The new trust board in charge at Penrith’s Queen Elizabeth Grammar School has unanimously agreed to join a larger organisation.
QEGS, with more than 1,000 pupils, will link up with the Changing Lives Learning Trust, formerly the West Lakes Multi Academy Trust, based at Egremont.
It concludes a process initially started last year. The CLLT is a not-for-profit charity which sponsors primary and secondary academies. Sponsors include the University of Central Lancashire, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd.
QEGS trustees said in a statement that the move followed a thorough selection process and public consultation into the proposal. The trust board had decided that CLLT was its preferred multi-academy trust.
The trustees, appointed last December, said they had also considered all the comments and questions raised by parents, staff and other interested parties.
Maggie Robson, chair of trustees at QEGS, said: “As a trust board we have worked diligently to ensure all considerations have been made before selecting the best partner trust for the school.
As a school with a long and rich history of over 450 years, we are confident that a partnership with Changing Lives Learning Trust will enable the school to thrive for generations to come.
David Marchant, headteacher at QEGS since September last year, said: “I am excited about the opportunities this new partnership will bring.
“In addition to being the multi-academy trust best matched to the trust boards’ priorities, Changing Lives Learning Trust’s role as the leader of the One Cumbria Teaching school hub will enable us to strengthen many of the links we already have in place across this partnership.”
