Academy status for John O'Gaunt School?

School governors vote to explore closer links with St John's Marlborough

GOVERNORS at John O’Gaunt School in Hungerford want it to become an academy, severing ties with West Berkshire Council.

Last Thursday, the governing body had a presentation from Dr Patrick Hazlewood, chief executive of Excalibur Academies Trust, which currently has six schools as part of its group.

Following a question and answer session, the governing body made an ‘in principle’ decision to convert to an academy and to investigate the possibility of joining the Excalibur Academies Trust family of schools. If it goes ahead, the move will align the school with St John’s Marlborough in Wiltshire – deemed “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors.

Chair of governors, Clive Rothwell, said: “John O’Gaunt School is passionate about ensuring the highest quality of education for all our students, and we are excited about our future as an academy and as part of a multi academy trust. We look forward to working closely with the local authority to ensure a smooth and timely transfer.”

John O’Gaunt School has for years been suffering from low pupil numbers, with a consequent lack of funding.

Last week a meeting of West Berkshire Council’s Schools Forum heard that the school’s budget deficit – the largest in West Berkshire – was set to rise to £2m by 2018 if left unchecked.

Headteacher Sarah Brinkley said in a statement to parents that the school had been “running in a budget deficit situation for many years” and: “From a purely financial view our deficit situation cannot improve until we have that magic staff/pupil ratio.”

School governor and district councillor James Podger (Con, Hungerford) said the outcome of the extraordinary governors’ meeting last Thursday could help to eradicate the budget deficit, described as “unacceptable” by West Berkshire Council leader Gordon Lundie (Con, Lambourn Valley).

Mrs Brinkley said the meeting was “not a reactionary panic to the financial situation, but a strategic decision that has been developing over the last few years in the evolution of our brilliant school”.

She said governors promised to consult with parents and that Alan Henderson – who takes over as headteacher in September – “is leading this decision alongside our committed governing body”.

John O’Gaunt School currently “requires improvement”, according to Ofsted.

Mr Lundie said of the academy announcement: “I would welcome it. There needs to be a level of confidence building (at John O’Gaunt School) and St John’s is well known.”

Mrs Brinkley said that, if the academy plan goes ahead, dealing with the deficit would be “a matter for the Department for Education”.