Siddington C of E Primary School plans to welcome pupils from The Steadings, the new neighbourhood within Cirencester, for a minimum of two years from September 2024 while the primary school at the heart of The Steadings is being built.

 

The Corinium Education Trust will run The Steadings’ primary school to meet the demand for additional school places in Cirencester as the neighbourhood develops. Initially, the school will be run from a temporary site at Siddington C of E Primary before it moves to its permanent location currently planned for 2026.

 

The Corinium Education Trust is working closely with Gloucestershire County Council and the site developers, Bathurst Development Ltd (BDL) to ensure that any temporary accommodation for the new school provides a permanent legacy building for its host in the form of a new multi-purpose hall.

 

Siddington School Headteacher Katie Cook said 'a new hall has been an aspiration for many years, and it will provide a fantastic new flexible space for enhancing our pupils’ education.'

 

Lord Bathurst, a Director of BDL, said 'I am delighted that BDL is able, through the development of The Steadings, to fund and build the new legacy hall at Siddington C of E Primary School. We have appointed the architectural practice Roberts Limbrick Ltd, whose reputation for designing bespoke school facilities within the region is impressive.'

 

Following local consultation in the Spring, BDL expects to make a formal planning application in early Summer 2022; with construction work anticipated to start in Summer 2023.

 

The Corinium Education Trust is working closely with Katie Cook to ensure the temporary location of The Steadings primary school at Siddington causes minimum disruption to both existing pupils and nearby residents. Additional parking will be available for new staff, and each school will have its own timetable with staggered start and finish times to avoid congestion. In addition, new walking routes will be in place to reduce the impact of traffic and additional play areas will be provided.

 

Chiquita Henson, Chief Executive, The Corinium Education Trust said 'we are committed to ensuring that the design of the legacy building at Siddington C of E Primary School and the permanent school on The Steadings provide the highest quality of new education facilities for the new community.'

  

The Bishop of Tewkesbury and Chair of the Gloucester Diocesan Board of Education commented 'I am delighted that Siddington C of E Primary School, it's pupils and staff, will benefit from the new space the legacy building will create. We are keen to ensure the new school hall reflects the school’s Christian distinctiveness and meets the local community’s needs.'

 

For more information, contact Chiquita Henson, Chief Executive, The Corinium Education Trust C.Henson@coriniumeducationtrust.net or 01285 653447 (Cirencester Deer Park School)

 

Notes

The Corinium Education Trust is a local Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) serving Cirencester and the South Cotswolds. Member schools currently include Cirencester Deer Park School, Kemble Primary School, Siddington C of E Primary School and Chesterton Primary School.

 

Bathurst Development Ltd (BDL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bathurst Estate established to deliver high quality and sensitively designed places and buildings in Cirencester and the surrounding area.  It is taking a lead role as the Master Developer for The Steadings, Cirencester, which will offer a sustainable, welcoming and attractive new neighbourhood within the town to include 2,350 new homes, a 3-form-entry primary school, a neighbourhood centre to include retail, restaurants and café, community, health and sports facilities as well as 22.6 acres of employment land, 95 acres of open space. For more information, contact community@thesteadingscirencester.co.uk

The Trustees of The Corinium Education Trust are pleased to confirm that from September 2022, Headteacher, Chiquita Henson, will move fully into the role of Chief Executive of The Corinium Education Trust. This is a post she has held alongside her role of headteacher of Cirencester Deer Park School since the formation of our multi-academy trust in 2018.

 

The time is right for The Corinium Education Trust to appoint a dedicated Chief Executive. The Corinium Education Trust is ambitious for all children and young people and is committed to working collaboratively with more schools. A new Education White Paper is anticipated shortly and it is likely to focus on wider academisation. The Corinium Education Trust offers schools a genuine partnership within a diverse local family.

 

This is an exciting prospect for Chiquita Henson, as she will have the capacity to focus on the growth and development of The Corinium Education Trust, including preparing the Trust and wider community for the opening of a new primary school in 2024. Furthermore, it presents the opportunity for The Corinium Education Trust to appoint a new headteacher for Cirencester Deer Park School from September 2022 and a recruitment process is now underway.

 

In the last two years, while still Head of Deer Park and Chief Executive of the multi academy trust, a lot of Chiquita Henson’s energy has been focused on leading Cirencester Deer Park School and The Corinium Education Trust’s three primary schools through the pandemic. Consequently, she has successfully steered Cirencester Deer Park School and The Corinium Education Trust through an unprecedented period of uncertainty and challenge.

 

While focused on leading the school and wider organisation through significant periods of lockdown, Chiquita Henson and her team have endeavoured to ensure continuity in our provision for children in Cirencester and the South Cotswolds.  Furthermore, she has been committed to bringing about wider school improvements and all schools within The Corinium Education Trust have made good progress.

 

In her role as Chief Executive, Chiquita Henson will continue to support Cirencester Deer Park School. She has high expectations and is committed to inclusive and comprehensive education.  She will work closely with all of The Corinium Education Trust’s headteachers, including the new appointee at Cirencester Deer Park School, to ensure The Corinium Education Trust’s ambitious goals can be achieved.

 

'I have enjoyed every moment of my headship at Cirencester Deer Park School. I have been incredibly well supported by the wider team and I am immensely proud of all that our learning community has been able to achieve together. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I am now being given to work more strategically across our dynamic partnership of schools.' Chiquita Henson

 

‘I have had the great pleasure of working alongside Chiquita Henson as a Local Governing Body Member and, subsequently, Chair of the Local Governing Body since 2018. I am confident that the excellent foundations she has laid at Cirencester Deer Park School allow us to appoint a new Headteacher with the attributes required to further lead our aspiration to be in the top 20% of schools nationally. I am also reassured that in her role as dedicated Chief Executive, Chiquita Henson will continue to be a welcome presence at Cirencester Deer Park School and provide a steady hand on the tiller of our journey towards future excellence.’ Adrian Danks