Whitleigh Community Primary School
Governors and school leaders have been carefully considering the future of Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School in Plymouth. They concluded in 2021 that it would be in the best interests of the pupils, parents, staff, and wider community for them to take advantage of the closer collaboration and stronger support they would get by being part of a multi-academy trust, and that the Greenshaw Learning Trust (GLT) was the best placed trust to provide this.
The Trust understands the communities that Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School serves and the strengths and needs of its pupils, and has the skills and experience that will help the schools give them the best preparation for the future.
The Greenshaw Learning Trust is well-established locally, being responsible for Montpelier Primary School, Stoke Damerel Community College, and Scott Medical College, and has been providing ongoing school improvement support and working closely with headteachers and leaders from Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School since 2022.
By formally joining the Greenshaw family of schools, Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School will benefit from and contribute to the close collaboration within a community of like-minded schools, whilst retaining their character and places at the heart of the local community.
As the necessary agreements have been reached between the schools, the Greenshaw Learning Trust, the Department for Education, and Plymouth City Council, it is expected that Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School will join the Greenshaw Learning Trust on 1 June 2025.
Why do it?
Schools can tackle the challenge they face and better secure the support and services they require by working together and sharing expertise and resources within a structured group of schools – and being part of a multi-academy trust provides the most effective structure for that.
The Greenshaw Learning Trust has a strong track record of school improvement and has the skills, experience and capacity to give Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School the support they require to provide the best education to all pupils ensuring they are fully equipped to fulfil their academic and personal potential.
The schools will be able to secure better value for money and free up resources to use for the school’s own priorities.
Joining a family of schools that share a strong moral purpose and work closely together to support each other will protect the provision and ethos at Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School, and improve opportunities for pupils and staff.
How will this affect Sir John Hunt Community Sports College and Whitleigh Community Primary School?
As part of the Greenshaw Learning Trust, the schools’ ethos and place at the heart of the local community will not change; they will continue to provide a broad and balanced curriculum to give local pupils of all abilities the best education possible.
By becoming academies, the school admission arrangements will not change – the same pupils will come to the schools as would have done otherwise. The schools will continue to collaborate with other local schools, for example, to coordinate term dates, and with the local authority over provision for special educational needs and place planning.
The schools will receive the same level of per-pupil funding as they would as locally maintained schools but will benefit from additional efficiencies and economies of scale available to the multi-academy trust. The land and buildings used by the schools will continue to be used by the school and control of them will transfer to the Greenshaw Learning Trust on a long lease.
The Greenshaw Learning Trust will become the employer of the school staff – staff will transfer to the Trust under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) regulations, retaining current pay and conditions. Teachers will remain in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and support staff will remain in the Local Government Pension Scheme as they are now; the employers’ contributions will be maintained by the Greenshaw Learning Trust.
The Trust will offer greater development opportunities to staff and help the schools recruit and retain good staff.
There will be no changes to the name or uniform of either school.