City-based academy chain continues to grow
AN ACADEMY chain which is based in York has started the new academic year with more than double the number of schools under its leadership as it continues its expansion.
On the Yorkshire coast, Ebor Academy Filey and Filey Infants are now part of the Ebor Academy Trust, with 10 others across the region due to follow soon.
The new additions join schools in newly-established ‘hubs’ in Selby, the East Riding and the Humber as well as York.
Two new executive headteachers have now been appointed. Jeanette Sutherland, the executive headteacher at Alderman Cogan’s Primary School in Hull, who joined Ebor last month, and Dave Barber, the former headteacher at Hambleton Primary School in Selby, will lead the East Riding and the Humber and Selby hubs respectively.
They join Gail Brown and Richard Ludlow, who will lead the York and Yorkshire coast hubs. Mr Ludlow also remains chief executive of the trust, which was established in 2013.
Executive headteachers have a responsibility to ensure a balance between quality assurance – holding schools to account – as well as support for improvement.
Mr Ludlow said: “As Ebor grows and matures, I am delighted to welcome Jeanette and Dave, two exceptional school leaders, to our family of schools. It is part of our plan to establish hubs of up to 10 schools in each of four geographically close locations, and the appointments are key in the continuous improvement of schools joining Ebor.
“We’ve come a long way since adding our first school, Haxby Road Primary, in February 2014. It needed urgent help and the only way to do it properly was to make our founding school, Robert Wilkinson Primary, an academy and sponsor Haxby Road.
“We became the first multiacademy trust in York and quickly began to see the benefits of collaborative working – sharing best practice, developing our staff and, most importantly, improving outcomes for children.”
In January, Ofsted awarded a ‘good’ rating to Haxby Road Primary School.