SOLICITORS at a North-east law firm have helped the first small rural primary school in North Yorkshire to convert to an academy.
Work started in February and Great Smeaton Academy Primary School, between Darlington and Northallerton, formally converted this month.
Headteacher Kathryn Bell and chair of governors Diane Addison managed the process with support and legal advice from BHP Law, whose specialist solicitors have handled a number of academy conversions in recent months.
Miss Bell said governors agreed that becoming an academy was in the best interests of the children for the freedoms it gives school leaders.
The more we looked into what converting from a maintained school to an academy would mean, the more we realised where we could make huge savings, achieve better value for money and redirect resources for the benefit of our children, she said.
Chair of governors Diane Addison added: Ultimately, converting to an academy has enabled us to review how we allocate our budget. One of the major benefits to parents and children is that we have been able to reduce our class sizes and provide a higher teacher-to-pupil ratio. We can also now ensure that what we are teaching is relevant and personal to each child.
While the headteacher and chair of governors managed the conversion in-house, the legal aspect was one area where they had to seek professional advice.
David Lucas, a company law specialist at BHP Law, led a legal team which advised the governors on the conversion process, their responsibilities as directors of the new academy, property arrangements, the funding agreement with the Department for Education and the transfer of staff from North Yorkshire County Council, to ensure they fulfilled their legal and contractual requirements.
He explained: We have advised a number of schools converting into academies, both large secondary schools and village primaries. Although the overall process is set out by the Department for Education, every school is different and has specific needs.
Being local means we are approachable and are there whenever needed to guide governors.
Miss Bell added: Conversion is not particularly complex but it can be lengthy and daunting and we wanted to manage it as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Great Smeaton Academy Primary School has 56 children in four classes and draws pupils from three different education areas as far away as Darlington, Northallerton and Yarm.