Trust Update SSLT CEO in APPOINTED TOand RSC ADVISORY BOARD Students Years 9, 10 11HEADTEACHER had the privilege of attending a careers fair, here in school, where 30 employers and further education providers exhibited on Thursday 7th October, 2021. The event was designed to allow students to seek information from the various employers and Current Chief their Executive Officer (CEO) headteacher, Sarah is interviewed about her newofposition working with East colleges SSLT regarding organisations, theand jobsformer they seek to employ, the Skinner, qualifications needed and the level job satisfaction that the might beofon England and North-East London Advisory offer, should they choose to peruse that Board. pathway.
What exactly is the role that you are youcareers explain it toinus? It fantastic to be ablejob to open our doors andtaking createon? faceCan to face event school. The benefit of face to face conversations and information gathering was a huge benefit to our students. The interactions and questioning they were able to engage with, was priceless. The Head and Teacher Advisory board a groupabout of CEOs Academy Heads who meet the Regional Schools Commissioner to determine the Students exhibitors were veryispositive theorevent and both gained muchwith from those interactions.
applications that come in from schools and Academies that either wish to become an Academy or wish to join a Multi-Academy Trust. It determines who is allowed to turn a Local Authority School to an at Academy. All the employers whofrom attended stated that the students Colchester Academy were wonderful; they said they asked some very intuitive
questions, were not afraid to ask challenging questions and sort as much information as they could, to help them make informed decisions It is a collaborative group, it is not paid and you have to be voted in. A number of people stood for election and each Academy Head got a vote. I was about their futures. Students represented the school brilliantly and made us all very proud. lucky enough to be one of the four people that got voted in. It was a privilege to create and host such an event, next year we hope to make it even bigger! It was a proud moment to see the high level of When you’re heading up a group of five schools with 3,600 children and 500 staff, you have to take your place and do something outside of your own engagement in the activities. Well done to all our students, we hope the information you gathered will inspire you to aim high and seek to be the front door and be responsible. best that you can be. I have induction training coming up in June and then the role starts from September. Mrs Ross Assistant Principal
What did you have to do to get here?
In order to earn a chance at the position, you had to write an application explaining a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do and what you stand for. That profile got sent out on a ballot paper to each Academy Head, who read them all and decided who they wanted to elect.
What previous experience have you had to prepare you for roles like this? I have done 11 years of Headship and five years as a CEO. You learn to look at information, analyse it and try to make a determination about what’s in the best interest of schools. You look at finances and you look at the viability of Trusts, in order to assemble an informed decision on the application each school puts in.
Realise your Potential with Make Happen What kind of role will you play in supporting schools like ours?
In this role I do not go out and support schools directly. It is quite literally an admin role to read paperwork around growth, but as a CEO, my responsibility is to work with Mrs Betts, Colchester Academy Principal, and the other Headteachers in our Trust, in an attempt to make sure you have the resources, facilities and teachers to bring about the best outcomes. Ultimately, I have responsibility to the Board for all five schools.
What opportunities will this open up for Colchester Academy and other schools in Essex? What does this mean for us?
Bake Sale
It will raise the profile of our Trust in the wider arena. I think the training I will do as part of the Committee will assist future applications we may make if we were to The Year 10 students in CoPE have been focusing on working with others want to expand.
this half term. The students have done lots of tasks and had lots of about working as ainteam and what team work looks Idiscussions will be working with other CEOs which there willgood be new opportunities forlike. growth to be had from working with colleagues. I think there will be lots to learn from both being part of the Committee and, ultimately, working One of theaschallenges asked of the students was to ‘work withalongside others to peers. help raise money for a good cause’. The students spent the last 6 weeks
planning, organising and researching how they were going to run the event How will your job to affect andSarah, teachers? What change it bring? and which charity raisestudents money for. Hannah and Alfie will did this with minimal input from the teacher and they came up with all the ideas It will have an impact on the bigger picture of Academisation in the East of themselves. The Bake Sale was a huge success and we must also say thank England, so it won’t specifically change anything for Colchester Academy, but it you to some Year 7 and Year 11 students who baked some treats for the will be about what the prime profile of education looks like for Academies in the Bake Sale. The 3 students raised over £114 for BBC Children in Need. Well East of England. done. What qualities do you think you will bring to this job role? IMiss thinkFosker that I will bring commitment, experience, honesty, a sense of humour and a kind of pragmatic Teacher of COPE approach to things. We can all have dreams and we can “all want this” and we can “all want that” - and it’s great to aim for things – but sometimes you have to have a pragmatic approach to where you are going to start before you can get there. I believe in configuring the end goal, but more specifically, the steps we need in order to get there.
And finally, what do you hope to achieve in taking on this new role? I hope to achieve a better understanding that will help inform my role for our schools, as well as stronger relationships with other Trusts and a wider perspective on their behaviours, which will make me more aware of what I want for our children and our schools. So, I think I will gain more of an insight into matters that I wouldn’t be able to access previously. Article and interview by Layla Armstrong, Year 11 Colchester Academy
