A NEW chapter has dawned for Lifton’s primary school as it joins a partnership of ‘academy’ schools in South Devon.

Henceforth known as Lifton Community Academy, the school has joined the Learning Academy Partnership, which is a network of trust schools in the Torquay and Newton Abbot areas.

The partnership means that the school will be independent of local education authority Devon County Council control. It will be funded through the academy partnership with money from central government and collaborate with the other schools in the trust to share help and resources.

Headteacher Melanie Cripps said: ‘We have been working closely with the trust’s family of academies in the run-up to our conversion and have already benefitted from being involved in their high-quality professional development.

‘It is exciting for us to have new partners and support in Devon to work collaboratively to deliver exceptional educational outcomes for our pupils.

‘I would like to thank each of our pupils, staff members, parents and the wider community for their continued support as we begin an exciting new chapter of our journey.’

She said that Lifton Community Academy had chosen the academy trust as most closely aligning with their values.

The partnership aims to allow schools to share their expertise on particular areas of the curriculum with other schools in the area.

Prior to joining the trust, Lifton Community Academy had been working closely with the trust’s family of schools to share their expertise in science, outdoor learning and curriculum development.

Moving forward, the academy is looking forward to continuing to tap into the network of support and expertise that the Learning Academy Partnership has to offer.

Of particular use is working with the headteachers within the trust’s close-knit community of schools to share ideas and work collaboratively.

This aims to ensure each child is supported in unlocking their full potential.

It will also allow the Lifton Community Academy to link in with the Learning Academy Partnership’s English Hub located in Ilsham C of E Academy in Torquay. Teachers have been working closely with Lifton Community Academy to support them in launching their new phonics programme.