The Grove School has announced that it will be applying for academy status, with Lincoln College as their sponsor. The timeline for the application is currently unclear, with both parties awaiting further advice from the Department for Education. However, it is hoped that the school will re-open as an academy in September 2012.

Chair of Governors, David Baliol-Key said that they felt this was the best way forward for the school, “After moving from an Ofsted ‘Notice to Improve’ to ‘Satisfactory’, we feel that this is the best way for the school to continue to improve and to ensure the very best outcomes for all our current and future pupils”.

Liz Hart, Headteacher of the Grove School said, “We are excited to be involved in this new partnership with Lincoln College, which has come about as a result of a shared vision of improving the education horizon in the town of Newark”.

Principal of Lincoln College, John Allen added, “Through Newark College, and the recent opening of Newark Sixth, we have worked well with the Grove School and look forward to continuing this relationship. As a Grade 1 Outstanding College, we feel we are in a good position to work with the school leadership team to make the changes needed for improvement.”

In the short term, the practical implications for pupils, staff and parents remain few - it is not yet known whether a name change will be implemented, and the inherent freedoms that come with academy status will not be realised immediately. However, what can be anticipated is investment in the current school site, the school continues to await news of capital investment from the government’s Priority School Building Programme – The Grove is top of the list submitted by Nottinghamshire County Council.