’ve been into all classes this morning and given out some Pride of Pedmore Awards; we would normally do these on a Friday in whole-school assembly but obviously at the moment we can’t do this. It was great to see so many happy, smiling children.
I’m apologising again for the amount of information in this post. By putting it all in one place I’m hoping it makes it easier for you to refer back to if need be and doesn’t mean that you have numerous different ParentMails to look through if you are trying to find something specific.
Letters From Dudley LA and the Police
We shared with you the other day two letters: one from Dudley LA, about Covid-19, and one from the Police, about inconsiderate parking and their new Park Safe campaign. If you haven’t read them, the links are here:
Pupil Photographs on Monday
Just a reminder that we are doing individual pupil photographs on Monday. If your child is doing PE on Monday then please send them into school with their school uniform on and a PE kit to change into. They can then stay in their PE kit for the remainder of the day. Thank you.
Groups of Adults
The drop-off and collection arrangements are working well at the moment. However, there are some adults who, after dropping-off their children, are standing around in large groups talking, meaning other people wanting to get past have to push their way through. Please be aware of social distancing guidelines and don’t ‘hang around’ the school site. Thank you for your understanding in this.
Pedmore CE Primary School and Academy Status
At a governors’ meeting earlier this week, the school governing body voted in favour of a proposal regarding the school converting to academy status. We have been approached by Worcester Diocese to become a founder member of a Multi-Academy Trust that will be set up in Dudley for Church of England Primary Schools. This trust will be known as Elements Church of England Learning Trust, and there will be four schools who are part of it initially.
It has been clear for several years that the government’s intention has been to see all schools eventually become academies and the level of funding and support that has been offered to local authorities has been reduced accordingly. As such, as many of you are aware, Pedmore has been largely left alone to make its own way forward. By deciding to form Elements, the Diocese of Worcester hopes to unite its primary schools and work even more closely with them in order to help them to continue to thrive. It is important to note that our governors have taken this decision after a great deal of research and consideration. They believe – as do I – that by electing to help found this MAT, the school will be better placed to develop in the future rather than rely upon what is left of the local authority or become forced into academy status with another provider.
There were two main considerations when making this decision. Firstly, we have an excellent, well-established relationship with the Diocesan Director of Education and her team and that we believe that her integrity and commitment to our children makes “Elements” a very good fit for our school. Secondly, we have received reassurances that our school will continue to be able to decide its own way of doing things, thus keeping what makes Pedmore special, and that we will not have a curriculum or procedures enforced on us in order to standardise things across the MAT. This aspect was extremely important to us and without those reassurances we would not have taken things any further forward.
Whilst any change, especially one as big as this one, carries uncertainty, I believe that this is an exciting step forward and will ultimately bring massive benefits for everyone involved with Pedmore, enabling us to work much more closely with like-minded schools and share and develop good practice across the MAT. The staff and everything that they are familiar with will remain the same. A school has existed in Pedmore for hundreds of years now and this development will ensure that it continues to thrive and deliver a high-quality education to its children and our community.
Obviously, there are lots of questions that you will have and we will set up a meeting in the near future where we will be able to answer any questions or concerns that you have.
Please feel free to contact me if you have and questions or queries about our journey ahead.
Here is a link to a letter from Margaret James, the Worcester Diocese Director of Education, who has written to parents and carers regarding the new MAT.
Take Care & Stay Safe
Mr Dunn