Consultation

At St Mary Magdalene, we pride ourselves on providing high-quality education and excellent outcomes to our students. Our success has resulted in significant growth in recent years, and we are looking to expand in order to formally accommodate growing demand. The Academy’s current census pupil numbers are 1542 in 2022/2023, with 1575 predicted in 2023/2024. As a result, we are seeking DfE approval to expand the school’s curriculum offer, which will contribute to the growth and expansion of student numbers from 1360 to 1590.

This expansion aims to: 

• Meet current demands for places as evidenced by over-subscription, so that students can receive preferred and quality education.
• Secure SMMA as a ‘future-proofed’ provider through anticipating demographic changes.
• Continue active and productive collaboration with other nearby schools in designing and delivering excellent post-16 provision.

This expansion will ensure the future sustainability and viability of St Mary Magdalene Academy based on its capability to accommodate this level of pupils successfully. Physical capacity for this expansion will be made possible through use of our new site at Amwell Street, and we are currently undergoing in-depth site analyses to ensure future sustainability.

This opportunity will enable us to extend our education offer to more young people, and to do so in line with local needs, aspirations, and industrial heritage. The curriculum of the Academy will be better connected to local business and industry whilst Islington and surrounding local authorities will receive a high-quality and bespoke post-16 provision. As part of this commitment, we have already begun conversations with the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, an Ofsted-rated Outstanding school, to further develop our excellent sixth-form provision through collaborative efforts.

We value the views and opinions of all stakeholders. For this reason, we would be grateful if you could complete this survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5HCRRJH

The consultation period will run from midday Wednesday, 26 April 2023 to midday Wednesday, 24 May 2023.

• We will be running an in-person event at St Mary Magdalene Academy on 19 May.
• There will also be an online Q&A session on 10 May.

Please express your interest in attending by emailing smmaconsultation@outlook.com and details will be sent prior to the event. Members of the School Leadership Team will be present for any questions or concerns.

In addition to any contribution from all members of communities to this consultation, Hive Education Trust welcomes and encourages all types of engagement of other educational provisions that share our vision and mission.

Pursuing our vision of nurturing both happy and successful students whilst raising standards, Hive Education Trust has reached a point where we can go above and beyond to accomplish our mission. Our current ambition is to expand the Hive community into a thriving community of more schools in London working together for children and young people. In this regard, all educational provisions from all phases and designations, both faith and non-faith, that share our values are invited to join our community. We are open to discussing future partnerships, sponsorships, and schools, hoping to join a thriving multi-academy trust.

For further details about our vision and ethos and joining the Trust, please visit https://www.hiveeducationtrust.org/

To Whom it May Concern

We would like to thank all those who have so far partaken in our consultation for the proposed PAN change at St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington. Having reviewed the results of our online consultation event, our in-person consultation event, and our online survey, as well as several questions sent through to our dedicated email server, this letter is designed to clarify the proposed change and welcome further direct consultation.

The proposed PAN increase from 1360 to 1590 has been proposed in order to formalise a series of intakes which have already occurred over the past few years. These have occurred in part due to our increase from 180 to 210 in each secondary year, as well as our additional intake of pupils after the pandemic, a situation which occurred at many sixth forms across the country due to the modified marking schema during the pandemic.

The additional increase in our sixth form capacity would allow us to formalise our current intake and future-proof our sixth form numbers based on expected increases in the 16-19 population in Islington, as well our current oversubscription. The partnership proposed with EGA is not a formal merger, and would not result in any changes to our admissions or admissions policies without further consultation.

We thank again those stakeholders who have engaged with our consultation, and welcome further inquiries to the email below.

Best regards,

HIVE Education Trust

For inquiries, please email: smmaconsultation@outlook.com

Hive Education Trust Liverpool Road London N7 8PG Tel 0207697 0123