New era for Long Sutton school after joining primary education trust for south Lincolnshire

Long Sutton Primary School is set to build on its period of "sustained improvement" after joining a south Lincolnshire-based teaching alliance.

The school is now part of Keystone Academy Trust, based at Bourne Westfield Primary Academy, after talks with parents over the past two months.

Keystone, which also includes Tower Road Academy in Boston. is a network of already-established academy schools that share ideas and developments in teaching primary-aged children.

Bill Lord, head teacher at Long Sutton Primary School, said: "We've been working together as a team for eight years, with very little staff turnover because we train them in school and they love working here.

"Our school has undergone a period of sustained improvement over the last eight years and in this time, it has grown to now have over 400 pupils.

"The school is a popular choice for parents in Long Sutton and it is in a strong position, both academically and in terms of what we are able to offer to our pupils.

"However, we need to maximise our funding and so the governors and school leaders have chosen to academise in order to maximise the funding received by the school and to work more closely with other schools within Keystone Academy Trust.

"Parents and members of the community are rightfully proud of our school and we look forward to this new stage in our journey."

Long Sutton Primary School was judged good in all areas after its most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2016, having been told it "requires improvement" just two years earlier.

However, Mr Lord confirmed there would be no change to the school name, logo, uniform or curriculum, along with its involvement in community events.

He said: "Keystone is a south Lincolnshire-based trust of larger schools that have a similar outlook, but are able to help each other and hopefully there will be some things we can do between the schools.

"We are delighted to have been able to join Keystone Academy Trust and look forward to building closer links to make sure we can continue to offer the very best of opportunities to children in Long Sutton and the surrounding area."

Elaine Radley, executive head teacher of Bourne Westfield Primary Academy which is also part of the Trust, said: "Bourne Westfield became a teaching school in February 2015 and so we were already out there supporting other schools in a variety of ways.

"As an academy ourselves, we felt that schools were quite isolated and after talking to colleagues, we thought of doing better by sharing our expertise within a tighter structure.

"Out of that came the idea of forming a multi-academy trust that would be a much tighter organisation of schools that will work very closely together.

"Long Sutton is a good school but it just felt that it wanted to be in a stronger collaboration with other school, having recognised the strength that can come from working within a single, overarching organisation.

"Therefore we are delighted to welcome Long Sutton Primary School to Keystone Academy Trust."