A PARTNERSHIP that connects pupils young and old throughout their education is looking to the future after a successful first 18 months.

The Cooper Secondary School and Glory Farm Primary joined under the umbrella of Bicester Learning Academy in July, 2014 after taking on academy status.

Changes since have included shared teaching, a smoother transition between schools and most recently the new arrival of the academy school bus.

Student Ellie Henstridge, 14, said: “My goal is to be a primary school teacher and so having the opportunity to work with the younger children is great.

“We also have the chance to be leaders for things like sport or different projects where we help the primary school children.”

Glory Farm Primary headteacher Ian Elkington said: “It has been brilliant, there have been a number of changes, for the better.

“It is all about life-long learning and these links are important right through from 0-19 – it’s an exciting opportunity.

“A benefit is our children get to go up to Cooper School and are comfortable there, which helps the transitional phase.”

The schools joined under academy status ahead of Government plans ruling that all non-academy state schools would become academies by 2020.

Changes across the schools in Churchill Road and Hendon Place include hiring staff to work across both sites. Teachers also visit Year Sevens who have just moved up to ensure they are adapting well. Equipment is often shared, including the new minibus.

Student Lucas Lamche, 14, said: “As I am in the school football team the minibus means we can all travel together rather than getting to fixtures separately, which is great for building team spirit.”

Academies are independent, funded directly from the Government. They have more freedom with setting the curriculum which has seen lessons such as engineering introduced at The Cooper School.

The Cooper School headteacher Ben Baxter said: “In my experience formal partnerships between schools work better than anything less binding.

“There is an underlying moral imperative to ensure the consistency in the quality of provision is as good as it possibly can be. We have seen growing mutual co-operation, trust, sharing of expertise and value for money.”