London school joins BMAT

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The Royal Docks Community School is delighted to have officially joined the Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT).

As of January 1, the school will become a part of the Trust which also looks after schools in Harlow, Epping and Stansted, in Essex.

The Trust, which was set up in 2013 at Ofsted-rated Outstanding Burnt Mill Academy in Harlow, has assured the community it is looking to preserve all that is good about the school.

Helena Mills CBE, BMAT CEO, said: “We are delighted to have been able to take Royal Docks Community School into our Trust, which has a policy of assisting its schools, but equally allowing them to develop independently. 

“We have already seen many good things at Royal Docks, which we are keen to preserve. We look forward to further developing Royal Docks to ensure all students can benefit from our experience.

“We have high aspirations for all of our students and we expect every child to leave us having achieved excellent examination results and the skills to enable them to further their education through apprenticeships or by attending university. 

“As well as excellent results, we know that to be accepted to one of the Russell Group universities such as Cambridge, Oxford or Leeds that students will need to demonstrate determination, resilience and a strong work ethic; these are qualities we develop in our students. 

“We very much hope the students at Royal Docks, many of whom have these qualities, will benefit from this ethos and we will work hard to raise standards working closely with staff.”

Royal Docks will retain the same co-operative values and culture of excellence it already shares with BMAT and the existing governing body will remain in place.

The school has been working with the Trust for the last six months, with John Blaney, former headteacher at Burnt Mill, taking on the role of executive principal for Royal Docks.

Andrew Ross, deputy head at Royal Docks for several years, has taken up the role of head of school.

Tim Harrison, chair of governors, said: “Governors have been working with Burnt Mill for many months to bring this new relationship to fruition. 

“Our sole objective is, has and always will be to do the very best we can for all our students and this remains our priority. We are, therefore, delighted and excited by the opportunities of this new relationship and look forward to working with BMAT with all the benefits that will have for both our students and staff.”

BMAT is responsible for a secondary and four primaries in Harlow, a secondary in Epping, as well as a secondary and primary in Stansted. It is also building Harlow’s first free school, due to open in 2019. Burnt Mill, an inclusive comprehensive, saw 97 per cent of students achieve five A* to C grades in their GCSEs in the summer, with 71 per cent achieving a combined result of five GCSE grades at national standard or above, including English and maths.

The Trust is able to staff its schools with high quality teachers, many of whom are developed within its own teaching school.