Newport becomes an academy

NEWPORT Free Grammar School has officially been granted academy status.

The school announced it had successfully converted to its new status as of September 1 after consistently meeting the high standards required to meet the criteria.

It comes just over two months after former headteacher Se�n O’Hagan chose to step down from his role following a damning OFSTED report which was critical of his leadership.

Acting headteacher, Matthew Gibson, who took over from Mr O’Hagan at the beginning of the new school term last week, said: “This conversion marks an important point in the history and development of the school, giving us, as it does the flexibility and freedoms to best meet the needs of the students here.

“I am grateful to the finance and administrative departments of the school for the work that they have done to prepare us for this and for the support of the governing body and the trustees during the conversion process.”

Chair of Governors, Paul Gray, added: “This is a great opportunity for the school to build on our priorities for further improvement, while holding true to the same ethos, values and breadth of opportunities for personal development that students and parents appreciate about Newport.”

Academies are schools directly funded by the government, and as such are free from local authority and national control.

In practical terms it means they can act more independently in relation to the design of the curriculum, and ensure that the education that they provide is specifically tailored to meet the needs of the communities that they serve.