Hurst Education Trust

The Governors of Turners Hill CofE Primary School are always looking for further opportunities to fulfil our vision of enabling our children to flourish and to prepare them for the next stage in their learning journey. We strive to help our children develop socially, emotionally, academically, morally and spiritually.

In March 2022, the government published a white paper which stated all schools were required to join a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) by the end of 2030. As a result, the Governors and the Senior Leadership Team began to explore options for our school by undertaking comprehensive conversations with both the Diocese of Chichester and other local partners. As a Church of England Voluntary Controlled school, Turners Hill may only join a MAT which upholds and supports its Church of England Foundation and Christian distinctiveness.

While the government has now withdrawn the immediate need to academise, the future direction for schools is towards academisation, with the Local Authority having less capacity to support the maintained schools in West Sussex.

After much research and investigation, the Governors feel that being part of a Multi Academy Trust that matches the ethos and the ambition we have for our children would mean that our school could provide even more opportunities and further improve outcomes.

In arriving at this conclusion, school leaders have undertaken a thorough due diligence process. In order to ensure that we are making a fully informed decision for our school community, the following actions were completed:

• Discussions with a range of potential MATs
• Undertaken meetings with potential MATs
• Welcomed MAT representatives to governor meeting
• Visited a number of schools who have already gone down this route
• Explored the benefits and potential negatives with the headteachers, staff and governors from schools within a MAT
• Assessed the capacity of West Sussex to adequately support our school
• Engaged with local schools to assess the locality (East Grinstead Group of Schools) and West Sussex picture for academisation

Throughout the process, Hurst Education Trust (HET) consistently demonstrated that they would support our ambitions for our school, providing resources, opportunities and the backing that would not otherwise be available if we remain part of West Sussex County Council. The strong team of professionals at HET would also work with us in securing even better experiences and outcomes for our children, all without losing our unique identity and our characteristics, which makes our school so special.

Our proposal now is to establish a formal partnership achieved through the school converting to an academy within the Hurst Education Trust. This Trust has been established as a partnership between the Diocese of Chichester and Hurstpierpoint College. It is a Diocesan academy trust, co-sponsored by the Diocese of Chichester.

The conversion will bring little change to our day-to-day activity in school. There will be no change to the staffing in the school as a direct result of any conversion. The key requirement throughout this process has been to focus on the benefit for all our children. The school leadership sees this as an exciting and positive step for the school and we hope that you will agree.

If we join Hurst Education Trust, we would:

• Keep our school name
• Keep our school uniform
• Maintain and enhance the school’s Christian ethos
• Keep our vision and values
• Keep our own school curriculum
• Continue to have a local governing body, including representation from staff, parents, our parish church and the local community, as we do now

Benefits to children and staff would include:

• Strong focus on improving experiences and outcomes for all children
• Children benefiting from access to some of the extensive facilities at Hurstpierpoint College, including astroturf pitches, swimming pool, theatre, science labs, music, art, specialist design technology and use of minibuses
• Children having opportunities for joint activities with other schools in the Trust and the College
• Comprehensive support services provided by Hurst Education Trust will free up senior management and governor time, enabling greater focus on educational priorities
• Economies of scale achieved with some sharing of resources between Hurst Education Trust schools, and also with Hurstpierpoint College, together with some financial savings will ensure that we will be able to continue to support our pupils to a high standard
• Staff receiving outstanding training and development opportunities and access to professional expertise at Hurstpierpoint College

There will be no impact regarding secondary school options when your child leaves Turners Hill CofE Primary School at the end of year six.

Following the Governing Body’s decision to proceed to consultation, we want to share this proposal with you and what it would mean for our school. We are doing so at this stage in its development to give you the fullest opportunity to help develop our thinking. We invite you to ask any questions that you have.

Please use the links below to access the letter sent to parents on 8th January 2024 and a FAQ document from HET.