3
Apr
Proposed Merger with Lift Schools
Dear Parents, Carers & Families,
We would like to share with you some important and exciting developments regarding the future of Cotswold Beacon Academy Trust (CBAT). CBAT is the multi-academy trust which is responsible for Marling School, as well as Berkeley and Callowell Primary Schools and Cam Woodfield Junior School.
As you may be aware, CBAT has recently experienced a period of transition, including changes to some key leadership roles. Nationally, the educational landscape also continues to evolve, placing increased pressure on smaller academy trusts to adapt to changes in funding and policy. Considering this, our trustees and leaders have been exploring how we can best secure long-term stability and opportunities for all our schools, including at Marling School.
Our priority remains ensuring that every child within our trust receives an exceptional education, empowering them to unlock a future filled with opportunity and choice. With this in mind, we have been carefully considering how a partnership with a larger trust could support our schools to continue to grow and thrive. Having thoroughly explored a number of potential partnerships with a range of organisations, we are pleased to let you know that CBAT trustees have identified Lift Schools as our preferred future partner.
This means we will now be embarking on a partnership with Lift Schools and will begin the formal process of exploring a potential merger. This means that Marling and the other CBAT Schools would join Lift Schools. This would not mean any significant change on a day-to-day basis for you as a parent, or for your child. Dr. Jules Godfrey and the team at Marling would continue their focus on the great work of Marling School, but with the added capacity and support that Lift Schools can provide.
Lift Schools is a well-established national trust, supporting 57 schools across the country in the primary, secondary and special education sectors, including several in Gloucestershire. We are particularly excited that partnering with Lift Schools will mean that Marling can benefit from the collaboration and mutual sharing of best practice that comes with being part of a trust that also has a number of high performing secondary schools within it. Furthermore, Marling School will also continue to work closely with the local network of grammar schools in the county.
What has impressed us most about Lift Schools is their commitment to supporting each school by considering their specific context and respecting their identity and ethos. This is particularly important for Marling School, which has a longstanding reputation of educational excellence and a proud history as a grammar school. In recent weeks, leaders from CBAT, including Dr. Godfrey, have had the opportunity to visit a range of Lift schools, meet with their senior leaders, as well as their staff and pupils, to learn more about their experiences. We were pleased to hear that the support Lift provides is of high quality and bespoke to each
school and its context.
Leaders have also had the opportunity to meet with key trust staff, including CEO Rebecca Boomer-Clark, and were assured by the trust’s commitment to working with Marling School to
ensure that it remains a popular school of choice, and that it has the support it needs to continue working towards its ambition to become one of the highest-performing selective schools in the country.
This partnership would offer many benefits to Marling School and to your child’s educational experience. Lift Schools has strong school improvement and support services, along with excellent opportunities for staff development. We believe this will strengthen teaching and learning across all our schools.
Over the coming weeks, colleagues from Lift Schools will visit Marling to learn more about our school. We expect that during the summer term, they will begin to provide more formal support in areas such as teaching and learning, finance, and operations. Our staff will also begin working with colleagues from other Lift Schools to share expertise and best practice.
We want to reassure you that we are approaching this process with great care and thoughtfulness. Marling School and our community’s values, needs and best interests will continue to be at the heart of all decisions we make. There is still work to be done before any formal merger takes place, and we will keep you updated throughout the process.
This is an exciting step for CBAT and for Marling School; we are confident that this partnership has the potential to bring great benefits and resource to our schools, our staff, and most importantly, to our pupils.
Yours sincerely,
Duncan Cook
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Brierley
Chair of Trustees
We would like to share with you some important and exciting developments regarding the future of Cotswold Beacon Academy Trust (CBAT). CBAT is the multi-academy trust which is responsible for Marling School, as well as Berkeley and Callowell Primary Schools and Cam Woodfield Junior School.
As you may be aware, CBAT has recently experienced a period of transition, including changes to some key leadership roles. Nationally, the educational landscape also continues to evolve, placing increased pressure on smaller academy trusts to adapt to changes in funding and policy. Considering this, our trustees and leaders have been exploring how we can best secure long-term stability and opportunities for all our schools, including at Marling School.
Our priority remains ensuring that every child within our trust receives an exceptional education, empowering them to unlock a future filled with opportunity and choice. With this in mind, we have been carefully considering how a partnership with a larger trust could support our schools to continue to grow and thrive. Having thoroughly explored a number of potential partnerships with a range of organisations, we are pleased to let you know that CBAT trustees have identified Lift Schools as our preferred future partner.
This means we will now be embarking on a partnership with Lift Schools and will begin the formal process of exploring a potential merger. This means that Marling and the other CBAT Schools would join Lift Schools. This would not mean any significant change on a day-to-day basis for you as a parent, or for your child. Dr. Jules Godfrey and the team at Marling would continue their focus on the great work of Marling School, but with the added capacity and support that Lift Schools can provide.
Lift Schools is a well-established national trust, supporting 57 schools across the country in the primary, secondary and special education sectors, including several in Gloucestershire. We are particularly excited that partnering with Lift Schools will mean that Marling can benefit from the collaboration and mutual sharing of best practice that comes with being part of a trust that also has a number of high performing secondary schools within it. Furthermore, Marling School will also continue to work closely with the local network of grammar schools in the county.
What has impressed us most about Lift Schools is their commitment to supporting each school by considering their specific context and respecting their identity and ethos. This is particularly important for Marling School, which has a longstanding reputation of educational excellence and a proud history as a grammar school. In recent weeks, leaders from CBAT, including Dr. Godfrey, have had the opportunity to visit a range of Lift schools, meet with their senior leaders, as well as their staff and pupils, to learn more about their experiences. We were pleased to hear that the support Lift provides is of high quality and bespoke to each
school and its context.
Leaders have also had the opportunity to meet with key trust staff, including CEO Rebecca Boomer-Clark, and were assured by the trust’s commitment to working with Marling School to
ensure that it remains a popular school of choice, and that it has the support it needs to continue working towards its ambition to become one of the highest-performing selective schools in the country.
This partnership would offer many benefits to Marling School and to your child’s educational experience. Lift Schools has strong school improvement and support services, along with excellent opportunities for staff development. We believe this will strengthen teaching and learning across all our schools.
Over the coming weeks, colleagues from Lift Schools will visit Marling to learn more about our school. We expect that during the summer term, they will begin to provide more formal support in areas such as teaching and learning, finance, and operations. Our staff will also begin working with colleagues from other Lift Schools to share expertise and best practice.
We want to reassure you that we are approaching this process with great care and thoughtfulness. Marling School and our community’s values, needs and best interests will continue to be at the heart of all decisions we make. There is still work to be done before any formal merger takes place, and we will keep you updated throughout the process.
This is an exciting step for CBAT and for Marling School; we are confident that this partnership has the potential to bring great benefits and resource to our schools, our staff, and most importantly, to our pupils.
Yours sincerely,
Duncan Cook
Chief Executive Officer
Chris Brierley
Chair of Trustees
