Wandle Valley Academy and Evolve Academy to join strong new trust
Wandle Valley Academy and Evolve Academy are set to transfer to a strong new trust on 1st September 2026.
The two London schools are currently part of Parallel Learning Trust (PLT). However, with PLT closing shortly, all its six schools need to join new academy trusts. Wandle Valley Academy, in Sutton, and Evolve Academy, in Lambeth, will join Alternative Learning Trust (ALT) on 1st September, while PLT’s two schools in Southend (Victory Park Academy and Sutton House Academy) will transfer to Fortis Trust on the same day. Inspire Free School, in Medway, joined Rivermead Inclusive Trust earlier this year. The sixth school, Ramsden Hall Academy, in Essex, will join its new trust later next school year.
The new trusts were all selected by PLT’s Board of Trustees after much careful consideration, and have been approved by the Department for Education.
Angela Barry OBE, the Chief Executive Officer of PLT, said:
“I am delighted that all the schools are joining such superb academy trusts. The Board’s decision was based above all on what is in the best interests of the pupils, their families and the staff of each school.
“I have every confidence that the schools will continue to improve and provide an even higher quality of education and care to children and young people.
“ALT is an excellent specialist education organisation which has a track record of providing a strong, sustainable and supportive home for its schools. Fortis Trust is an excellent specialist education organisation which places children and young people at the heart of all that it does.”
Welcome to Wandle Valley Academy's website
Respect, Honesty, Determination, Resilience and Empathy are our Academy values and together we all work to make sure that these are upheld through all that we do, both in our school day and in all the additional support that we offer to our pupils and parent/carers.
Wandle Valley Academy is a special provision working to support 80 pupils aged 5-16, with SEMH difficulties
We hope our website gives you a flavour of the exciting opportunities we offer at Wandle Valley Academy and show you some of the amazing activities that our pupils engage with, highlighting their achievements.
To share our ideology…
You could say that Wandle Valley Academy is a training school for young people aged 5 -16 with ‘superpowers’. It is our intention to support and guide all our pupils in how to manage these super powers positively and teach them how to use them to support their learning and that of others. We aim to do this within and alongside our curriculum, with a number of interventions and therapies specifically tailored to support their individual pupil needs. We are actually pretty good at this and have a great record of our young people leaving us and becoming amazing individuals; ‘Super Heroes’.
We are really fortunate at Wandle Valley Academy to have a hugely diverse staff team. This does not only consist of cultural diversity but also neuro diversity too. As a Headteacher I am really fortunate to have a number of ‘super powers’ myself, that have taken many years to learn to control and understand. Not being diagnosed until I was in my late twenties, with profound dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD, has given me a completely different view on education and in the position I now find myself in, has allowed me to support and share this with pupils, staff, parent/carers and stakeholders. Wandle Valley Academy is a really special place and we pride ourselves in making the environment a safe place to be what and who you need to be, with nurture and personal development feeding through the education we provide. This not only includes supporting and educating our pupils, but also the parent/carers and stakeholders in understanding the pupils' superpowers and how best to support these. We are also really fortunate to have a staff team that regularly supports families with food parcels and other alternative support, such as family groups and regular ‘supervision style/welfare 1:1 phone calls’. At Wandle Valley Academy we try to offer a holistic approach to education, which involves more than the traditional education vision. At Wandle Valley Academy, it is about more than classroom based ‘education and learning’.
Wandle Valley Academy is a family of many people, young and old and as we all know, families have a number of challenges at times, but if we all work together, great things can be achieved.
Wandle Valley Academy is a part of the Multi Academy Trust, Parallel Learning Trust. For more information on the trust please click here to go to their website.
Lynda Harris - Headteacher
David White - Interim Chair of the Academy Council
