Charles Dickens Primary announces intention to join the Charter Schools Education trust

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have some exciting and important news to share about the future of Charles Dickens Primary School.

We know that our school is outstanding, and we are so proud of the education we provide for our community via an exceptional curriculum, strong focus on the creative arts and commitment to pastoral care and emotional intelligence. As well as making sure we are always improving what we do, the school governing body also looks at the longer term to make sure we will be able to carry on being outstanding for future generations of Charles Dickens children.

Following extensive research, reflection and discussion, the governing body has therefore made a decision to join the Charter Schools Educational Trust, and we will be working towards becoming an academy and a full member of the Trust during 2020. You may have heard of the Trust already. They currently have two highly regarded non-selective, inclusive, secondary schools in North and East Dulwich

Why are we taking this step? 

We have identified that we need to be part of a wider family, to make sure we can carry on doing what we do. This means making sure we are able to carry on having a strong senior team and teachers who are experts in their subjects, at a time when school budgets are shrinking.

The Charter Trust is the best possible ‘home’ for us because CDPS and Charter both believe in outstanding and inclusive education.  We believe that schools should be right for the communities they are in – for example, by making sure that children can recognise themselves and their culture in the materials they’re learning from. And we believe in schools working together to get better at what they do – including primary schools and secondary schools alongside each other, building on their existing strengths.

There is more exciting news – Mrs Cassie Buchanan will become Chief Executive of the Trust.  As a first step, she will take on this role part-time and will remain Executive Head of Charles Dickens. Mr Michael Eggleton and Ms Jemima Rhys-Evans will become Co-Heads of School.  We have complete confidence in them to be a fantastic team. One of the benefits of joining the Trust will be that we can keep talented teachers within our ‘family’ for longer, as they progress in their careers.

There won’t be any obvious or immediate change to the education and support you and your children receive from the school. As part of a wider family of schools, though, we will be able to carry on getting better and better at everything we do – from our creative and inclusive curriculum, to the way we support children with special needs.

We will be holding an information evening on 28th January 2019 at 5:30 pm-6:30 pm at Charles Dickens Primary School at which you can meet governors from Charles Dickens as well as trustees from Charter, to ask whatever questions you might have.

We are really excited about this next chapter for Charles Dickens!

Yours sincerely

Claire Maugham and Rebecca Kaloo, Co-Chairs of Governors

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *