Picklenash Junior SchoolGPP Federation
Children at the heart of every decision
In October 2022 the Governing bodies of Picklenash Junior School, Glebe Infant School and Pauntley Church of England Primary School made the decision to form a Federation under the name of GPP Federation.
GPP Federation would uphold the values and visions of all three schools and their communities within the federation.
The schools support and encourage each other with mutual respect for the unique identities of all three schools – Pauntley as a small, rural, voluntary controlled church school and for Glebe and Picklenash being larger, non-church schools within the town that take pride in their inclusivity and nurturing ethos. Each school maintains its current school vision; Glebe and Picklenash sharing the same one and Pauntley retaining its distinctive Christian vision.
In addition to individual school visions, there is an overarching vision for the federation with “Children at the heart of every decision”.
The federation vision statement reads:
Three distinctive schools working in partnership to meet the needs of the whole child by combining resources and sharing expertise to ensure the best quality education.
With talented and experienced staff across the federation, we are able to make sure that all children reach their full potential.
The Benefits of Federation for Children and Parents/carers
The biggest driver for federation is to raise standards and improve the outcomes for pupils. This is be achieved from a mix of factors that can be gained by the schools working together. Below is a list of some of the benefits that federation facilitates:
- Raise standards across all three schools and provide the best possible education and primary school experience
- Offer a wider range of opportunities by sharing facilities, sites and teacher expertise with best practice shared across all three schools
- Enhance the learning provision through joint educational visits, visitors, workshops and resources
- Extend the opportunities available to all pupils so that they can access the benefits of a larger school within a small school setting
- Improve the quality of education by enabling schools to benefit from economies of scale and better target educational spend
- Provide an improved offer for the recruitment and retention of the best leaders and teachers which in turn will promote an improved educational experience for the children
- Secure the future of the schools as vibrant and innovative centres of learning within their local communities
Staffing
The Federation benefits from sharing staff expertise across sites. An experienced management team; subject leaders and support staff can ensure all children receive the highest quality education.
One of the advantages of our new federation is that we will be able to deploy staff across the federation. This is of benefit to the children who gain a wider spectrum of teaching experience and expertise and to staff who can enjoy professional development in different environments under a single contract.
Benefits for our staff:
- Provide a challenging and rewarding environment in which to grow professionally, giving opportunities that might not otherwise exist in the current school settings
- Staff will be able to share knowledge and expertise over a wider colleague base, broadening skills and dialogue across the range of curriculum areas
- Reduction of workload and improved efficiency for senior leaders who currently duplicate tasks for each school setting and whose time could be more effectively used
- Maximise the sharing of resources to collaboratively plan together and accurately identify pupils’ needs
Governance
The Federation is led and supported by a single governing board. In accordance with legislation, the governing board will consist of 11 governors comprising of:
- 1 Executive Headteacher
- 1 Staff governor
- 1 Local Authority governor
- 2 Parent governors
- 2 Foundation governors
- 2 Partnership governors
- 2 Co-opted governors
The Governors have oversight and accountability for the performance, management and finances of all three schools. They work together to ensure that the best interests of each school are met; that pupil welfare, wellbeing and achievement is supported and challenged and that each school retains its unique distinctive character.