Village schools to share resources under one head

TWO village schools will start sharing a headteacher and resources from next month.

Nick Steele, who has been headteacher of Peppard primary for 10 years, will become executive head of the school and Stoke Row primary on February 20. Both are Church of England schools.

Mr Steele, who has worked at Peppard for 24 years, said: “I’m really excited. It’s a great proposition for children of both schools and the staff.

“Smaller schools can be isolated with a small number of pupils and teachers. We will be doubling our numbers, which means that staff development can have more scope to make things even better for the children.

“We will be able to share so many things like clubs and resources and take residential trips together.

“Some challenges we have are that we deliver so many subjects and with the size of our school with only four classrooms to be delivering 14 subjects at the same time is quite challenging.

“Our teachers wear many hats, so to speak, so will teach a wide scope of things but with there being more students, staff will have the opportunity to specialise.”

There will be a head of school at each primary to focus on the leadership and management while Mr Steele will look at strategies for the schools to work together and maximise opportunities.

Mr Steele, 55, from Caversham, said he would miss teaching as he will have to give up his two afternoon classes to concentrate on his expanded role.

“Teaching and helping children is why I’m here and what I love,” he said. “It’s the most enjoyable part of the day so it’s unfortunate that I won’t be able to do it that much.

“However, I’m really looking forward to beginning the collaboration and we will probably see similar things across the area over the next four or five years.

“It will give us the opportunity to prove that collaboration between schools works for the betterment of children’s education.

“An example is that hiring out a hall for a play company to perform Shakespeare would cost about £400, which is not viable for one small school but for two it’s more affordable.

“It will make learning more memorable and more exciting and we will effectively be increasing the size of the community.”

The decision to have one head for both schools came after Stoke Row headteacher Charlotte Whittle resigned last year and was recommended by the Department for Education.

Mrs Whittle, who has been at the school for 10 years and head for eight, agreed to continue until the transition next month.

Elizabeth Clough, who chairs the governors at Stoke Row primary, said: “The governors had a lot to consider in looking forward.

“First and foremost, we wanted to ensure continuity for the children. We are also mindful of the Department for Education’s recent announcement that it expects all schools to be in, or in the process of becoming part of, a multi-academy trust by 2030.

“Towards this goal, local authorities have been strongly promoting a collaboration agenda, which the governors have spent time understanding and discussing what it means in practical terms.

“Added into our thinking is a shortage of headteachers in Oxfordshire with a number of schools struggling to fill positions.

“All this has led us to consider how collaboration will work and benefit our school both today and in the future.

“While both schools are C of E primary schools and share a similar ethos and values, we will maintain our separate identities.

“However, not only do we have the benefit of a very experienced head who has led Peppard school successfully for the past 10 years but we also see many opportunities for broader collaboration between the schools.”

Mrs Clough gave examples, including curriculum leadership, meaning responsibilities can be shared across the schools, reducing the staff workload and increasing areas of specialism, shared inset days during which both schools can talk through new ideas and best practices, partnership working for staff who teach in similar mixed age classes and the ability for activities and costs to be shared to allow for bigger projects for the children.