FARTOWN High School is to become a Trust School.
Trust Schools – part of one of the Government’s flagship education policies – work with a variety of outside groups, including businesses, to raise standards.
Fartown, which recently gained specialist status in science and humanities, is among 115 schools accepted on the programme announced by school minister Andrew Adonis.
The new status will be discussed at a governors’ meeting at the school this Thursday with the headteacher Izabella Atra-szkiewicz.
She said yesterday: “Fartown High School is committed to providing the best possible education for youngsters in the local community and we are currently exploring how to do this.”
Fartown is among 115 schools which have been accepted onto the programme, 42 Trust schools are already up and running.
Trust Schools are maintained foundation schools supported by a charitable Trust. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Barnado’s, Microsoft, the Co-operative Group, and Unilever are already involved in the programme.
They are part of the maintained family of schools with funding on the same basis as other local authority maintained schools and subject to the same accountability regime. The Trust holds the school’s land and buildings, the governing body employs staff and sets admissions arrangements and they must adhere to teachers pay and conditions arrangements.
Following the Budget the government said all schools should have at least 30 percent of students achieving five good GCSEs, grades A* to C including English and maths by 2011. Trust schools aim to meet this challenge.
Andrew Adonis said: “Trusts are a fantastic way for schools to bring in the energy and expertise of external partners. This expression of grassroots support from schools demonstrates their readiness to embrace the programme and bring about lasting benefits for their pupils. I believe all schools should be looking to the world of business, charities, higher and further education to improve standards and strengthen leadership.”
