Richard Evans, CEO of the Vale Academy Trust, reassured the local community during the final day of the public consultation on March 6 that their proposed merger with the Faringdon Learning Trust would not result in significant changes. After working closely together for a decade, both trusts are now exploring the strategic benefits of unifying their resources.
The merger plan promises to maintain the current school estates, ensures there will be no redundancies, pledges stability for staff and students, and retains the schools’ existing educational philosophies. Mr. Evans emphasized that there would be “no radical changes.”
Mr. Evans stated, “The idea of naturally coming together has been discussed for at least six years. The two trusts have been working together mutually for 10 years. We’ve been asking stakeholders, staff, and parents how they feel about a possible merger, gathering views and opinions.”
He added, “If people feel it’s good and both trusts are agreeable, we would proceed to merge over the next six months. It’s a slow process but makes absolute sense as both trusts are so close to one another – in our work and geographically.”
The public consultation involved a series of discussions and reviews of merger documentation, engaging more than 5,000 people, including representatives from other schools, local government, and the broader community. Over the past two weeks, eight meetings were held in Wantage, Faringdon, and Abingdon, providing parents the opportunity to address their questions and concerns directly with the leadership teams.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback from these meetings was described by Mr. Evans as “unanimously brilliant.”
The Vale Academy Trust and the Faringdon Learning Trust collectively operate nine schools, situated within an eight-mile radius of each other. These include a combination of primary, secondary, and Church of England schools, all with at least “Good” Ofsted ratings.
Speaking about the equality of the proposed merger, Mr. Evans clarified, “This would be a merger of equals; we will not be taking over one another. Instead, we’ll continue to improve and support schools and the education provided within them. The merger aims to form a new, larger trust with a new name yet to be decided.”
He further explained that any savings achieved would not be diverted away from the schools but reinvested into them. “We’ll benefit from better purchasing power and economies of scale, allowing us to redirect extra savings back into the schools.” While future expansions involving additional schools are possible, the primary focus remains on successfully merging the two trusts.
To ensure transparency, Mr. Evans confirmed that once the consultation responses are fully reviewed, a final summary will be published by the boards of both trusts, detailing their decision on whether to proceed with the merger.
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