School’s academy bid nears success

Thornhill Community Science College has applied to the Department for Education for a change of status that would give it more freedom from Kirklees Council.

Headteacher Jonny Mitchell said the school would re-open as an academy no later than September this year.

He said: “We are doing this to raise standards, improve outcomes and benefit from additional freedoms.”

The school’s application was submitted in September, shortly after Mr Mitchell became headteacher.

But this week Mr Mitchell said that the idea had been considered by his predecessor, David Powell, and discussed within the school for more than 18 months.

The school, in Valley Drive, was required by law to consult parents on the plan. This consultation period ended in December.

Now the Department for Education has made an academy order, which has given the school the go-ahead to become an academy once its governing body accepts the government’s funding agreement.

Mr Mitchell said governors would meet on January 31 to decide whether or not to accept the agreement.

He added that participation in the school’s consultation was low, but said that all parents had been sent letters about the plan and that the consultation was carried out much more widely than was legally required.