Charters School becomes an academy

Charters School in Sunningdale has become the latest in the Royal Borough to be granted academy status.

But a week after the school formally acquired its independence from council control, headteacher Martyn Parker says there will be no major change of direction.

He said: "It gives us more independence over our spending. We now handle our own money and can target it towards our children's needs.

"We have more freedom to adjust our curriculum, subject to national requirements.

"We waited before applying for academy status, until we could see how it worked out for other schools. There do not seem to have been any obvious pitfalls."

He added there were no plans to cut ties with the Royal Borough completely, saying: "We had a good relationship with the local authority and will be buying many of their services - their educational welfare officer and payroll team for example.

"We are not changing as a school fundamentally."

Cllr Eileen Quick (Con, Clewer East), who is the Royal Borough's cabinet member for children's services, said the authority was not concerned by the large number of its schools that have chosen to become academies.

She said: "We have always had a policy that if our schools want to become academies it is up to them. It is an individual decision for the school community."

But she said she hoped schools that had chosen the academy route would continue using Royal Borough services.