Cluster Coordinator: Emily Malcolm
About this cluster
Within the Calne and Melksham Music Cluster there were 20 schools (local authority maintained and academies) – 2 secondaries, 17 primaries and 1 special school – in the 2021-22 academic year.
The majority of the cluster’s schools are situated in urban areas, with 8 of the primary phase schools in rural villages. 5 of the primary phase schools are ‘small schools’ (fewer than 120 children on roll).
Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2019 data shows a wide range in levels of deprivation. 2 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) rank in the highest 20%, and another in the highest 30%, for overall deprivation nationally, with 4 LSOAs across the cluster area ranking in the least 20% for overall deprivation. All other LSOAs rank within the 4th to the 8th decile.
Schools in the cluster which had higher than the national average of pupils eligible for Free School Meals are Priestly Primary (n=117, 39.4%), The Manor Primary (n=71, 34%), Marden Vale Academy (n=104, 39.5%) and The Springfield Academy (n=73, 37.1%). Schools with the highest numbers or proportions of children eligible for Service Pupil Premium in the cluster are Hilmarton Primary (n=19, 17.8%), Kingsbury Green Academy (n=55, 6.7%), and Melksham Oak School (n=41, 3.4%).
The numbers of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) were notably higher than the national average at Kingsbury Green Academy (n=193, 23.4% receiving SEN support), Hilmarton Primary (n=36, 33.6% receiving SEN support and n=8, 7.5% with an EHCP), Marden Vale Academy (n=56, 23% receiving SEN support and n=24, 11.4% with an EHCP), and Holy trinity (n=50, 23.8% receiving SEN support). At The Springfield Academy, a specialist school for autistic children, 98.5% of pupils have an EHCP.