To the Hastings and St Leonards Community:

We are delighted that the Government has accepted our proposal to help shape the future of education for Hastings and St Leonards. We have come together in our sponsorship to offer students, parents and the community a new choice in education. We, the University of Brighton (the lead sponsor), British Telecom (BT) and East Sussex County Council (the  two supporting sponsors) would like to help schools transform teaching and learning across the whole of Hastings and St Leonards by bringing together The Grove, Filsham Valley and Hillcrest in these two new Academy schools.

We understand how important education is for our communities. We also understand that the quality of education in Hastings and St Leonards has gone through ups and downs in recent years. It goes without saying that we are impressed with the recent progress shown in the 2009 GCSE results. This improvement signals an important first phase of a coordinated approach to changing educational achievement across all three schools arising from the recent federation introduced by East Sussex County Council, and the appointment of Sir Dexter Hutt and Ninestiles Plus.  We feel the good work and successes shared by the students, parents, teachers, headteachers, and community partners will flourish in the proposed next phase with the creation of two new Academies providing modern school facilities, additional resources, specialist curriculum, expanding education and business support, and much more.

The lead sponsor in our group, the University of Brighton, has a history of working hard to provide a wide range of opportunities in education. Students at the university pursue all kinds of education on over 500 courses, ranging from medicine to teacher training, fashion design to computing.

At the University of Brighton’s University Centre Hastings we are committed to extending opportunities to the community of Hastings and St Leonards by enabling students to take courses locally. Students can choose from a wide variety of subjects that lead to a range of jobs and careers. We are very proud to be able to say that over 250 students have now graduated from University Centre Hastings.

Our group of three sponsors also includes British Telecom (BT). Although most people think about BT in terms of providing telephone and internet services, they may not be as aware of their cutting edge research into ICT and their work to support communities. BT is highly successful, but stands by the principle that businesses are only as strong as their people and the communities they serve.

BT can see that Hastings and St Leonards is a community with great potential to emerge as a hub of enterprise and community growth.  BT also feels strongly that it is important to give back to the people and communities that have helped make it a successful company.

As a co-sponsor, BT will commit both time and resources to the two Academies and the Hastings and St Leonards community. We are confident that students at the Academies will learn from their expertise, energy, and entrepreneurialism to great success.

Finally, you might already be familiar with the third member of our sponsors group – East Sussex County Council (ESCC). ESCC is pleased to be directly involved in these Academies.  As you will have read earlier, ESCC has developed a strategy to bring about change in The Grove, Filsham Valley and Hillcrest. So far this has been successful and we want to ensure that this success continues now and into the future.

In order to grow recent progress, and achieve even greater success, ESCC have reviewed the options available to the schools. ESCC feel very strongly that in supporting this Academies proposal we are making the right choice, and taking the best steps, to ensure that we are offering  our community the choice and facilities needed to grow and to sustain educational success.

The Local Authority want to continue to be involved in the schools through the Academies, ensuring democratic accountability. ESCC have been working hard on plans for a new approach to teaching and learning, ensuring that all students will have an option to work at a pace and level that meets their individual needs, no matter what the goals.

From all of us at the University of Brighton, BT, and East Sussex County Council.