A struggling Widnes primary school finally became an academy at the end of November.
Simms Cross Primary School formally joined the Warrington Primary Academy Trust (WPAT) at the end of November after a series of delays.
The school was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted in November 2018 and was supposed to become an academy last year, but delays to the academisation process led to “a period of uncertainty”.
That has now ended with the move to WPAT being finally confirmed and a new executive headteacher, Paula Warding, taking over. Mrs Warding is currently headteacher at Alderman Bolton Primary in Warrington.
Outside Simms Cross Primary School are (from left) Nicola Kearney (interim headteacher), Paula Warding (executive headteacher) and Louise Smith (CEO, Warrington Primary Academy Trust).