The background to this is that a local previously 'failing' primary school (SE13) has been in a partnership with an uber-successful primary (SE12) for just over two years. The governing bodies have voted to formalise the partnership with some kind of federation and are proposing to change the name of school SE13 to take on the name of school SE12 plus a random geographical reference. So the two schools would be SE12 primary and SE12 fields primary.
The governors want to change the name because they are trying to shed the image of the school in its previous failing state as it's now doing quite well. Their argument is that the reputation outlives the current reality, an argument I agree with but personally don't think rebranding the school will fool anyone! I also think it's a bit mean to steal the SE13 school from the local community now that it's doing okay - it is the only primary school in this particular district and is currently named after that district.
Elsewhere in our borough a number of schools have been rebranded and all but one (an RC academy that merged a primary and secondary which had completely different names from one another and was a new building on a new site) are still referred to as X, the old Y. These schools are all secondaries and the first name change was back in 2000/01 and yet it's still called 'X the old Y'.
So, have you come across any renamed schools in your area and, if so, has the new name altered public perception of that school within the local community?