Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, has congratulated Sweyne Park School, in Rayleigh, on recently achieving Academy status.
The school, led by Headteacher Andy Hodgkinson, announced prior to Christmas that it was intending to convert to Academy status, which gives the school and its governing body greater authority and financial responsibility for the way that the school is run.
The school also announced at the same time that they were planning to establish a sixth form in the town.
Sweyne Park School carried out a consultation on both of these proposals, and each received an overwhelmingly supportive response, including from parents whose children attend the school. As the local MP Mark also replied to the consultation, both to back the school’s plans for Academy status and to establish a sixth form in the future, and Mark also wrote to Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP, to back the school’s proposals.
Mark was therefore very pleased to see Sweyne Park School will convert to become an Academy in April 2013 and to hear that plans to establish a sixth form are beginning to gather momentum as well.
Commenting on these developments, Mark Francois said:
“I would like to congratulate Andy Hodgkinson and all the staff and pupils at Sweyne Park School for successfully making the transition to Academy status. The extra autonomy and authority that comes with this status will, I am sure, be of great benefit to staff, pupils and parents alike and I would certainly encourage other schools in the constituency to follow Sweyne Park’s example. This is great news for all at Sweyne Park School and I wish the School all the best for the future.”