March 2016

Academy Conversion: Questions from the School Council

Would the school name change?

No. We would still be Forest of Galtres Anglican Methodist Primary School (still FOG for short). We would keep our badge and our uniform so that people could still recognise us.

Would we have to go to Manor?

No. When you have just started in Year 6 you will be able to go and visit different secondary schools with your families to help decide which one you would like to go to. Year 6 children go to lots of different secondary schools from here like Easingwold, Manor, Joseph Rowntree, Boroughbridge and All Saints.

Would we have more chance of getting into Manor?

It all depends on how many people want to go each year and if there is room for them all. Because children here don’t live in the same area as Manor, if families want their children to go there they need to apply for a ‘Foundation’ place because Manor is a church school. Foundation places are for families who don’t live near Manor but who go to church or worship regularly, and regular collective worship (assembly) here counts as worship. Manor are also going to try a ballot system for some extra places: this is a bit like a raffle for places.

How often would we meet or visit the other primaries?

This would probably depend on what you are working on in class. It would be good to look for things that different year groups could do together if they were working on the same sorts of things.

What are the benefits?

Sometimes it’s quite hard in school for the adults to get training and new ideas so that they are doing a really good job in class. By joining together with other schools we will be able to get lots of new ideas and work on different things so we can make what happens in our school even better!

Why are we doing it?

When we started finding out about academies it was because we wanted to do exciting things with other schools; and because we felt that North Yorkshire County Council (who help look after what the school needs) were not always doing a very good job. We also knew that David Cameron and his government have said lots of times that they want every school to become and academy, so we were trying to plan for the future. This week though the government has said that all schools will have to be academies anyway by 2020 (in 4 years’ time)! Because there is a lot of work to do and questions to ask, we are quite glad we have started thinking about it.

What will be different?

At first you won’t really notice many changes. All the teachers and other staff will still be working hard with you in your classes, and looking after you at breaks and lunchtime. Some of the things the governors do will be a bit different, and some of them might have to go to some extra meetings with different people. Also some things like our email address, and the way we pay the school bills, will be different. You also might notice some different people coming to work with me, Mrs Williams or the other staff. As we get used to working together with other schools we will be able to bring in new ideas and try some new things together.