St Philip’s Primary proposal gets the go ahead!

A proposal to extend the age range to year 5 and year 6 at St Philip’s school has been approved by the Department for Education. The application was strongly supported by Orchard Hill College Academy Trust, Achieving for Children, St Philip’s local governing body and the local community.

A consultation on the proposal was conducted in November 2017 and various stakeholders, including staff, parents, local residents and parents and teachers of children at other schools all offered their opinions anonymously.  The feedback clearly identified strong support for the proposal with over 70% of the responses agreeing or strongly agreeing that St Philip’s can and should meet the needs of a greater number of pupils.

Mr Ben Walsh, Headteacher said “Parents are often approaching me to say they wished their son or daughter had joined St Philip’s sooner. We now have an excellent opportunity to make that wish a reality.”

Charis Penfold, Director of Education Services for Achieving for Children, said: “This is fantastic news! It’s another milestone towards enabling more places for local children with Moderate Learning Difficulties to be educated, at an earlier age, in St Philip’s School’s excellent provision.  I’d like to thank the school and the Orchard Hill College Academy Trust for responding so positively to our request for additional places to be made available.”