EBPS at the heart of the community

We are proud to be a school which is at the heart of the village and community and have enjoyed many new and long-standing community links this term.

A special thanks to Earls Barton Music and Jon Rees who led a “Joseph” musical workshop in school this week for Years 4 and 5 and performed their show to these children at the Methodist Church in March. The reviews were amazing!

We are eternally grateful to our friends at All Saints church with whom we have a very strong working partnership. Church visitors have led Easter assemblies in school this term, as well as hosting our Years One and Two children for an “Easter Experience” morning in the church, which is always a beneficial and meaningful experience for our children. We also look forward to working with the church next term on a “Happiness Project” for children in our school to support their mental health and well-being.

Our Year Four children very much enjoyed learning about renewable energy in their geography work and had a visit from a parent who works in this field who was able to explain in more detail, answer their questions and clarify any misconceptions. Year Four then wrote to the Earls Barton Parish Council with their views on the proposed solar farm development nearby. The Parish council were grateful to hear the children’s views. This real-life learning and ability to influence and shape their village, the world and their futures is something in which we want our children to become more involved! If you have any great ideas or local issues that could be educational for the children, please do get in contact with the school.

New-build

Our new build is continuing at pace with the roof trusses all nearly installed already! You will shortly see some new designs on the hoardings around the building which were illustrated by Key Stage Two children in our school as part of a competition by the main contractor, Lindum. Well done to Isla, Gracie, Alana and Maya whose designs were chosen as the winners.

Parking around school continues to be problematic and I regularly urge and remind our parents and carers to park safely and legally for the safety of children and other pedestrians. We would welcome more parking enforcement in the area and this is something we regularly request via our PCSO.

Academisation

We are now in the final stages of Earls Barton Primary school joining a Multi Academy Trust. After 20+ months of careful thinking, research and due diligence by senior staff and governors, we truly believe that remaining a Local Authority Maintained school is not the right decision to ensure continued success and improvements for EBPS. There is still the formal staff consultation ahead but we hope to be part of Hatton Academies Trust (HAT) in the very near future.

HAT are a small, local Trust whose vision and values align closely with our own. They will bring a wealth of support and expertise which can be shared with EBPS, whilst also an assurance we will retain our uniqueness, strengths and individuality as a school. We are not going to be changing our name, uniform, logo or anything significant/ visible. What HAT will offer, is the back-office support in finance, HR, estates, health and safety etc. which the Local Authority cannot provide. This will enable us as school leaders, to concentrate on the children and supporting every child in EBPS to achieve their potential. Our role as the “village” primary school will not change and our grateful acceptance of the village’s support to raise “our” children is still vital in this.

Marie Lally & Ben Morris

Co-headteachers