Dudley’s Primary School To Transform as Academy from 1st Sept

A school is set to start the new term as an academy after its transfer was approved by the council’s education chief. Councillor David Stanley, Dudley’s cabinet member for education, signed the order to transfer Jesson’s CofE Primary School to the Elements Diocesan Learning Trust, effective September 1.

From this date, the voluntary-aided Church of England primary school will close and reopen as an academy. While most of the school’s land and buildings are already owned by the Diocese of Worcester, the nursery school land and caretaker’s house on the site are still owned by the council. Under the new agreement, these council-owned areas will transfer to the academy trust on a 125-year lease for a peppercorn rent.

The order also approves the transfer of the school’s assets and staff to the academy trust, which already manages four primary schools in the Dudley area. Jesson’s CofE Primary School, located on School Street, accommodates just over 700 pupils aged two to 11. As a voluntary-aided school, it is state-funded, but a separate organization, typically religious, contributes to building costs and significantly influences the school’s operations.

The school’s most recent Ofsted report, from February 2023, found that the school ‘required improvement’ overall. Despite this, inspectors noted that pupils are happy and safe, and that school leaders are ambitious and making positive strides in reading, writing, and maths. The report also stated, “Leaders work tirelessly to improve attendance, with a good degree of success. However, there are still a significant number of pupils who are persistently absent or arrive late.”

The Elements Diocesan Learning Trust was established in 2021 to provide a ‘community for like-minded primary schools within the Diocese of Worcester’.