WESTHOUGHTON High School has confirmed that it is to become a part of a multi academy trust.
Last week it was reported in The Bolton News that Ladybridge High School was to join the Watergrove Trust, and that Westhoughton were also in the final stages of negotiations to join them.
On Thursday, it was confirmed that negotiations have reached a conclusion and will break away from the local authority and operate under Watergrove’s banner.
Governors voted unanimously in agreement to the academisation in a meeting on the evening of May 25.
The decision was announced in a joint statement from Chair of Governers, Mrs J Murphy and Headteacher Neil Coe.
They said: “This is the third time that Westhoughton High School has investigated joining or forming a Multi Academy Trust and we have finally found the trust which is right for our school, respecting our values and supporting us in our journey of continuous improvement.
“This decision is, without doubt, of significant benefit to the young people within our care, and our investigations to ensure this have been extremely thorough.”
More than staff and governors have been to visite the six other schools currently a part of Watergrove in preparation for the conversion.
The statement also claimed that over 100 pages of answers to questions it posed to other schools were received, and therefore the hierarchy at Westhoughton have “absolute surety that the Watergrove Trust is the right home for our school.”
It is also expected that a number of primary schools in the borough will also join the trust, which predominantly operates in Rochdale, as they begin to make inroads into Bolton.
They added: “We are excited also that we are not the only local secondary school to be applying to join the Watergrove Trust, our colleagues at Ladybridge High School having voted to approach the Regional Schools Commissioner at exactly the same time.
“It is our hope that academising together with our neighbours at Ladybridge will form the basis of a strong local cluster of schools, both primary and secondary, working together to serve the specific needs of Westhoughton and Bolton, enabled by the support and challenge of the Watergrove Trust.”
The Government has said it expects all schools to have joined or be joining a multi-academy trust by 2030.
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