Press Release: 4th December 2006

3 to 18 Academy education could be the future for Hengrove

All-Through schooling for children aged 3 to 18 could be the future for Hengrove. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) - supported by the Hengrove Academy sponsors Oasis Community Learning - have indicated that they would like to see Nursery and Primary education as part of the provision there. Bristol City Council and Oasis are keen to facilitate a consultation process so that local people can understand the benefits and implications before a final decision is made.

The date the academy is due to open is currently under discussion and is expected to be 1st September 2008 or 1st September 2009. The sponsors are to contribute £2 million to the development of the school with the balance to come from the DfES.

Bristol City Council and Oasis Trust, are now to consult local parents, residents and staff.

Pupil achievement often dips when a child changes school. An all through school is designed to minimise this problem whilst also providing a range of other opportunities not fully available in a traditional environment. These include:

the drop of personal knowledge that the school has of the pupil
the cultural shock caused by the change
mismatch in curriculum continuity (where work is either repeated or continued at an inappropriate level)
change in the style in which methods and the activity of teaching is experienced by the child

All-through schooling is designed to address these significant issues and has been shown to lead to:

raised attainment in all Key Stages by reducing the performance dips that can occur when pupils transfer from one school to another
Improved teaching and learning by the sharing of expertise across primary and secondary phases
increased opportunities for personalised learning
greater opportunities for professional development of staff
improved welfare for children in challenging circumstances by offering a 'joined-up' strategy for special and behavioural needs.
flexibility in areas such as curriculum design, delivery and school leadership/management - as planning is not broken up by phase boundaries.
a financially stronger school with more effective use of resources.
the delivery of higher academic standards by innovative approaches to management, teaching and learning.

The All-Through Academy will have a brand new building where Primary and Nursery school age children will enjoy all the benefits of a self-contained learning environment geared specifically to their needs They will also get regular timetabled access to many of the superior specialist facilities close at hand within the Academy, such as Art studios, DT workshops, Science labs a large Learning Resources Centre, and performance and exhibition spaces.

Successful all-age Academies already exist in other parts of the country, but there are as yet no all-age schools in Bristol, so the pupils of New Oak could be the first locally to benefit from this exciting initiative.

Hengrove Academy as an all-through school would be:

Open to local pupils of all abilities,
Designed to provide 240 places aged 3 to 11, 810 places 11-16 and 150 Post-16 places
A community hub, sharing facilities with the local community
Rebuilt on the site of Hengrove Community Arts College
Built equipped with state-of-the-art facilities
The governing body will include head, LA, parents and nominees of the sponsor

As part of the proposal, New Oak Primary school would close and re-open as part of the new Academy complex. Though school was refurbished earlier this year, (before the DfES approached the council and Oasis with the proposal) the partners feel that the benefits of the new proposal far outweigh the loss of the exisiting building.

Staff would transfer to the new school under TUPE regulations.

Councillor Jos Clark, Executive Member for Children, said: "I can certainly see the benefits of all-through schooling and am very interested in this proposal. Research has shown that children who attend the same school throughout their education enjoy and achieve more - particularly at that crucial time when they would otherwise be moving from primary to secondary school.

"But it is important that we give local people the opportunity to learn about the concept and understand the benefits for themselves before making a decision."

"New Oak is fairly newly-refurbished. We simply couldn't know about this proposal at the time when the work was carried out. But I believe it would unwise to pass over such a significant opportunity for local children for the sake of one school building."

Steve Chalke founder of the Oasis Trust, said "The opportunity of developing an all through school at Hengrove is an exciting concept. However we are really keen to listen to the voice of the local community as we explore the possibilities"

Notes to Editors:

Please direct press enquiries to:· Hannah Curry, Oasis UK Public Relations Officer, on 0207 450 9059. Or Kate Hartas tel. 0117 922 2649

For further information about Oasis UK, please visit www.oasisuk.org

For further information about Bristol City Council, please visit www.bristol-city.gov.uk

More information on Academies can be found at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/academies