We are very pleased to announce that Chesterton Primary School is now officially a member of The Corinium Education Trust.  

After putting a robust plan in place we finally received confirmation of the school’s successful conversion to academy status from 1 September 2018 in a letter from the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, on Thursday 30 August 2018:

‘Academies form an integral part of the Government’s education policy to raise attainment for all children and I am delighted that this school is becoming an academy. Chesterton Primary School will now have the opportunity to benefit from the freedoms and flexibilities of academy status, to share best practice and work with others to bring about sustained improvements to all schools in the area. I would like to thank you for your commitment to and assistance in the academy process.’ Damian Hinds

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Chesterton Primary School is a sponsored academy. We take our responsibility for raising standards very seriously across our multi-academy trust and we know that whatever our individual circumstances, we can all learn from each other. We have already been actively involved in supporting Headteacher, Karen Venner, and her team and helping them bring about improvements since April 2018.

We have liaised closely with the local authority to ensure a smooth transition and recruited new members of staff and appointed an interim local governing body.

'Becoming part of CET marks a new beginning for the school community with significant opportunities to collaborate more effectively with other schools in the South Cotswolds.' Allan Brown, Chair of the interim local governing body, Chesterton Primary School.

To help us bring about the transformation necessary, we have appointed Ken Buxton, former HMI, as one of The Corinium Education Trust’s School Improvement Partners. This will ensure we are able to provide the school with appropriate levels of support and challenge: 'I am delighted to be working with The Corinium Education Trust (CET) in a supportive consultancy role. The priority is to ensure that all the pupils within the CET achieve their potential. To do so, I am focused on providing the challenge needed to ensure that the schools provide high quality teaching enabling standards to rise’. Ken Buxton

This confirmation of Chesterton Primary School’s membership of The Corinium Education Trust is timely. Although The Corinium Education Trust came into existence on 1 April 2018, the partnership, now between four schools, is being officially launched in a special event on Friday 14 September 2018 at Cirencester Deer Park School. Chiquita Henson, Chief Executive, will be joined by Dame Fiona Reynolds, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Patron of The Corinium Education Trust, and Hannah Woodhouse, Deputy Director at the Regional Schools’ Commissioner’s Office, and between them they will reflect on the value of working in partnership and the importance of creating futures for children and young people in the South Cotswolds.