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•  Letter from the Chair of Governors

• Letter from Mrs Ferrell

• Improvement Strategy for Elliott School

• The IEB Chairman

From the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People's Services Members' Room Town Hall Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 2PU   Telphone: 020 8871 6041 Fax: 020 8871 8611 Email: ktracey@wandsworth.gov.uk Web: www.wandsworth.gov.uk

To Parents of pupils at Elliott School

29th April 2009

Dear Parent,

 Improvement Strategy for Elliott School

I am writing to let you know of changes the Council is proposing to make to leadership, management and governance of Elliott School and to set out our improvement strategy. This letter should be read together with that from the Chairman of Governors (Letter from Chair of Governors), which deals specifically with changes to headship arrangements and has also been sent to parents today.

Prior to Easter a variety of rumours were circulating indicating that the inspection at Elliott School had not gone well. The inspection report is due to be published around the 1st May and a copy will be made available on the school's website. In the meantime I can confirm that, although there have been improvements in the school and that aspects are good, such as the 6th Form, during the last twelve months the rate of progress has not been what we would have wished. The Council is committed to taking action to remedy this situation by building on support that is already being provided and by making further changes. In summary:-

• The, current Headteacher, Mrs Sharon Ferrell, has decided that she wishes to take up a number of other opportunities outside the school and the Governing Body has agreed with her request that her last day of service with the school will be 30 April.

• Arrangements are in hand to appoint an Interim Headteacher. The post will be temporary until a substantive appointment is made for January 2010. Further details of the Interim headteacher will be notified as soon as possible. In the meantime, Mr Dent and Mrs Harriott will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the school.

• The Council is consulting with the Governing Body on establishing an Interim Executive Board (IEB) from the 1st June. The IEB will replace the Governing Body. It comprises a small number of educational experts, chaired by Ms Lorraine O'Reilly an experienced former Director of Children's Services. One or two of the existing governors will also serve on the IEB. Further details of the IEB Chairman can be found on the school's website.

• The IEB will be tasked with working with the Council to establish Elliott as a National Challenge Trust School. This will require Ministerial approval and brings with it additional funding of up to £750,000. Trust Schools are slightly different from Foundation Schools (Elliott's current status) because they are able to draw considerable additional expertise through Trustees from strong educational partner organisations, such as a university and other schools, including from the independent sector. The Council is planning to become one of the Trustees.

• An informal working partnership will be established with Graveney School. Graveney School will be represented on the IEB and they have been provided with funding by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust to work with Elliott to raise standards of achievement.

• A Parents' Forum will be created to enable the voice of parents to be heard on a regular basis and to provide feedback on the school's improvement.

• The Council will be submitting detailed plans as part of its Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme for a £35 million capital remodelling project at Elliott. Work is planned to begin in 2011. During the period of the building work the size of the Year 7 intake at the school will be reduced to make sure the school is easier to manage on the reduced space that will be available.

• A detailed action plan will be produced to address all the issues from the Ofsted Inspection report within 10 working days of its publication. The school will make sure that you are provided with a summary of the action planned via the school website.

• The Council will be working closely with the school's new leadership team to ensure that where vacancies arise in the next few weeks, as normally occurs at this time of the school year, that the best possible candidates are recruited for September.

As a parent you will be rightly concerned that your child receives the best possible education at Elliott and the Council is determined to work with you and the school to ensure that this is achieved. I will ensure that arrangements are in place to keep you informed of developments and to listen to your views. In the first instance, we will be offering a meeting for the parents of each year group to discuss the actions planned in response to the inspection report. Dates will be circulated shortly.

Finally this letter only provides some of the headlines of our ambitious plans for Elliott· and I will be looking at ways, in consultation with the Chairman of the IEB and Interim Head, in the coming months to provide further detail and opportunities to discuss these plans with you.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor Mrs K Tracey

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People's Services

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