HOLLAND HOUSE JOINS BROADLEAF: A growing educational partnership has welcomed another addition to its family of schools.
Holland House Infant School and Nursery, in Holland Road, Sutton Coldfield, has joined the respected Broadleaf Partnership Trust.
Broadleaf already includes the neighbouring Plantsbrook secondary and Town Junior schools, as well as Perryfields Academy in Oldbury.
Holland House officially joined the Trust at the start of February, after a long period of due diligence and consultation with parents, governors and staff.
Claire Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer of Broadleaf Partnership Trust, said Holland House was a ‘natural fit’ for the Trust.
She said: “I’m delighted to welcome Holland House to Broadleaf and I’m really excited to see how the relationship between our schools develops and evolves to provide exceptional educational opportunities to students right from nursery to the age of 18.
“Holland House is Broadleaf’s first Early Years and Infant school, and I’m hugely excited about that because this is where education starts.
“I think that we have got an awful lot to learn from Holland House, which we can feed through the Trust, because that caring Early Years framework – which Holland House is so good at delivering – remains important to children of every age. I’d like to see how we can focus on those same standards all through the years, right up to 18.”
HOLLAND HOUSE JOINS BROADLEAF
A growing educational partnership has welcomed another addition to its family of schools. Holland House looks after 180 children from Reception to Year 2, including a 52-place nursery provision. There is also a private nursery and a Children’s Centre based at the site. The school is rated as Outstanding by Ofsted, who described it as ‘child-centred, caring and inclusive’.
Holland House headteacher Terri Hitchcox explained that the school already had a close working relationship with Plantsbrook and Town Junior, which grew even closer during the pandemic.
She said: “During the pandemic, when lockdown hit, the school faced challenges in terms of capacity, because we are a small school, but Broadleaf and Plantsbrook just opened their arms and welcomed us in.
“They provided so much support, and basically said to us and Town Junior School ‘let’s house all of our children over at Plantsbrook and pool our resources.’ When you have such a small team, with just seven teachers, that kind of approach is a huge help.
“The subject of academisation has been a topic of conversation for a long time here, but I think the pandemic helped us see the real benefits of collaborative work.”
With the three schools neighbouring each other, it’s common for Holland House pupils to move onto Town Junior before joining Plantsbrook for their secondary education.
Terri said: “I’ve always wanted our parents to feel comfortable in the knowledge that their children can have an educational journey that flows from us, through to Town Junior and then on to Plantsbrook, in a joined-up approach.
“Becoming part of Broadleaf will help make that journey even smoother, while still allowing us to keep the unique individual character that makes us Holland House.”
“Our primary teams in particular have trained together, worked alongside each other and during the pandemic helped look after the children of key workers together,”
– claire pritchard
This month’s official announcement follows a long period of consultation.
Claire said: “It has taken a long time, but the local governing body have been so thorough in their consideration. They really hold the school and everything that it’s about dear to them, and wanted to make sure that it was the right move for Holland House, and that parents were kept fully informed and properly consulted for their views.”
Terri said: “It’s a real reflection of Holland House that the community and children are at the heart of everything we do, and the parents and governors have asked what ls right for the children and staff every step of the way.
“So, while it has been a long and careful process, it has ensured a smooth transition too.”
Claire said: “I always say a successful transition is when you close the doors to a local authority maintained school one day and open them again as part of an academy trust the next day, and you don’t really notice the difference on the surface. That’s what we have achieved.
“While there’s so much that is wonderful about this school, we’ll now be working together to say how do we make it even better? I’m really confident that we’ve got a great team of experts across the Trust who can really help Holland House shine.”
Holland House staff are excited to discover the benefits of being part of the growing Multi Academy Trust too.
Terri said: “I’m a Headteacher who wants the school to be outward facing, driving education forwards, and being part of Broadleaf will provide so many opportunities to share ideas and benefit from the specialisms across the Trust.
“On top of that, having the support structure of Broadleaf means that we can focus on teaching and learning, while the Trust provides the expertise and resources to maintain the buildings and IT and all the other things that make the school run.”
Claire added: “We’ve had a very close working relationship for years. Our primary teams in particular have trained together, worked alongside each other and during the pandemic helped look after the children of key workers together. With the school now part of Broadleaf, we have the legal partnership that will enable us to build synergies that will bring even more benefits. It really is a natural fit.”
To visit the Holland House Infants School website, click here.
To visit the Broadleaf Partnership Trust website, click here.