Consultation

Following the third judgement of 'requires improvement', in September 2022, the Governing Body was written to by Dame Kate Dethridge (Regional Schools Commissioner) informing the school that arrangements would need to be made to provide support to strengthen school improvement.  The Governing Board met in March 2023, and decided unanimously to seek consultation to become members of the Reach Co-Operative Trust. This was to avoid a takeover by a Multi-Academy Trust as proposed by the Department for Education.

Our Proposal

The reason for the consultation is because the Governing Body of Valentine Primary School are proposing to
change its legal school category from Community to Foundation and, at the same time, acquire/join a shared
co-operative Trust, the Reach Cooperative Trust - a mutual schools co-operative education trust. Valentine
Primary School will become a member of the trust alongside Bitterne Manor Primary School, Bitterne Park
School, Moorlands Primary School, Redbridge Community School and St Denys Primary School.

This is a Summary of the full proposal, which provides further detail and is available at our school as well as
electronically from our website.

 

The Consultation – Your Voice

We would like to know what you think of our proposal, so we invite you to take part in our public
consultation which takes place from 27th March 2024 to 31st May 2024. You can do this by:

 

• Reading this information and asking for further information if you need any.
• Attending the consultation meetings on 15th April 2024, 26th April 2024, 3rd , 20th and 23rd May 2024

 

You can respond to the Consultation

• By sending comments, views or requests by email:  reachconsultation@valentineprimary.co.uk
• By sending comments or requests for further information in writing to: Consultation c/o The Governing Body. Valentine Primary School, Valentine Avenue, Sholing, Southampton, Hampshire, SO19 0EQ

 

We want to consult widely about this proposal to ensure all interested parties have their say.

If you know of any other stakeholders who should be contacted, please inform the school.

The date for consultation meetings have been arranged for Monday 15th April 2024 (Parents) and Friday 26th
April 2024 together with further meetings on Friday 3rd May, Monday 20th May and Thursday 23rd May 2024
(for Parents).

Location: Valentine Primary School

15th April 2024 5pm - Parents Meeting

26th April 2024
11:00 am: Union Meeting
1:00 pm: Pupil Meeting
3:30pm: Staff Meeting
5:00 pm: Shared parents/ Community meeting

3rd May 2024
5.30pm Parents/Community meeting

20th May 2024
12.00pm Parents meeting

23rd May 2024
8.30am Parents meeting

 

• The Governing Body and the leadership team of Valentine Primary School have been considering how best to plan for the long-term future of the school, in the light of changes happening in the public education service.
• We want to ensure that we continue improving the service we offer to our children and young people and we want to become part of a regional and national network of schools and partners that can help us to deliver that ambition.
• To take this plan forward, we are proposing to change the school category from community to foundation and at the same time to acquire (join) a co-operative education trust, The Reach Cooperative Trust.
• The proposed date of implementation (i.e. the date on which any legal change of category would take place and the school would become a member of the Trust is 3rd June 2024
• The process of change will not result in noticeable day to day differences for our school, but we believe that joining the Reach Cooperative Trust will allow us to join a group of like-minded education providers and learn from the shared expertise and experience they offer.
• Further information is provided below – we would be pleased to hear what your thoughts are.
• You are invited to comment on these proposals at any time until the end of the consultation period, which runs from 27th March 2024 to 31st May 2024
• The vision and values of the Reach Cooperative Trust is a strong partnership that helps us to:

Vision

• Develop outstanding learning and develop an outstanding quality of education for all our pupils and staff.
• Increase the level of aspiration and opportunities for our community.
• Realise the potential of all our young people in our community in academic, vocational and social learning.
• Ensure excellent longer term employment prospects for our learners through a robust focus on future
• opportunities.
• Provide an innovative curriculum across all phases with enrichment opportunities to develop the pupil’s knowledge and understanding of the world, raise self-esteem and promote well-being so each young person is both prepared academically and socially and have the vocational skills to succeed in the next phase of education or in the workplace.
• Improve transition for our learners across each Key Stage.
• Develop our education partnership to include our parents and the wider community,
• Develop partnerships with preschools, nurseries, colleges, universities, employers and apprenticeship providers

Values

• The Reach Cooperative Trust adopts and supports the values and principles of the co-operativemovement in their work.
• All Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Co-operative members also believe in honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.