The Bridgwater College Trust Board agreed unanimously at its meeting last week to incorporate West Somerset College into its Trust.

This followed assurances gained from the Education Funding Agency about aspects of future funding and financial support for West Somerset College. The College is now planning to join the Trust from the start of February following the necessary legal transfer arrangements.

The Trust, which already includes three academies, has been working successfully with West Somerset College since spring of last year at the request of the current Governing Body and the Regional Commissioner for Schools, focusing on leadership and school improvement. This was recognised by Ofsted in a recent visit where they confirmed that,

“Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.”

Work has also been taking place to address the financial situation caused by a declining demographic in the West Somerset area which has led to falling numbers of students, which in turn, has impacted on the income of the College.

The Bridgwater College Trust has seen all three of its academies undergo significant improvement since joining the Trust. Brymore Academy, a boys boarding school in Cannington near Bridgwater, and Hamp Academy, a junior school in Bridgwater were both judged to be ‘good’ by Ofsted earlier this year – both improving on their previous judgements and demonstrating excellent standards in both schools. The Bridgwater College Academy saw their best ever GCSE results in the summer, with the number of students gaining A* – C grades including English and Maths increasing by 39% over the four years they have been in the Trust.

Chair of the Bridgwater College Trust and Principal of Bridgwater College, Mike Robbins, said,

“We are delighted that West Somerset College is joining the Trust. We have already been working very positively with the governors and staff there for a number of months and are looking forward to continuing and developing this work. The Trust has seen our existing three academies make significant improvements in a relatively short space of time and we look forward to working with the staff, parents and students in West Somerset to do the same, and to ensure that West Somerset students receive a high quality learning experience which enables them to reach their potential.

“A new shadow governing body has  been formed and has met, and this will take over the local governance of the school from the start of next month. We have been careful to include a small number of members of the existing governing body to ensure continuity and I would like to thank the existing governors who are leaving, many of whom have given many years of excellent service to the school, for their support in recent months and their positive approach during this handover process.”