News from the School Governors

6 March 2008

Dear Parents,

I am delighted to inform you of an exciting new development for Sherington CE School. Starting from the beginning of the summer term 2008 we will be entering into a partnership with Emberton School, to run initially for four terms until the end of the Summer term 2009.

Partnerships are a well established method for schools to work together to improve the quality of education and the school experience for their pupils. The governors believe that this is a great opportunity to take Sherington School forward and to further develop the excellent current standards by partnering with another very successful small village school. Some of you may be aware that North Crawley and Stoke Goldington Schools are already in a successful partnership. Emberton School is very similar to Sherington in its ethos and culture, and in its commitment to the benefits of a small village school. It currently has 30 pupils who are taught in an historic Victorian school building in Emberton village.

The partnership will not affect the independent status and identity of each school. The partnership we will be forming with Emberton is a ‘soft partnership’ under which both schools will retain their separate governing bodies, separate budgets and separate teaching staff. Pupils from Sherington will still be attending Sherington School and similarly Emberton pupils will still attend at Emberton School. The partnership will enable the two schools to work together to deliver benefits to the childrens’ learning and development in many areas, including planning of their curriculum, class room initiatives, sharing of teaching skills, and joint pupil activities eg school visits and sports activities.

Mrs Arlene Bourne will become headteacher of both schools in the partnership. Arlene’s new role will enable her to lead the learning and to focus on driving continued excellence in both schools. The governors are committed to maintaining the very high teaching standards at Sherington and are in the process of recruiting a qualified and experienced teacher to replace Arlene’s teaching time. Although Arlene will be sharing her time between both schools, we will be ensuring that she will still be contactable by parents at either of the schools. Parents at Sherington School will also continue to have access to an experienced senior teacher and manager in Colin Storey.

We appreciate that the concept of two schools working in a partnership under the headship of one person will be new to many parents, and it is understandable that you may have questions on how it will work. I attach to this letter some answers to a few key questions you may have. We would also like to invite all parents and guardians to a question and answer session at the school on Thursday 13th March at 7:30pm.

The governing body of Sherington has given very careful consideration to this opportunity. The governing bodies of both schools are entering this arrangement with a real enthusiasm and determination to make it a success, and we believe that the partnership will offer immediate benefits to Sherington School and, most importantly, to your children. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 13th March to answer your questions on this important development for Sherington School.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Nigel Anderson
Chair of Governors

Nigel Anderson
24 Park Road,
Sherington
Tel: 01908 217686
anderson@sherington.fsnet.co.uk