DARTMOUTH Academy principal Nick Hindmarsh is urging the community to look at the long-term vision of the school as it embarks on a period of leadership restructuring to offset a fall in funding, as are many schools across the country and the South-West.

The changes being at the academy do not affect classroom teaching, with the cuts being made to the additional payments some staff receive for taking on additional responsibility.

Mr Hindmarsh said: 'Over the past five years our focus has always been on raising the standards of education in the classroom so the children who attend the academy have better chances of getting a good set of qualifications in preparation for their lives after school.

'We are a small school that prides itself on the strength of the relationships between teachers and students, relationships that help boost children's progress from the age of three to 19 years.

'It is important we can maintain small teaching groups so we can provide the bespoke education for which we are known. Although this is expensive, it is a fundamental part of our curriculum delivery plans, plans that place children at the centre of all we do.'

Mr Hindmarsh said in schools, nowadays, there were many staff with additional payments for leadership roles, in addition to the obvious ones such as the headteacher.

'This is the case at the academy, where roles such as leading on primary literacy exist, and it is these type of posts affected. There will be a reduction of about 50 per cent in such roles, with the work being shared out among others, he explained.

This will take effect from next January year and it is hoped that most staff affected will have time to adjust or find alternative roles.

Teaching staff will not be lost and Mr Hindmarsh – who is among those who will suffer a pay cut – is adamant children's education will not suffer. He says difficult decisions made now will make the school more cost-effective and efficient and he is proud of achievements at the academy and confident it has a positive future.

'The academy made some changes last summer in terms of reducing non-teaching staff, and inevitably this further period of change will be unsettling and is regrettable for those affected,' he said.

'But the reality is that while student numbers have grown by about 12 per cent in the past five years, greater growth is needed to offset the increases in costs felt by all schools and acutely in small schools.

'Once this restructure has been completed, the net savings to the academy are in the region of £230,000 a year, so not insignificant.

'The reduction in paid leadership posts will enable us to run a tighter organisation, with the focus on what really matters in the academy – what happens in the classroom.

'With our previous sponsor, E-Act being stripped of 10 academies, including Dart­mouth Academy, last year, we also lost the economies of scale they could offer.

'However, we are now working with Kingsbridge Comm­unity College as part of Academies South West. This gives us greater security and local support, which is beneficial to children's learning, so the future is looking bright.

'Being part of a new local multi-academy trust has changed the way we all work.

'We share experiences and plan together, so that students of all ages benefit from richer learning experiences both inside and outside of the classroom.'

Mr Hindmarsh said exam results were on the up and new initiatives under way, so the academy could look forward to pupil numbers growing – especially when the proposed West Dart development came on line.

Growth in early years and sixth form provision is planned at the academy, with extra opening hours offering care and education to include breakfast and after-school homework clubs, from 8am through to 6pm.

Mr Hindmarsh said there were many good things going on at the academy, where there were 140 primary school-aged pupils and just under 400 secondary students.

'We expect examination results to be better this summer and we clearly have a wonderful new building, added to which we have a range of new initiatives to offer our community and parents,' he said.

'But all these things take a while to trickle down and more than ever we need the support – and belief – of the community around us.'