Partnership with St Helen's
In May, 2019, after a period of consideration between the two governing bodies, St Mary’s formed a Primary School Partnership with St Helen's in Alveston.
As part of this, Mrs Julie Simpson has become ‘Executive Headteacher’ over the two schools, with Mrs Scriven becoming ‘Head of School’ at St Mary's and Mr Chappell becoming ‘Head of School’ at St Helen’s.
Our Mission: Growing together, pursuing life in all its fullness
The communities of St Mary’s and St Helen’s Primary Schools are passionate about our two schools. We want to see them grow and develop to deliver the best possible opportunities and experiences for our pupils. We believe that a partnership between the two schools is a fantastic way for us to do that.
It is our aim that the two communities grow together, sharing with and learning from each other, respecting and retaining the individuality that we love so much. Rooted firmly in our shared Christian values and distinctive Christian ethos, we believe that partnership will enable us to achieve more. Growing together, we will enhance opportunities for excellence, enjoyment and exploration within the schools with the aim of improving pupils’ achievement and enriching their experiences, preparing them for the next phase of their learning and life.
"To dare more boldly. To venture on seas where storms will show God's mastery; Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars."
Prayer of Sir Francis Drake, explorer, 1540-1596.
Partnership Principles:
Our principles are set to enable us to achieve the aims in our school’s individual vision statements, where we found real commonality:
St Mary’s: Enjoy, Explore, Excel: Be amazing
St Helen’s: Excellence, Enjoyment and Achievement together
Federation Consultation of St Mary's & St Helen's Primary Schools
We are pleased to launch our consultation on the proposal that we create a Federation of St Helen’s and St Mary’s Primary Schools. Below is a consultation document, which sets out in more detail what a federation of our schools would look like. (If you are having issues with viewing the attachment, you can visit the office of one of the schools where a printed version will be available.)
It explains what would change (primarily the way in which the school is governed) and what would stay the same (almost everything else: both schools would remain separate entities, and will retain their own identities and individuality, their own uniforms and admissions criteria, and so on).
It also explains why we think this is the right time for our schools to consider joining together in a federation, and the benefits we think this would bring to the school.
This is a significant decision for both schools, and we would be extremely grateful to have your opinions on the proposal. The Consultation Document sets out the ways in which you can give us your views, including through an online survey. We plan to arrange consultation sessions at both schools, and will be in touch with you with further information about those sessions after the Easter holiday.
The consultation will close at 6pm on 19th May, and governors will then consider your responses and make a final decision on whether to form a federation.
We look forward to hearing from you. If, in the meantime you have any questions, you can contact the governors in your school in the usual ways (including by email: sthelensprimary@sgmail.org.uk or office@stmarysyate.org.uk).