Welcome to Coppice

Coppice joined Central Learning Partnership Trust on 1st June 2018, as a sponsor-led academy. It has subsequently become a key member of our Wolverhampton secondary, school-improvement partnership, alongside Heath Park and Moseley Park. Despite the date being in the middle of the external examination season, the conversion process was relatively seamless, which is testimony to the dedication and professionalism of the Coppice staff.

The commitment the school has always made, to provide every student with the opportunity for personal development, remains unchanged. What has changed however, is the means by which this is achieved. Staff no longer work in isolation, as a single entity school, but collaborate with colleagues in the other two schools, within the partnership, to seek out and share best practice.

The collective resources within the partnership are used to the benefit of all our students. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our shared post 16 provision: Central Sixth. Students access courses in all three settings and this collaborative approach to working will develop further as we progress the partnership. I am confident that this approach provides the very best opportunities for our sixth formers and this has been reflected in the increase in post 16 numbers at Coppice. Partnership working has increased the breadth of our course provision, which in turn has resulted in a rise in the proportion of those matriculating directly to university and also the number and range of universities accessed; Oxbridge included.

“Foundations for Excellence”, is the new school motto and the collective aim of the school community is to move this from rhetoric to sustainable reality. This can only be achieved when pupils, parents and staff work together, with high aspirations and strong ambition at the heart of everything we do. I have always believed implicitly in the capacity of young people to achieve whatever it is they set their sights upon. However, experience has shown that success is only ever secured through that all-important “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration” ingredient mix. There is no substitute for hard work!

I am hugely optimistic for the future prospects of Coppice and its community. This is due to my total confidence in the leadership of the school. The positive working relationship Mrs Gilbert has established with her staff and students is central to the improvements secured to date and underpins my belief that the “Foundations for Excellence” are already in place and delivering results.

Doug Selkirk

CEO Central Learning Partnership Trust