PRIDE, respect and the ambition to succeed is felt among everyone at Lawn Manor Academy according to students, just four months since the school opened its doors under a new name.

Formerly Churchfields Academy, Lawn Manor was the first school to join the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust in September, meaning resources and teaching expertise could be shared between both schools to improve educational standards.

Fit with a new uniform and logo, the school has seen multiple changes brought in over the past term but none more prominent than the shift in culture among pupils, parents and staff.

With a crackdown on behaviour and a clearer outlook on the school’s expectations of them, students say they’ve welcomed the new changes as they understand it is helping their education.

Year 11 student Aamirah, 15, said: “It is so much better in school now. Each year it has progressed but once we changed to Lawn Manor, it has changed completely. It has changed in a good way and there are some bits that can be altered but it is a lot better. The classroom environment is a lot more peaceful and now there isn’t that many people getting sent out.

“The teachers and the way they are teaching us has changed because of the relationships between them and us has increased massively. Before if they didn’t have a good relationship with us, they thought we couldn’t learn but now it’s different.

“By joining the trust, it has opened people’s eyes to us and it has given us new opportunities to go to the school in Bassett to see what it is like there.”

“In Years 7 to 9, there were so many people who were naughty and didn’t care about their education. I didn’t think our education was a big thing but then I thought I have to go somewhere and I’m not going to achieve anything with really bad grades and I think everyone’s progress has gone up in the last term. The younger ones need to know that education will matter in their later lives and it will benefit them to start early.”

As part of the trust, the leadership team hopes to build on its ethos of creating and inspiring futures for all by working with colleagues at the academy to strengthen each other and maximise people’s potential of each person in its community.

Fellow student Ethan, 16, added that as well as the new-look school, the feel of lessons has also changed.He said: “Last year we could push the barrier and not get punished but this year that won’t be tolerated and now there is that respect from what they expect from you and what you can expect from them.

“For me, I wasn’t the best-behaved student but this year there are new rules and they have changed my mindset to try and do the best I can and behave.”

Year 9 pupil Jamie, 13, added: “It was a lot of work to transition to the new school with teachers and the new behaviour policy.

“As a school, we will always have flaws but it is the way we act about them and change it to make it a better school is what I think is a perfect representation of what the Lawn Manor way stands for.

“I knew what Churchfields was like before and so I think the school has changed for the better.”

In the long-term, it is hoped more schools will join the trust but in the meantime, Lawn Manor has introduced a new house system to encourage healthy competition among students and there are plans for a sixth form provision.

Lawn Manor Academy headteacher Sandra Muir said: says hearing how the school has changed from students shows that the inter-school relationship is having tangible benefits for everyone.“All the things we have introduced, the Lawn Manor way extends to everything. It is how they look after the school site, and the children are really looking after it. It is also about how they look after one another and the environment.

“They are really proud to wear their uniforms and the older ones have taken on the changes really quickly. They know how we do things and what our expectations are. That is One thing we have told them from the start is that we have really high expectations but also high aspirations for all the children. It is also about the staff and raising our expectations and so the whole school is motivated to improve.”

“Obviously there has been physical changes to the school with the new logo and uniform but the outlook of the school has changed as well. I know people in the community might have been a bit cynical of the new badge and name but we have been getting some great feedback.

“The students are at the centre of everything we are doing and we told them that. We’ve told them how these changes will be better for them and how they will get the best experience and opportunities.”

RWB Academy headteacher George Croxford will oversee the trust and added: “It is fantastic the way the culture has been accepted and the way it has been taken on board by the students.

“There has been an incredible amount of hard work done by Sandra, the leadership team and every member of staff. This is not just the teachers but the support staff taking everything on board and driving it forward and being hugely proud of Lawn Manor.

“The students have taken on the changes with open arms and you can see the pride they have for Lawn Manor in how they act and they’ve responded amazingly well to things.”