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MAST transmission

Mrs Greenough CEO

Welcome to our latest newsletter

As ever in education, times goes by very quickly and we find ourselves half-way through another academic year. So far this academic year. we are proud to have welcomed a new school to our family – Scholes Junior and Infant School (Holmfirth) who joined us in December. It has been wonderful to work alongside Andrew Hancox, headteacher, and the staff and children to support the school on the next phase of its journey. In the newsletter, Andrew shares some of his experiences and insights as a recent partner. We also have the privilege to continue to work alongside an Associate Partner: Grange Moor Primary School. Mark Rodgers, Headteacher also shares his experiences of working alongside our schools in the newsletter.

At the end of last academic year, we celebrated some of the highest educational outcomes we have ever seen, as well as stabilising some very impressive historical outcomes. Our school leaders, colleagues and pupils continue to demonstrate a continued drive for the best possible outcomes for each-and-every child and young person.

Education at The Mast Academy Trust, is not just about educational outcomes – it stretches far beyond that to focus on the development of the whole child - the focus of this newsletter. Personal development is not a subject. It comes to life through every aspect of school life - from assemblies, taught subjects, visitors and experiences It is then enacted through the opportunities afforded to our pupils.

We support our children and young pupil to develop character; to understand rights and responsibilities alongside developing tolerance and respect for others –particularly those who may be different from themselves. We also seek to help them build the skills and knowledge they need to be safe, and to build happy and rewarding futures for themselves and enabling that for others. We hope you will enjoy finding out a little bit more about how this comes to life in each of our schools.

If you have any feedback about the Mast Academy Trust, their schools and/or this newsletter then please get in touch office@themast.co.uk

Trust Talk

Personal Development

a trust board perspective

Nurturing the personal development of children is central to education and a very important priority for the trust Without it, academic learning will be of little value to the children So, it is especially pleasing that all of the trust’s current schools who have been inspected by Ofsted are recognised to have good or outstanding personal development Crucially, children though, not Ofsted, are the reason we do what we do The positive Ofsted judgements reflect the schools’ provision and its impact on the children

The trust’s vision reflects strongly the significance of personal development This is embedded in the key areas of: ‘celebrate individuality’, ‘collaborate’, ‘inspire’, ‘achieve ambitions’, ‘learn’, and provide a ‘safe and caring environment’.

The MAST’s aim to celebrate individuality ties in with our schools teaching children to understand and respect differences and to accept all people, and to not engage in discriminatory behaviour through either words or actions Hence the strong emphasis rightly given to equality and diversity and to not tolerating racism, sexism or homophobia. This also contributes to making sure that the school environment is a safe and caring place for the children and helps them to grow and to collaborate with others

To learn, to succeed in life, and to achieve their ambitions, children also need confidence, resilience and independence An important element too is providing a wide range of experiences which inspire and motivate the children so that they develop a thirst for, and love of, learning Children need opportunities to develop their talents, whatever they may be. This goes beyond art, music and sports to recognising that all children have talents which can be nurtured Some may have great talents in caring for and befriending others and in building trust. Strong personal development helps with all of this.

So, how do the schools do this A good starting point is through the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum, including statutory relationship and sex education (RSHE). How PSHE is taught is important too. It is most effective when there is a dedicated lesson of sufficient length, where an open climate is fostered, and the children are encouraged to develop their own views and to discuss the lesson contents with the class Personal development is also fostered in other subjects. The books studied in English and the themes in RE, history and geography enable pupils to experience different cultures, perspectives and challenges Work in teams in PE builds social skills and resilience, and science helps to foster independent and joint working and a sense of personal responsibility and for others and the wider world These are but a few examples Assemblies and coverage of current affairs at a child’s level develop reflection and empathy However, most important is how we respond to and relate to children on a day-to-day basis, so that as adults we model what we want for the children’s personal development

Liz Godman Trustee

Scholes Junior and Infant School

A big HELLO from Scholes!

My name is Andrew Hancox and I have the honour of being the Headteacher here at Scholes (Holmfirth) Junior and Infant School. At the time of writing, we have just joined the Mast Academy Trust as the newest partner school. It has been a speedy, but worthwhile process in becoming a Trust School and I will share a little bit about ourselves and our journey.

Back in November 2022 (3 months into my headship), we were informed that Scholes was to be issued with an academy order. There was an anxious wait until February 2023 when we received the wonderful news that we were joining the Mast Academy Trust. Knowing that we were going to be directed to a Trust, and having not had any previous links with any academised schools, there were a few worries in school about the direction we would be heading. When the day finally arrived, we were thrilled with the decision.

. In the months since, we have met with Kirklees Local Authority, local schools, HR teams, Union Representatives and many others… there is not one single person who has said we will have anything but quality support, trusted leadership, supportive partnerships and enhanced collaboration by becoming a Mast school. I am very happy to say that these people were not wrong!

Right from the early introductions, every member of the Trust Central team has been approachable and understanding of our school’s position, but at the same time, treated us as equal members. It is fantastic to have such a supportive and knowledgeable team to call upon when needed – people who always on the end of the phone, email back swiftly or even better, head over to Holmfirth to come and chat in person.

One of the key priorities for our school was heading into a trust where our school KIND values of Kindness, Independence, Nurture and Determination were closely matched to the Trust – this has been clearly evident with the Mast – where every decision is for the benefit of the children. So many of the school improvement activities we have introduced and changes we have made, with the Trust support, have improved our school offer for the children.

In exploring school improvement, we are receiving lots of support where it is needed – having the trust school improvement colleagues as regular members of the team is a game-changer. The knowledge, capacity, links and expertise they bring, has been invaluable on our school improvement journey.

Since joining, we have been fully involved in trust-wide improvement through my work with the other school leaders in the Peer Reviews, and Claire Brook, our Year 6 teacher and LA Moderator taking an active role in coleading the trust moderation activities for KS1 and KS2. Everyone in the trust have recognised we have a wealth of skills in the team and have found ways to utilise these.

Our pupils are excited to be starting to make links with the other schools in the Trust – firstly, the next meeting for the Pupil Parliament where Pupil Representatives from Scholes will be joining the team. There is some trepidation from the pupils about visiting new schools, but from the collaboration we have seen so far, our schools will only go from strength to strength.

Our school is also changing based on the work we are now participating in with the Trust schools looking at Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction and how these can be used to improve learning across school. We have attended training sessions delivered across the Trust, as well as bespoke sessions at Scholes, to provide some additional knowledge about the initiatives being introduced across the Trust. We are already integrating these principles into our curriculum, further improving pupils' working and long-term memory.

Our pupils have had visits this term from the local Police officers, exploring their role and how they keep our school and communities safe. We have also introduced our Wellbeing Champions this term – a group of pupils who will have pupil wellbeing at the heart of everything they do. This group is only at the very start of their journey, having had their initial training sessions from community partners and are now raring to get started. I look forward to letting you know what they get up to.

Here at Scholes, we feel as though we have been really lucky with our academisation direction. The Mast Academy Trust has fully supported our leaders, staff, Governors and pupils in the speedy transition. We are incredibly excited to be at the first line of a new chapter for Scholes School – we look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership between ourselves and the wider trust. If you have not been over to Scholes, we would happily welcome you for a visit – just maybe not all at once!

Personal Development at Kirkburton Middle School

At KMS we are passionate about educating the whole child. Our curriculum offer has both breadth and depth, and as a school with only three year groups, we can really specialise and become experts in our curriculum areas. Our curriculum is at once challenging, preparing pupils for the next stages of learning but supportive and adaptable for all pupil needs.

In addition, we are incredibly proud of our work outside of the classroom. Across the week at lunchtimes or after school, we have a large range of clubs and activities taking place from Warhammer to pop choir, bench ball club, craft club, Drama Academy, scrabble, chess and many more.

We are proud of our trips and visits offer which ranges from trips to see the local pantomime, a visit to a university, Magma, local cinema visits, a 3 day residential PGL trip and a residential trip to trip to France.

This extra-curricular offer is very important to us as we know these experiences are often the things pupils talk about and remember long after they have left our school. We firmly believe that our extra-curricular offer supports our pupils to become rounded and confident individuals who can have a positive impact on society.

House system

At KMS our new House system encourages each student to become confident, resilient and independent citizens. We have three Houses: Booth, Moxon and Carter and have appointed two Year 8 House captains for each House as well as Year 8 House leaders who lead in various fields. In order to be selected, prospective House leaders completed an application process and then were interviewed before being chosen as leaders. The leadership roles are: House Captains; Charity Leaders; Sports Leaders; STEM Leaders ; Drama Leaders; Art and Design Leaders; Community Leaders; Music Leaders.

Our House Captains lead and support all the pupils in their House during House events, competitions, and everyday life at KMS. They help to coordinate and oversee the other leaders and encourage and motivate their team. House Captains maintain a high level of commitment throughout the year to promote school events such as representing their house at open evenings and parents' evenings. They have also helped during transition with the new Year 6 pupils. House Captains have led assemblies to explain the house system to our new Year 6 pupils.

Community leaders also helped during transition and were paired with a year 6 form to help them settle into life at KMS. Sports leaders have been able to lead on our first inter house football competition. They have worked together across the school to organise football teams for each year group.

Charity leaders have so far helped to organise a Macmillan coffee morning on the 29th September, baking and selling cakes, tea, and coffee to parents. They helped to raise £357 for the charity.

Booth House

Moxon House

Carter House

At the beginning of October, we had the pleasure of taking 160 Year 7 pupils to Newby Wiske Hall in Northallerton to take part in a 3 day residential. The purpose of the trip was to engage in outdoor activities but also to give new opportunities to our pupils. The pupils were incredible throughout the trip and really pushed themselves to try new things out of their comfort zone. They took part in canoeing, fencing, laser tag, camp survival, climbing, abseiling, challenge courses but the highlight for all was the quick jump; a leap of faith from the top of a 13m tower!! The pupils were an absolute delight throughout the trip, well done to everyone who came.

Sporting opportunities

The PE department at KMS strive to enter all sporting competitions available to the school. We run practices for those who wish to represent school in these sports and select teams according to the level of competition.

To promote inclusivity, we offer a wide range of extracurricular activities alongside our sports team practices. For the Autumn term these include a dodgeball and dance club. The dance club had the opportunity to perform at the Shelley College Dance Festival and at the Strictly Pennine Show at The Lawrence Batley Theatre. We also engage with the SPIN Partnership and strive to attend all their events specifically designed for those with SEND. So far, we have supported several students to take part in a SEND Cross Country and are looking forward to attending a SEND Football event at The Zone in the coming weeks with 16 of our SEND students.

Inter House Competitions

Over the last month we have been running an Inter House Football competition for all year groups, boys and girls. This has given those who do not yet represent school the opportunity to access competitive sport at school. We have had over 120 students actively involved in the inter house football across the three year groups and it has been wonderful to see so many students striving to perform to their very best level to represent their house.

Personal Development at Birdsedge First School

Personal Development is a huge part of our curriculum offer to all children in school and it is often the ongoing things we do in the background that make the most impact. We cherish our small school, family approach that really encourages children to develop nurturing skills and learn how to lead and learn from each other.

Some of the things we have going on this year that help develop children’s social and emotional skills are:

ECO SCHOOL

We were delighted to learn on our return to school in September that we have achieved our Eco Schools Green Flag Award. This was as result of a lot of work from the Eco Council and children across school. Our work on reducing our Carbon Footprint and contributing positively to our school and local community continues to go on this year and we hope to renew and maintain our flag status at the end of the year. Children have recently done some work with Denby Dale Local Parish Council and have helped paint some bird boxes which we will be involved in installing in the spring time in local woods. We also have some work planned next year for making and installing some bat boxes.

FOREST SCHOOL

We are really lucky at Birdsedge to now have Leanne, our Out of School Club Manager trained in Forest School. Since September Leanne has been working more in school to offer Forest School outdoor learning sessions for all age groups and we are really proud of our ‘Forest School Leaders’ leading the way and becoming ambassadors for Outdoor Learning.

COMMUNITY WORK

This year we again hosted a remembrance service in November for our local community. Children led poems and songs and were able to contribute to the Birdsedge Village Memorial with their remembrance crosses. We were also delighted to be joined by and spend time with Reverand Julie and Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire Virginia Lloyd.

PUPIL LEADERS

Like every year, in September we renewed our Pupil Leaders in School. We have School Council who work hard to make sure pupil voice is heard and makes a difference and our House Captains who lead the way in our weekly House Points Competition and projects.

Personal Development at Shelley First School

One of our most important values at Shelley First School is Everyone matters – every child deserves the very best experience in our school. We have introduced lots of new initiatives and roles throughout our school to ensure our children are an intrinsic part of developing our school culture and vision.

House points system

We’re very excited to have introduced a house point system this year with weekly challenges linked to embedding positive learning routines and behaviours. Pupil voice last year told us that pupils felt less calm around school at certain times of day and in specific zones where there is high traffic. Our house point challenges have positively encouraged good routines and behaviours around school and throughout the day which has resulted in our children telling us they feel more visible, safer and calmer in these zones.

Pupil leadership

Classroom cultures

As part of our transition week last July, we spent lots of time getting to know our class mascot animals. We looked at their traits and characteristics both as individuals and as part of a group. This helped us to talk about how we want our class to feel, how we like our class to behave and how we can work together in class groups towards shared targets to help us learn well and thrive.

A successful initiative is our Pupil Leadership roles. Our Head Boy and Girl and their deputies were elected by the whole school at the end of our election week in September. They support the house point challenge reminding children of the challenge and giving out house points to those succeeding. They have worked as a team to raise money for the Poppy Appeal, supported open evenings by giving tours, lead by example in our house challenges and can’t wait to take on more responsibilities as the year progresses. In addition to our head pupils we have restorative Practice leaders, play leaders, reading leaders, health and safety leaders as well as our school council. Pupils at Shelley really do have a role to play in the running of the school and we don’t know what we’d do without them!

Meet our Head Pupil team below:

By being a pupil leader, I want to help out in the school and make it an even better place than it already is.

As Head Boy, I hope I will make the school better and the children will feel heard if they have any suggestions.

I wanted to be Head Girl to represent the school and to show everybody that they can do whatever they put their mind to and they can be whatever they want to be.

Being on the pupil leadership team has given me lots of responsibilities that have made me feel helpful and really proud of myself.

Personal Development at Scissett Middle School

At Scissett Middle School we strive to offer the highest quality of Education to all of our pupils. This extends outside of the classroom and the academic journey which we traditionally link our learning to.

Personal development looks at the development of ‘The whole Child’ and looks to extend their learning experiences outside of the classroom. Personal development is inclusive to all of our pupils and ensures there is an enrichment offer in place which appeals to everyone.

The personal development curriculum, adds that additional layer to the pupil experience at Scissett Middle School and helps pupils to further build on confidence, resilience and skills required to become thoughtful and responsible citizens.

Charity

Understanding that there are people in the world less fortunate than ourselves, and wanting support charitable causes plays a huge part on our personal development program and again, allows pupils the opportunity to think being a caring and compassionate citizen and member of the school community. Our first Charity day was a huge success with our Year 8 pupils raising over £1000 in one day!

This year our chosen charities are:

A message from the Science Department

The Science Ambassadors at SMS are dedicated to the recognition of STEM in everyday school life. We get students interested through clubs and workshops and encourage them to actively participate in STEM related activities. We are planning to host events like science fairs and workshops with themes such as space exploration to apocalyptic scenarios to the secrets of DNA throughout the school year and are also hoping to host assemblies and similar events to reach every pupil at SMS.

As science ambassadors we envision to promote Science in a positive light for all; encourage interest, inspire learning and make fellow pupils aware about other types of science, in which they may not be aware about. Also, we aim to support our peers with science fair projects and support teachers at events, for example open evening. Finally, we help at clubs and help to run them. We would like everyone to feel that Science is interesting and not just a subject.

Written by James, Harry, Caitlin and Juniper .

Year 8.

Clubs

The staff at Scissett Middle School offer a huge array of extra curricular activities and there is something on offer to suit everyone’s taste. Clubs run during lunchtime and after school and are often full to capacity. Pupils often make their true friendships in extra curricular activities, where they meet others with the same interests and form their friendships on a foundation of common interests. Our staff are dedicated to providing these opportunities in their own time which we are extremely grateful for.

Have a look at the clubs on offer;

AUTUMN TERM 2023

LUNCHTIME CLUBS

I love the big think club. We get to discuss so many different topics and crazy ideas, most of which we don’t have the answer to. It is really fun and I love listening to everyone’s theories. Mrs Glencorse is pretty cool too.

I was a member of Student council and will be putting myself forwards again this year. I like being able to share my opinions and have my voice heard. (Sam, Year 8)

I loved the Kingswood trip, especially Raft building when we were able to then dunk the teachers in the swamp. It was my first time away from home as we didn’t go on any residentials in Covid. I was nervous but had the best time and can’t wait to go to France next year (Alex Year 8)

Associate partner – Grange moor Primary

At Grange Moor Primary School, we are committed to nurturing and developing the whole child through a curriculum that aims to ensure every child reaches their full potential emotionally, physically and academically. Our last Ofsted Report from May 2022 recognised that:

“Caring for pupils is at the heart of everything staff do at Grange Moor. Parents recognise this and speak with high praise of how the staff team ‘go over and above’ to support children. Parents are very positive about the supportive ethos that permeates school with comments like ‘every child is treated as an individual, they are encouraged and respected. It is wonderful.’

Across school, weekly PSHE lessons encourage our pupils to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. Whilst we use the Kapow Primary as a base for our lessons, we are always aware of the current issues that are affecting young people and endeavour to address these as and when they arise. Assemblies are held throughout the week, with one allocated to health and well-being and another dedicated to promoting fundamental British Values. Our weekly Awards Assembly, always well-attended by parents, celebrates achievement and recognises pupils that make a positive contribution to the life of the school.

School maintains an excellent relationship with the local church, St. Bartholomew’s, and we regularly welcome Rev. Ian Jones into school for assemblies. This half-term, each class has a timetabled visit to St. Bartholomew’s to enable pupils to have a greater understanding of the church, it’s purpose within the local community and how it supports parishioners. We also have a whole-school service on the last Friday afternoon of each term where parents and members of the wider community are warmly invited. We also recognise the importance for our children that they understand the different faiths that are represented outside of our rural community. Our most recent Faith Awareness Day looked at Diwali and the Sikhism, with further days planned throughout the year for Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.

Expectations of pupil behaviour, attitudes and responsibilities reflect the fundamental British Values. Our pupils have an excellent understanding of right, wrong and fair justice. They are extremely tolerant of others’ backgrounds and beliefs and understand that this extends beyond school and into our modern and diverse country. Whilst these are taught through our PSHE lessons and assemblies, we also seek other opportunities to ensure pupils have a wider understanding. On December 15th 2023, we welcomed the Mayor of Kirklees to talk about his role within the Kirklees community and also work with our school council to understand how decisions are made at a local level. Following on from this, our Local MP, Mark Eastwood, will be visited school on Friday 19th January to take part in our Awards Assembly and then work with each class to explain the work of an MP and the parliamentary process.

Pupils are actively encouraged to contribute to the life of the school and take on responsibility. For example, older children recognise the importance of setting an excellent example to our younger pupils and enjoy helping them at playtimes and lunchtimes. There are a range of different jobs offered to children such as lunchtime and milk monitors through to playground litter-pickers. Pupils are confident to make suggestions to adults to address emerging school issues they see as important.

Our pupils’ physical development is very well promoted in school with PE lessons for R/Y1 and Y5/6 led by specialist PE staff from SPIN (Sporting Partnerships in Newsome), and other children being taught by the PE subject lead. We use the ‘Beyond the Physical’ scheme of work across all year groups, where skills are developed through progressive units of work. Each lesson has an emphasis on practising skills that children will eventually be able to apply to a whole range of different games and sports. Alongside this, our lessons promote co-operation, collaboration, the importance of competing fairly and how to demonstrate sporting behaviour and respect. Throughout the year we also aim to allocate additional curriculum time to PE and School Sport with Y5/6 recently having a golf taster session with a pathway to working with a professional at a local club. In the summer term, Lower Key Stage Two have four PE lessons at Grange Moor Bowling Club with a pathway to represent the club in junior leagues.

Alongside physical development, school provides effective support for our pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. A member of the Senior Leadership Team is a trained mental-health first-aider and we are currently in the second year of working with the Kirklees MHST (Mental Health Support Teams). Several of our children are already receiving or awaiting help through referrals to this service and parents have had access to workshops to support their child’s mental health.

We place a great importance on providing our pupils with opportunities to broaden their interests outside of the school day. We have a long-standing Gymnastics Club that runs twice a week, with children working towards the British Gymnastics core proficiency award scheme. We also have a weekly art club led by a local artist, a newly formed Lego Club and the opportunity to take after-school Karate lessons from January onwards. Last year 60% of our pupils took part in an after-school activity, with the aim to increase this further over the course of the year so that the majority have benefitted from our offer. Pupils in Y2-Y6 all have the opportunity to take part in Young Voices at Sheffield Arena, with this years’ choir being made up of 25 pupils.

Pupils in KS2 attend residential visits every summer. In June 2024, Y3/4 will be staying at YHA Helmsley with a visit focus on geography and fieldwork skills, whilst Y5/6’s visit to the Lake District will enable them to take part in a range of different adventurous activities. Every other year, the whole of KS2 have their residential together, with last summer’s visit taking place at Eyam YHA within the Peak District National Park. We were able to offer a whole range of activities and used the expertise of a local adventure centre to lead activities such as abseiling, climbing, weaselling and hill walking. We also used the Peak District National Park education service to lead activities from the Moorland Discovery Centre on the Longshaw Estate. All our residential visits are well-attended, eagerly anticipated and positively received by pupils and parents alike. They are also a vital part of personal development, encouraging our children to develop their personal responsibility, resilience and independence.

Do you, or know anyone who may, wish to make a valuable contribution to children’s education, opportunities and futures?

The core functions of the role of Trustee is ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding executive leaders to account for the educational and financial performance of a charitable company funded by the public purse.

We have vacancies on our board of trustees for professionals with strong skills and understanding of the education sector, you may currently be in a senior leadership position in the education, or have worked in education in a former role

If you would like to find out more go to Trustee and Governor Recruitment | The Mast Multi Academy Trust or to express and interest email office@themast.co.uk.

The Mast Academy Trust are looking for non-executive directors (Trustees).