Future Plans

Pathfinder Schools Trustees have made the difficult decision to transfer all the Pathfinder Schools to other multi academy Trusts and cease the operation of the Trust. As with all of our decisions, the best interests of all our pupils and their education is at the heart.

As you may be aware, in November 2023, Montsaye Academy received a Special Measures judgement from Ofsted.  This led to conversations with the Department for Education (DfE) around the future of the school and the decision was taken to re-broker the school to another multi-academy trust, United Learning. This transfer is due to be finalised in early 2025.

In September 2024, Rothwell Junior School was inspected by Ofsted and received a Special Measures judgement. We share the disappointment of this outcome with the school and can assure you that the strong progress already made at Rothwell Junior School since the inspection continues at pace.

The DfE has issued a Termination Warning Notice (TWN) for Rothwell Junior School. This often leads to a school being re-brokered to another multi-academy trust, and the DfE have advised that for Rothwell Junior School re-brokering will be the likely outcome.

Trustees are unanimous in the view that the decision to transfer our schools to other Trusts will enable each of our schools to be in a Trust where there are greater levels of capacity to support them.  The DfE are aware of these plans and we continue to work closely with them.

At this stage, a new trust/trusts have not been confirmed and we cannot provide a timetable for the transfer of schools.  We anticipate that this will develop at pace throughout the remainder of this academic year.

We remain committed to ensuring that our schools receive the best support possible. We will be working proactively with new partner trusts as these are confirmed to ensure a smooth transition for the maximum benefit to our pupils.