Thank you to the families who responded to the consultation regarding the change to the academy timings on a Wednesday.
In total we had responses from 48 families out of a total of 317, approx 15% of our parents and carers. Six of these were wholly positive, 12 neutral and/or asking for further info with the remainder raising key points for us to consider before reaching a decision.
Of those that raised concerns, these could be categorised by the following:
Impact on working families
We have offered a childcare option as we are aware that there will be some families who cannot collect their child earlier and cannot make alternative arrangements. This would work exactly the way our wraparound care works currently.
Additional costs to send their child to childcare
The costs proposed are mindful of the additional cost to families but are less than other alternatives and will be in line with the cost of our current before and after school childcare provision.
My child will lose out on learning time
The academy day will be altered to ensure the pupils still receive 32.5 hours of education, this will just be organised differently.
Profit-making initiative
I can reassure our parents that this is not a profit-making initiative. Staff are not having their hours reduced and will be receiving professional development during this time. As we stated in our original letter to parents, we have liaised with an external provider who will work alongside some of our existing ASP supervisors to provide Wednesday childcare. This will allow all classroom based staff to access the professional development session.
Why is the additional staff training required?
The field of education is constantly evolving with new research in pedagogy, learning science, technology, and curriculum development. Professional development ensures that teachers and staff are up-to-date with the latest, evidence-based strategies and tools. Modern classrooms are incredibly diverse, with students from different backgrounds, and with different needs (e.g., special educational needs, English as an additional language). Staff development equips staff with the knowledge and strategies to support all students and create inclusive learning environments. At Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard in particular we have a significant number of children with high levels of need, well above national average. This makes continuing professional development even more important in our context. This change will create valuable time to enable teachers and teaching assistants to access training and work together; we can not accommodate this under our current arrangements.
Consideration for SEN and disadvantaged families
In reference to parent concerns raised around special needs, both the LAT Specialist Academies, one of which includes a primary provision, already close early on Wednesdays to access staff development. This is particularly important for staff who are supporting children with significant levels of need. This arrangement has been in place for a number of years and the Milestone satellite specialist provision (on the Cherry Orchard site) has always closed at 2pm on Wednesdays for staff development. Our families entitled to Pupil Premium currently access discounted rates for both wraparound care and activity clubs and this will also be the case for Wednesday childcare.
The consultation process
We have followed the processes of educational consultation, and in fact, extended the consultation period beyond the required timeframe of 3 weeks, 2 of which should be in term time. At all stages we have taken advice from the Trust around the consultation process to ensure this is correct. The Trust have taken into account the views of parents and the Academy in permitting these changes to be implemented.
Why Wednesday and not Friday?
Some parents did not object to the change in principle but would prefer the earlier finish to take place on a Friday. As we stated previously, other Trust academies have already implemented, or will be adopting, the Wednesday afternoon professional development sessions. It is important that Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard remains in line with other Trust academies as this will allow staff to access cross Trust training opportunities and work collaboratively with other academies to share best practice.
We believe these changes to the Academy week will have a significant and positive impact on the pupils at Leigh Academy Cherry Orchard. However, we have taken on board concerns some parents have raised around the timing and notice given; you will recall we had originally proposed a start date of 1st September. Therefore we have taken the decision to implement this change from 6th January 2026. This will give two further terms notice so that parents are able to make their own alternative childcare arrangements, should they not wish to take advantage of the paid provision on offer.
Full details of the Wednesday wraparound care offer will be sent out early in Term 1, along with regular reminders of early closure procedures, to keep parents fully informed.
