Poor Bristol school wants to drive up standards

Parents of pupils at Monks Park School in north Bristol could be given more say over aspects of school life under new plans.

The secondary school's governors have begun a consultation process that could lead to Monks Park being run by a trust. This would mean remaining part of the local authority system but drawing on expertise from partners, including City of Bristol College and the University of the West of England, to try to improve exam results.

If it went ahead, a parent council would be created to work with the school's governing body.

Parents, staff, pupils and members of the local community are being invited to find out more about the trust proposals and to give their views over the next few weeks. Consultation will continue until May 6 and a public meeting will be held at the school on Wednesday, April 22 from 6pm to 8pm.

Monks Park's governors are proposing to work with Trust in Learning, which is behind one of the country's first trust schools, the Bridge Learning Campus in Hartcliffe, which opened last September.

They say: "This is an important period in the school's history and the decision on whether or not to become a trust school is a major one."

The governors believe that becoming a trust school will have a significant and positive impact on the school and all who are associated with it.

"We believe that, within this partnership, we could provide better opportunities and develop ways of working which would improve the lives of our young people, their families, the staff of our school and the wider community."

Monks Park was one of the poorest-performing schools in the city at GCSE this year. If the scheme goes ahead this September, it will be one of the first two National Challenge trust schools in the country. This will attract additional Government funding to help drive up standards.