Delight as Worthing school gets clearance to become academy

There was delight among staff at a Worthing junior school after the Department for Education gave the nod for it to become an academy.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Sep 2015, 14:03 BST

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Orchards Junior School, Worthing.Orchards Junior School, Worthing.
Orchards Junior School, Worthing.

Orchards Junior School, in Nelson Road, Goring-by-Sea, will open its doors tomorrow (October 1) as part of the Sparkle Multi Academy Trust.

Following a consultation with parents, the governing body of the school, which used to be called Orchards Community Middle School, voted unanimously for conversion in June.

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But they had to wait for formal notification before making things official.

Orchards business manager Ian Chilvers said: “We’re all just dead excited because it’s what we’ve wanted for the past six months.”

A message on the school’s website stated: “The government’s policy is to encourage schools to become academies in order to raise attainment for all children and Orchards Junior School wants to be at the forefront of this strategy.

“We have formed the Sparkle Multi-Academy Trust who will oversee and govern Orchards Junior School but because our ambition for this whole process was to retain the current structure of the school, children and parents will notice no difference in the day to day running of the school.”

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