STAMFORD PEOPLE
Anthony Partington; Principal Stamford Welland Academy Interview, Words & Photography: Harjit Gammon
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nthony Partington is a man on a mission. A mission to establish a new secondary school for Stamford. The Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust (CMAT), the trust behind Stamford Welland Academy, took on the task in June 2014, appointing Partington as its first principal. The new academy is housed in legacy buildings, the old Queen Eleanor School, in Green Lane. Demand for a new secondary school for Stamford was evident from proposals for a Free School, which attracted around 1,500 sign-ups from local parents. The Department for Education however came to the view that, whilst a free school for Stamford was a strong bid, a better solution/value for money option was to use the existing buildings of Queen Eleanor School. CMAT was chosen as the business to run it, having already successfully turned around five schools in the region, including four secondaries and one primary. The trust has a proven method, which encompasses everything from the physical buildings, through staff selection, teaching methods, uniform and, as already implemented, a new visual identity (lion logo) and nomenclature for the school to signal the change. Changes to the uniform, in the first instance new ties and blazer badges funded by the academy, are imminent; with a more significant overhaul of the uniform to follow in consultation with parents and pupils. Partington stresses that parents of pupils already at the school at the time of the change will not be required to fund the new uniform - the academy will bear the cost. Over the summer break Partington has set in motion the substantive new start; re-interviewing senior staff to form a new structure of senior tutors (Student Support Advisors or SSAs) and introducing a house system. Pupils will be allocated to one of three houses. Together with this, a new system of Vertical Tutoring will be implemented; whereby children from each year group throughout the school (Years 7-11) will be tutored together. The aim is that, “Every child is known, every child is supported, everybody achieves”. The changes will also encompass the curriculum, which will have an academic bent with a strong focus on maths, English, science and languages. Specifically, science will be taught as separate subjects, while modern foreign languages (French, Spanish & Italian) will in time be augmented by more aspirational languages such as Mandarin to address the desires of parents as expressed in the proposals for a Free School. Further changes will concentrate on the relationship between school and parents, with a new system of timely and regular information sharing designed to
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“Over the summer break Partington has set in motion the substantive new start; reinterviewing senior staff to form a new structure of senior tutors (Student Support Advisors or SSAs) and introducing a house system.”
encourage open on-going contact, via face-toface meetings, email and telephone. Students will also be offered opportunities to develop broader skills through a programme of extra-curricular activities between 3-4pm every day after the end of the statutory day at 3pm. Those in Key Stage 3 will be required to participate in at least one session per week rising to a minimum of two in Key Stage 4. In addition to this rigorous programme of change, are a clear set of predetermined markers of success, including: 120 pupils in each year group specifying Stamford Welland Academy as first choice; Good Ofsted rating (as a newly sponsored academy an Ofsted inspection will be due in its second full year of operation-2015/16); Results well in excess of national average; Add Value to each child. The far reaching changes will also extend to the governing body, which will be reconstituted.
The Trust will appoint governors. If there were any doubt, it is evident that the planned changes are more than just cosmetic dressing. In summary, I invited Partington to sum up what Stamford Welland Academy has to offer to parents of secondary age children in Stamford fearful of their children being the ‘guinea pigs’, as it were, in a new experiment, “You are signing your child up to a trust delivering known results, to achieve the greatest potential for your child. I am not an individual; I represent a whole team and philosophy”. Anthony Partington has a background in various academies. He began 7 years ago as Director of English Faculty at Parkside Federation. He joined CMAT 4 years ago as Assistant Principal at Nene Park Academy (formerly Orton Longueville), where he later became Vice Principal.
STAMFORD LIVING OCTOBER 2014
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