Following the decision taken by the governing body of Prince Henry’s Grammar School to convert to academy status, as reported in your paper last week, I wanted to respond to some of the comments and mis-information still being circulated by those parties opposed to academies which, as your Leader article stated back in the summer, seem to be largely politically driven.

Firstly, the decision by the governing body to convert to academy status has been driven by the desire to maintain and improve the educational outcomes for all students at our school.

We have a clear vision of being a ‘highly successful, world class learning community’.

Staying as a maintained school would have led to cuts in resources and inevitably to staff redundancies, which would have impacted on our students.

Academy status does give Prince Henry’s more money. Money is important in providing education. Money pays for teachers and cleaners and cooks.

Money also pays for books and computers and repairing holes in the roof to keep the rain out. We acknowledge that this extra funding may only be short to medium term but it will enable us to maintain our current levels of provision and work to strengthen our position for the future, so we are better placed to realise our vision.

As an academy school, Prince Henry’s will also remain part of its local community. We are committed to strengthening our relationships with all of our local primary schools.

We will also continue to work closely with the secondary schools in north west Leeds, not least to ensure that together we can offer a broad and engaging curriculum at sixth-form level, in the face of the cuts in sixth-form funding which have already been announced by the Secretary of State.

More importantly, some things will simply stay as they are. There will be no change to the school name, uniform, ethos or admissions policy and we will continue to provide a comprehensive education for all children and young people in Otley and the surrounding community.

There have also been suggestions that academy status will impact on the Chippindale swimming pool.

It’s important to know that Prince Henry’s doesn’t own the pool (so couldn’t sell it). The pool is run by Leeds City Council. Prince Henry’s doesn’t receive a subsidy from the council but the school receives payment for the heat, light and power that the council uses in running the pool and this arrangement will continue.

These are tough times for everyone and this decision has not been easy but we believe that it is the right decision for Prince Henry’s.

We now look forward to building on the fantastic exam successes achieved by our students this summer and providing an ever-improving education, so all our students are able to realise their potential.

Paul Tranter

Chairman of Governors, Prince Henry’s Grammar School