Bishop of Lynn cuts ribbon at Mundford school as it makes academy change

Mundford Primary School converts to an Acadmey, with the Bishop of Lynn Jonathan Meyrick cutting the ribon to officially start the academy off. Picture: Matthew Usher. (Image: Archant Norfolk 2014)

The Bishop of Lynn, Jonathan Meyrick, was on hand at Mundford Church of England Primary Academy on Wednesday to cut the tape as the village school moves into a new era.

The historic school, which opened in 1866, will now be sponsored by the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust.

Headteacher Christina Galletly said the school had made the move to academy status so as not to be forced in future.

'We know this is on the government's agenda for all schools to become academies and we knew of some that have done it with sponsors using a business model.

'That didn't sit right with us though because we are a church school and we didn't want that to be watered down.

'We are already rated as Good by Ofsted and we haven't been pushed, so we wanted to be able to choose,' she said.

Mrs Galletly said the change has already seen the school working with education consultants to create plans to move the school forward.

These include introducing targets which can be related to children.

'The new approach should be something that children can really take ownership of,' she said.

She added that the current trend towards academies meant that Norfolk County Council was becoming stretched with its funding, which made it difficult for schools like Mundford Primary.

'The money they do have to spend is dropping and that mean their priorities have to be with schools that are not in the same position as us,' she said.

What do you think about the move towards academies? Let us know by emailing education correspondent Martin George on martin.george@archant.co.uk