Expanding school trust makes Old Mining College it's new home
Burntwood's historic town council building known as the Old Mining College is the new home of a rapidly expanding school trust.
Primitas Learning Partnership a multi-academy trust which has schools in Burntwood and Lichfield is one of the fastest growing academy trusts in the region, growing from two to seven schools in two years.
Bosses are sharing offices with Burntwood Town Council, in Queen Street.
The trust was formed in September 2021 when Erasmus Darwin Academy, in Pool Road, and Highfields Primary School, in Elder Lane, joined forces with a view to improving educational collaboration in the district.
They were quickly joined by Ridgeway Primary School,in Grange Road, and Holly Grove Primary School, Holly Grove Lane both in Chasetown, last year before a recent merger with Lichfield's Greywood Multi-Schools Trust added The Friary School, Queens Croft High School and Henry Chadwick Primary School to the Primitas family.
Primitas chief executive Mark Maydew explains: “We have never adopted a business expansion mindset where we set out to acquire schools. In fact, we have never even approached a school to ask whether they would like to join us.
"We have simply aimed to be a close-knit family of schools, which looks after its people and tries to do the right things in the right way for the right educational reasons. Consequently, other schools have approached us.”
Now another three schools recently approached the new trust to explore the possibility of joining and due to rapid expansion, Primitas has had to move quickly in recent months to secure a larger central office and meeting space.
The trust's close working relationship with Lichfield District Council has paid off with its staff moving into the Old Mining College which is also the home of Burntwood Town Council.
Town council leader Councillor Darren Ennis said he was delighted with the arrangement, stating: “It just seems right that a thriving educational organisation with a heart for the community is utilising this wonderful old building for educational purposes.”
The college was built in 1912 as a training centre to prepare people to work down the mines. A proposal put forward in seven years ago to change the name The Town Hall sparked controversy with critics claiming the name change would neglect the history of the proud mining area.
