Autumn Half Termly Trust Newsletter

What have we been up to?

This half term we have our value AMBITION as our focus….

AMBITION We encourage and support every child, adult and school to aim high to achieve their aspirations

AMBITION in our Central Team…

What does ambition mean to you?

The definition we often get for ‘Ambition’ is a strong desire to achieve whatever goals you set for yourself. It’s that internal spark inside you that compels you to keep putting effort into whatever you're doing.

Ambition, for me, is about continuing to try to be better everyday.

I find the greatest joy visiting our Empower schools as we see ambition in our young people each day. It might be trying to improve handwriting like Gabriel at St Peter’s or the group of children in Early years at Market Drayton who were creating towers outside, seeing how high they could go.

Share an ambition you’ve achieved….

Carla Whelan - CEO

When I was 6 my brother swam his mile badge, I had only just learnt to swim but I wanted a badge too. I jumped in the pool and off I went.

They had to keep the swimming pool open late for me to achieve my badge but I was determined not to stop. My mother recalls my legs buckling as I got out the pool, but my smile was the biggest she had ever seen! I think this was the start of my life motto: be the best version of yourself.

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition to me is about putting time and effort in to achieve the very best I can, making a difference and leaving behind a legacy.

What ambitious things they’ve done this half term?

I have paved the way with the Trust catering team by bringing the complete service in house, encouraging team working with a view to providing the very best in-house catering provision a Trust can have.

All Head cooks are collaborating to choose menus which provide delicious, wholesome meals ensuring nutritional compliance and value for money.

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved... having a career where I feel that I can make a difference.

Tricia Slater - COO

What does ambition mean to you?

When I think about ambition, it represents something much wider than the traditional and sometimes negatively perceived dictionary definition of 'a strong wish to achieve something or a strong wish to be successful, powerful, rich etc'. In my opinion, ambition is so much more and usually has very little to do with success, power and wealth but is more about profound personal fulfillment and achievement that is truly unique to an individual.

For me, ambition embodies discovering dreams and aspirations, hope, courage, motivation and resilience, and is applicable within my personal and professional life. Ambition requires believing in ourselves and having the courage to step out of our comfort zone, figuring out how to achieve our goals with the ability to be flexible and develop alternative routes if Michelle Harrington - People and necessary, harnessing the drive and motivation to want to achieve our Culture Officer and Executive dreams, and summoning the resilience to navigate any obstacles along the Assistant to the CEO way and to keep going even when things get tough.

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved...

A year or so ago, I started a CIPD Level 5 Diploma in People Management. The course was purely online self study and assessment based, and took around 18 months to complete. I was a little apprehensive about studying as most of the theory was around current workplace experience and practice and it wasn't something that was part of my role at that time, however I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and go for it! Part way into the course, an opportunity presented itself to undertake a Level 4 Certificate in Mental Health Aware Leadership and accreditation as a National Educational Leader in Mental Health. The qualification was online, self study with a portfolio assessment, aimed at school leaders, way out of my comfort zone and experience but I decided to also sign up for this one! I have to say, that year was tough going! I was working full time, completing a couple of hours of study most evenings and I lost count of the weekends spent researching, writing and rewriting assignments. Imposter syndrome hit hard at times, but I was focused on my ambition and driven to achieve my goals, navigating and sometimes smashing through those hurdles along the way, with a resilience I didn't even realise I had. Looking back, I have no idea how achieved it, but I am so glad that I pushed myself, sought courage over comfort and achieved more than I could ever have hoped for. I would encourage everyone to dig deep, discover their dreams and go for them!

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition means to me the aspiration of fulfilling a standard that you have set for yourself, by continually striving to achieve that end goal.

What ambitious things they’ve done this half term?

I have enrolled onto the NEBOSH Diploma course.

The compliance/food safety paperwork that I have implemented for the Trust has been quality assured by Environmental Health and has contributed Laura Callingham - Trust to the '5' ratings received by the schools inspected.

Estates Compliance Officer

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition to me is about having an aim. Regardless what the goal is, whether personal or professional, and putting the steps in place to acheive this.

Lucy Copson Trust Administrator

What ambitious things they’ve done this half term?

When I joined the Trust a couple of years ago, I had never worked in the Education sector so all was very new to me. I have worked across a few different areas of the team and feel I have contributed greatly, and feel I have supported the team/schools. I am due to enrol onto a course, that I know very little about.

This will be a challenge, but I have drive to complete this.

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition is what drives you to achieve-the want/determination to achieve something What ambitious things they’ve done this half term?

I have continued to complete all areas of my role this half term, with my aim to just to do the best I can do!

Sian Smith Senior Finance Officer

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition to me is to always provide the best support I can to my colleagues both in Schools and within the Central Team.

Becky Seabury Finance Officer

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition – setting big goals and having determination to get there. It’s not work related but I wanted to overcome my foot injury and run a half marathon. I overcame the foot injury through treatment and rehab, was 100% ready and then injured my calf three days before walking down the stairs….but I taped it up, put on compression socks, took tablets and did it in October!

Anne Tilley - Finance Manager

What AMBITION means to our Heads, our children, parents and our schools…

Early in my career, I decided that I would take an ECB Level 1 Cricket coaching course. Although I like sport, this was completely out of my comfort zone; not only did we have to learn to coach, but we had to learn how to play and demonstrate the various aspects of cricket, from fielding through to batting. I then supported coaching within school and at a local cricket club.

Market Drayton is a Market Town, with a limited transport infrastructure, making travel in and out of the town a challenge. We are very proud of the town, but it is important that we make children aware of how they fit into the wider picture of being a UK and global citizen. 'Reach for the Stars' and 'Passion for learning; skills for life' Sam Scott - Executive Headteacher drive an ambitious curriculum within Market Drayton Infant and Market Drayton Infant Junior School, with the aim of giving the children the ambition to and Junior Schools succeed in life.

My ambition is to have a hobby and be more creative to help with my wellbeing. I am very good at talking and guiding people in how to support their own wellbeing but not very good at supporting my own. Creativity is something that I wasn't not brilliant at at school and to be honest it scares me doing it but I want to try to get better at it. So with a little help I now have a hobby creating pictures. I am currently working on a Stitch diamond art picture for my niece - which I had actually bought her for Christmas initially!

I tell the children in assembly that my ambition by the time I am 50 is to buy a set of drums and learn to play them!

Kerry Simmons - Head of School at Market Drayton Infant In our school ambition is crucial to our curriculum and learning. We have a curriculum driver called 'reach for the stars' and tell all children that they School can achieve whatever they want to achieve and be whoever they want to be and we will help them aspire to this.

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition to me is aiming for a goal that you initially think is out of reach.

It is believing you are capable of great things and having the confidence to go for it even if you think it is too hard.

We have been ambitious in school this half term in setting targets for the year ahead. We know what we want to achieve and we believe we can! A great example of this is the success of our Open Door sessions and our Blue token campaign over Summer in Tesco stores.

Ambition is a key value in schools for children, staff, families and communities. Ambition is what pushes us to better ourselves every day.

When all children and staff are ambitious in their learning, we raise the expectations and success breeds success!

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved…

An ambition I have achieved recently is becoming Headteacher of our Sarah Kynaston - Headteacher wonderful school! I came over on secondment from Market Drayton at St Peters Primary Junior School 3 years ago and fell in love with the staff and families. When School the opportunity to apply for the permanent position came up, I relied on my friends, family and colleagues for support and having that team around me made me believe in myself. I am very grateful to work in such a fabulous school.

Kelly Lee - Acting Headteacher at St Georges Junior School

A im high M indset and motiviation What does ambition mean to you?

B elief and commitment I have created this because this is my personal belief in my own drive to be successful, but also I gnition to succeed in how I believe, as a professional, that T targets to acheive education should enable opportunity for each of these areas and empower ambition for I nspired by others everyone - our young people and our workforce.

O wnership of a goal N ew challenges

What does ambition mean to you?

To me, ambition is all about trying to be the best version of yourself in all that you say and do, all of the time. It's about setting yourself goals and challenges and working towards them. That doesn't mean getting things right all of the time; no-one can do that. It's about making mistakes, learning from them and moving on. As an adult, it is important to model this process to the children, to normalise mistakes and learn from them. Ambition is important because it encourages everyone in our school community to set goals and to work towards them to be better.

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved…

This half term I have completed my NPQH qualification; producing a 2,500 word assignment during the assessment week in September.

Beck Preece Acting Headteacher at Woodfield Infant school

What does ambition mean to you?

To me, ambition is a broad term that can mean a multitude of things because it varies between every individual - people can be ambitious in different ways. However, the common theme is that of goal-setting - having predetermined indicators of success in mind and working towards achieving them.

What ambitious things have you done this half term?

It has been ambitious of me to try to organise a wedding alongside leading a school!

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved…

Returned to boxing very quickly following minor surgery.

Why ambition is important in our schools?

Being ambitious is a good habit to develop. It helps us plan for our future and Neil Davda - Headteacher structure our progress. It is healthy to want to improve in certain areas or have at Greenacres Primary specific targets we are passionate about attaining - these are incredibly useful and often predicate success.

School

What AMBITION means to our Heads, our children, parents and our schools…

What does ambition mean to you? What ambitious things have you done this half term?

A strong desire to do or achieve success. Ambitious activities we have participated in this half-term include: celebrating Roald Dahl day; our Year 6 residential visit to Arthog; celebrating Languages Day; participating in sporting events; inviting members of the community in to participate in our 10th annual MacMillian Coffee afternoon; helping MacDonalds celebrate the opening of their Ecology Nature garden that our children helped to design several years ago. Thank you very much to the children, Mrs Green, Mr Richards, Mrs Harrison and Mrs Parsons who organised and ran the coffee afternoon for the school.

Why ambition is important in our schools?

Ambition is important to our school as it allows us to inspire children to achieve their very best and realise they have the potential to shine if they try. It allows children the opportunity to experience activities and events they would not be exposed to.

Sally Brayne - Head of School at Market Drayton Junior School

What does ambition mean to you?

Ambition is about aspirations. The aspiration to achieve a personal goal and the motivation to continue to strive towards new goals and new successes.

Please share an ambition you’ve achieved…

It had been my ambition for some time to walk the West Highland Way, 96 Miles from Milngavie to Fort William. I finally achieved this ambition in April this year.

Karen Matthews Headteacher at The Wilfred Owen School

What does ambition mean to you?

For me, ambition is the motivation to succeed. Being relentless until you achieve your goals.

What ambitious things have you done this half term?

Outside of school, I have conquered riding my horse in extreme weathers and jumped over small obstacles when hacking out.

Inside of school, I have seen a need for a therapy dog in school to help children manage their emotions and deal with social situations. I have communicated the benefits with parents, governors, and children to allow their views to be heard. I want to ensure all stakeholder’s viewpoints have been heard and any fears alleviated to ensure the success of the project.

Why Ambition is important in our schools?

For St Mary’s it is linked to desires and determination to achieve through the Bible passage in Matthew 6:33 ‘Seek the Kingdom of God… and he will give you everything you need.’ It is creating a school environment full of teachers who care about giving all children the change to shine.

Sarah North Headteacher at St Mary’s Primary school

In our school our value is Aspiration and we linked this to the Guiness Book of records - there are a lot of sporting children in our school. Some wanting to play in the Rugby World Cup, a footballer, a basketball player and a gymnast. We have a child wanting to learn how to juggle after Mrs Scott showing them her juggling skills and another child destined to be a singer.

In Triangle Class we are aspiring to be builders and architects, designing and making all types of houses!

Jesse is being incredibly aspirational - He is practising his maths learning and writing at home EVERY night and sharing it with the class.

His confidence is growing every day!

Evie went home and wrote her favourite story linked to mental health week about Ruby exploring far away places and worries.

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Ambition in action…

Climbing towards a goal...

Children from St George’s Junior School

What AMBITION means to our Heads, our children, parents and our schools…

The children were very clear that they thought ambition meant a strong desire to do or achieve something.

Some of them had a strong desire to learn their times tables and achieve their gold star; while others were trying to master their handwriting skills to gain their pen licence. Others wanted to play for the school sports teams and win the Kevin Mann long distance race.

They have some impressive ambitions for their future, including: a vet; a professional athlete who plays for club and country; a Royal Navy weapons engineer; a railway engineer; a palaeontologist; a mathematics professor; a wildlife photographer; a professional artist and one wants to become Prime Minister.

70 of Year 6 pupils descended on the Arthog Outdoor Learning Centre in West Wales recently. After being in fine voice on the coaches, they soon got into the outdoor spirit through a range of challenging team building exercises including orienteering and a night time obstacle course.

During the week, all groups experienced a range of activities led by the superb instructors at Arthog.

Gorge walking was a favourite challenge of many and an excellent opportunity to work with others, supporting them through any fears or uncertainties.

Climbing, canoeing and hill walking were other fantastic opportunities to build confidence and resilience. The weather was extremely interesting at times but no weather dampened our spirits… even with 50mph winds!

Many thanks to parents for supporting this trip and to staff for giving up time with their own families to ensure our pupils can take part in these vital character building activities. We would also like to thank the children for representing our school so well and pushing themselves to spend time away from home.

Children from Market Drayton Junior School What does ambition mean to me?

'Ambition means you keep on trying and never give up.'- Sierra Parry

“Working together to achieve a dream or goal. To accomplish a thought that you want to achieve” By Ella and Emily

“Ambition is aiming to do something big or small and believing that you can do it.”

- BJ “Ambition is something that you want to do and believing that you can achieve it. So, you can believe, achieve, and flourish.” – LC 'Ambition means trying hard and working independently.'- Darcie France "Is to put hard work in and then achieve your goals- If i work hard at football I can win the game and hopefully score a goal!"

Ruby Holliday 4L " It is to never give up so you can achieve things.. like I do at gymnastics so I can get another 3 medals" Lucy Franklin 4L "ambition is having a goal and working hard to achieve it. I want to go up a stage in swimming so I am working hard at this now" Alice Berry Y4

Children from St Peter’s Primary School

Our Year 5/6 football team played in the Central League Football tournament at Shrewsbury School on Thursday 7th October. They won 3 and drawing 1of the 4 group games meant they topped the group and headed to the knockout phase. After 3 more fantastic wins the team were crowned champions against Meole Brace Primary in a very tense final!

Congratulations to Tyler, Jaycob, Alfie, Harry, Riley, Benny, Ava, Casey, Harvey and Jayden.

Casey said "I felt passionate after winning the tournament especially after it was my first time winning and I scored a goal!"

Ava said "At the beginning I felt nervous but by the end I was on top of the world and felt so excited."

Harry said "I was worried I would be nervous but after we won it was amazing as it was the first time, I had won a tournament with school I hope we can win again as it was a brilliant experience."

A group of children from Year 4 class have been attending swimming lessons this term to improve their confidence and swimming skills in the water.

Amelia-Ann. F-W said "Started with teachers help and progressed by swimming without adult help. Achieved a 5m certificate” Skyla-Rose. H said "I started with teachers help and by the end I swam independently without any adults"

Year 5 class (Now Year 6) attended a 'Dance Festival' at Shrewsbury Academy with other primary schools in the area. The class performed a dance routine on stage to the other primary schools.

Ava. B said "We were at Shrewsbury Academy where there were other schools that learned a dance too! We had fun but it was quite scary as we were first to go on stage, but we remembered our dance very well and we had such a great time!"

Children from The Wilfred Owen School

For Rory - it is his journey to being part of the national gymnastics stage. Currently, Rory is currently competing at Elite level.

For Oscar - it is to achieve his black belt in Kick boxing. He is currently one belt off.

Children from St Mary’s Primary School

What AMBITION means to our Heads, our children, parents and our schools…

For me, ambition means a desire and determination to achieve something significant. It means believing that you have the potential to achieve great things despite any barriers in your way and refusing to accept second best. It means taking ownership of your future and fully embracing all opportunities you are presented with. It means refusing to accept any narrative that you’re not good enough, that you can’t do what you want to do and that there’s no point even trying.

I think I showed ambition when I applied to study at Cambridge University. No-one in my immediate family had been to university before. Quite a few people I spoke to expressed surprise at this ambition and, I think, wondered about my chances of success given my state school background. It wasn’t that I thought I was better than anyone else, not even that I thought Cambridge University was better than others. The course I wanted to study was quite niche, and only a few universities offered it, Cambridge being one of them. It’s now 21 years since I graduated and I’m really glad that, all those years ago, I decided to aim high, work hard and see what I could do. I’d encourage others to do the same.

Peter Williams - Parent at Market Drayton Infants School

Ambition as a parent is ensuring my child receives the support and encouragement as she engages with new steps in her education and as parents we can do our best to be her voice when she doesn’t have the ability (through confidence) to do so.

Ensuring all achievements are valued and celebrated, but also when anything doesn’t go to plan, lessons can be learnt from and therefore she can strive for the best without feeling any negative impact on her self-esteem.

Laurie Johnson - Parent at Market Drayton Infants School

Ambition as a parent is ensuring my child receives the support and encouragement as she engages with new steps in her education and as parents we can do our best to be her voice when she doesn’t have the ability (through confidence) to do so.

Ensuring all achievements are valued and celebrated, but also when anything doesn’t go to plan, lessons can be learnt from and therefore she can strive for the best without feeling any negative impact on her self-esteem.

A Parent at Market Drayton Junior School

For me, having ambition is striving to be the very best version of me that I can be, as a person, a mum and an employee, and having the drive and determination to live out my dreams, no matter how hard it is to achieve them.

As a teenager finishing school with only GCSE's, I went into full time employment and only ever dreamed of going to university. (It was honestly something I never ever thought I would get the chance to do.) Over twenty years after leaving school, my ambition to achieve a degree had never gone away and following two years of hard work, lots (and lots) of reading and even more writing, I graduated university with a First class honours degree. Achieving this drove my desire to be even more ambitious and after another two years of sheer grit, determination and even more hard work, this summer I graduated again after completing my Master's degree. There were times that I could have quite easily given up and walked away, as it was by far the hardest thing I have ever done but, my ambition to succeed, whilst still working full time and being a mum as well, gave me the drive and determination to keep moving forward and reach my end goal. Completing university and graduating from both of these courses gave me the qualifications, confidence, and drove my ambition to apply for a more senior position within my chosen career path. I also hope that sharing my ambitions and achievements with Faye, will role model positive behaviours and outcomes, and help her to realise that she too can achieve her dreams and anything else she sets her mind on.

Mrs Newby - Parent at St Mary’s Primary School

What AMBITION means to our Chair of Trustees and Chair of Governors What does ambition mean to you?

A desire to achieve results and outcomes in my professional and personal life that materially improve the quality of life of the people affected by my actions Specifically this year, in another of my Non Exec roles, I am Chair of a bus business. The challenge of climate change is driving an urgent need to make all transport more sustainable as we drive towards net zero! We have put in place ambitious plans to transform our fleet of buses from diesel, to electric over the next few years with the financial and operational challenges that presents. I will be asking Carla and the team to ensure that we have similarly ambitious plans to cut our carbon footprint at all our Empower schools and that our curriculum reflects the importance of education in achieving our wider environmental goals!

Paul Bunting Chair of Trustees

What does ambition mean to you?

I have dreams which turn into ideas that can sometimes turn into reality.

So, I suppose I could share a dream that did manage to turn into reality ….

It would have to be the development of the house we now live in. This is our final family home and I have used the skills from my long career as a D&T teacher (along with the time afforded from retirement) to create a home which matches original dreams and ideas.

Robin Walker Chair of Governors at Woodfield Infant School and St Georges Junior School