The governing bodies of Hawkinge, Churchill and Cheriton Primary Schools elected to change school category, from Community School into a FoundationSchool and at the same time to acquire a charitable trust in June 2013.
We want to build upon the good work the three schools have done together over the last 5 years in raising standards across all the schools, and Ofsted judgements.
Why call the trust the “Vicus Trust”?
In Ancient Rome, the “Vicus” was a neighbourhood, and was also an administrative area of a town. The “vicus” often sprang up in the shelter of a nearby official Roman site, usually a military garrison or fort.
As the three schools in the proposed “Vicus Trust” are close to “Ceasars Camp”, the remains of a Norman and Roman fort, we thought this the ideal name for our trust.
The “Co-operative School Trust” model enables schools to set themselves up as co-operatives, following co-operative values and principles.
Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in their ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.
The ethos of Cheriton Primary School, The Churchill School & Hawkinge Primary School align well with co-operative values and principles of the co-operative movement.
Employ all staff on the same terms and conditions.
The Governing Body will employ the staff.
The School’s assets (both grounds and buildings) will be held by the Trust for each individual school.
The Trust will appoint additional Governors to support each school’s Governing Body, and the Trust will set up a Members’ Forum to represent the views of all members.