By Brook Valley School will tomorrow become the first Chippenham primary school to be granted academy status by DFE.

Throughout the process the governors have worked closely with staff, parents and the diocese.

Since the school opened in 1998 it has gone from strength to strength being rated a ‘good’ by Ofsted in November 2009 and becoming a Local Leader of Education in 2011. Pupil numbers have consistently risen in recent years.

The school will continue to offer clubs and activities to provide children with sporting and other skills as well as provision for childcare for working parents. Becoming an academy will support the school in its continued development through bringing more freedom to allocate the budget to areas of most need. The school will continue to work closely with other local schools, local authority and the Church of England diocese to achieve the very best outcomes for pupils.

Headteacher Bev Ball said: "This is a very exciting time for our school. Over the years we have worked hard, in partnership with other providers, to build a provision at our school to serve our local community, including a private pre-school on site, a breakfast and afterschool club as well as holiday club. Becoming an Academy will give us the freedom to move forward and further build on past initiatives to continue to provide the very best for our children."