FOUR Bradford primary schools, which cater for more than 1,200 pupils, have converted to academies.

The schools, which are based right across the city, joined academy trusts at the start of this month.

Three of the primary settings - all Catholic schools - have joined The Blessed Christopher Wharton Catholic Academy Trust (BCWCAT).

This includes, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Park Lane, which has 350 pupils; St William's Catholic Primary School in Young Street, which has 210 pupils, and Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School in The Bank, which has 210 pupils.

An academy conversion letter was published for each of the three schools by Ofsted on Friday, November 6.

All the schools have kept their base names, but have "A Voluntary Academy" added at the end now.

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Bingley also joined the group back in May, alongside four other schools.

Read more about that here...

It took BCWCAT's total number of schools under its banner to 11, having been established in 2015.

A spokesperson for BCWAT said in May that "a further five schools" were preparing to convert to academies and join the trust.

Meanwhile, Grove House Primary School in Myers Lane, which has room for 472 students between the ages of three and 11, has joined a separate multi-academy chain.

The school became the fifth member of the Pennine Academies Yorkshire group on Sunday, November 1.

Michael Thorp, Chief Executive at Pennine Academies Yorkshire, said the trust is "delighted" to welcome Grove House into the fold and outlined the school had already been working with the group for a while anyway.

He added: "Grove House has worked in close partnership with the Pennine Academies Yorkshire trust for a number of years now and we are excited at developing this relationship further.

"The school has a growing reputation for academic success and inclusivity and we look forward to the strengths that they bring."

Academy schools receive funding directly from the government, rather than a local authority.

They have more control over how they do things than community schools.

This includes setting their own curriculum and setting their own term times.

The curriculum must still be "balanced and broadly based" and include English, mathematics and science.