Federation Of Blenheim Road Community Primary And Coed Eva Primary School
The governing bodies of two Cwmbran primary schools have approved a federation between Blenheim Road Community Primary and Coed Eva Primary Schools with effect from 1 September 2016.
Federation is a formal and legal agreement by which a number of schools share governance arrangements and have a single governing body.
The federation will be called the Blenheim and Coed Eva Federation and following discussion with school stakeholders will now legally formalise the current partnership working between the two schools.
Since September 2014 the schools have shared an Executive Head Teacher, but this agreement will see both governing bodies dissolved and replaced by a new, single governing body which will have oversight of, and equal responsibility for the work of all schools within the federation.
On September 1 a new governing body will be formed, the Governing Body of the Blenheim Road and Coed Eva Federation, with 18 members including parents, teachers, staff and community representatives. Nominations will be sought for vacancies – further information is available from the schools.
Gill Ellis, the Executive Head Teacher for Blenheim Road and Coed Eva said: ‘Federation will aim to improve pupil performance and narrow the attainment gap for pupils. Federation will also create opportunities to extend the curriculum and extra-curricula activities, share and develop staff knowledge and skills and will help achieve economies of scale.
‘Over the last two years, the governing bodies of Blenheim Road and Coed Eva Primary Schools have been working together to improve education through better partnership working.
‘Following a consultation with parents, the local authority and the local community, the governing bodies recently held a joint meeting and confirmed that they would proceed with the proposal to form a federation from 1 September. All questions raised during the consultation have been responded to and there were no objections to the proposal.
‘Each school will retain its own character, staff, curriculum and admissions processes.
However, federation will formalise our partnership working and school improvement through innovative approaches to joint working.
Cllr David Yeowell, Torfaen Council’s executive member for Education, said: ‘‘This is an exciting opportunity for the schools, who will be amongst the first in South East Wales to adopt this model of management.
‘The most important reason for considering federation are the benefits it can bring for pupils in both schools from sustainable long term development and improvement.
This federation can deliver a shared ethos and joint vision to improve pupil attainment in both schools through cohesive leadership, a strong management culture and the improved use of resources.’
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