A primary school that won a judicial review against the government鈥檚 refusal to revoke a previous academy order 鈥 costing tens of thousands of pounds 鈥 is now consulting on plans to join a trust. The High Court quashed an academy order against Yew Tree Primary School in the West Midlands in July 2021 after a judge ruled the Department for Education鈥檚 decision was 鈥渋rrational鈥. The department was forced to pay the school costs of 拢75,000, as well as its own legal fees. But less than two years later, has now launched a formal consultation to join Leigh Trust. Jamie Barry, the school鈥檚 headteacher, said it had long been open to considering academisation, just at 鈥渢he right time鈥. An academy order was issued in 2019 following an 鈥榠nadequate鈥 Ofsted rating in January that year. By October, a month after Barry joined, a further inspection led an 鈥榬equires improvement鈥 rating. 鈥淲e needed to make sure we maintained the momentum of our school improvement journey, so to try and also deal with academisation at the same time would have been counter-intuitive,鈥 he said. ‘We didn’t want to be forced’ The school argued in court that it was unable to demonstrate further improvement while inspections were suspended during the pandemic. It was rated 鈥榞ood鈥 in October 2021. Barry said dwindling local authority budgets and difficult recruitment helped to prompt its recent decision to look again at becoming an academy. Jamie Barry 鈥淚f we鈥檙e part of a multi-academy trust we can get better value in terms of procurements, we can share resources,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to be in the position ever again where we were being forced,鈥 he said. As well as 鈥渟trong鈥 similarities in 鈥渧ision and values鈥 and approaches to curriculum and assessment, Barry said it was important to join a smaller trust. 鈥淲e wanted a more local trust鈥hat was still growing so we could be part of that development.鈥 Leigh runs six primary schools in the West Midlands. The chosen sponsor for Yew Tree under the previous academy order, Shine Academies, runs four. The DfE, which said it was 鈥減leased鈥 about the consultation, refused to divulge how much it had spent fighting the judicial review. 鈥淲e know the best trusts enable the best leaders to support more schools, while empowering teachers to improve educational outcomes,鈥 said a spokesperson.