The Marches Academy Trust | Winter Newsletter 2021

TRUST NEWSLETTER Issue 18

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A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO Christmas is joy, religious joy, an inner joy of light and peace.

Pope Francis.

Dear parents, carers, staff and valued community members, Autumn term had a joyous beginning with staff, children, young people and parents being glad to get back to some kind of normality. Everyone has worked hard to ensure that all children and young people are having opportunities to experience active learning, being able to socialise with friends and engage in enrichment events. Our family of schools are working together to support one another so that we remain strong and vibrant in what continues to be challenging circumstances.

I would like to thank you all, particularly the Headteachers and their staff as they have gone above and beyond to keep their children and young people in school. Absences of staff, children and young people have reached unprecedented levels with many people testing positive for Covid as well as the normal winter illnesses that circulate at this time of year. Staff in schools have valiantly kept their spirits high and many parents have passed on their thanks as they have seen how hard people are working over the last few weeks of this term.

You will see in the newsletter that our family of schools are not doing the bare minimum but that they continue to find new ways to innovate, enthuse and engage our learners. I know that many schools in the Midlands have had to return to virtual lessons due to high absence rates. We will continue to work with you to do all that we can to keep our schools safe.

I was recently in the House of Lords where our Trust was commended by Baroness Barran for our partnership work with Shrewsbury School in the areas of Maths, Careers and Sixth Form. This again demonstrates the Trust’s determination to make the most of opportunities locally, nationally and internationally in order to give our communities great experiences.

Over the Christmas break I hope that you have the chance to see family and friends and enjoy time together. In these times it is the simple things that keep our spirits high. We will get through this period stronger, as we continue to collaborate and consider how school and learning could work in the future.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Sarah Finch CEO, The Marches Academy Trust

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MARCHES ACADEMY TRUST VISION & VALUES

We believe: Successful creative lifelong learners participate in a journey of self discovery.

They know how to learn, acquire skills and feel safe to take risks with confidence and courage.

TOGETHER WE GROW PODCAST This year Sarah Finch, CEO started the ‘Together We Grow’ Podcast where she chats to professionals, policy makers, staff, students and celebrities about the power of education and how we shape the future. So far, Sarah has spoken to some incredible individuals during her thought provoking series of podcasts. You can listen by searching Together We Grow on Spotify or Apple/iTunes.

Current episodes include: The Future of Education with Mick Waters The Vision of Education with BBC’s Branwen Jeffreys Improving Opportunities for Special Needs Students with Dr. Ellis Crasnow Encouraging a passion and talent with Dr. Sam Collins Lifting young women out of poverty through education, with Dr. Zareen Roohi Ahmed Life after education with Robert Forrester A student’s perspective on education with Lucy Craig (Sir John Talbot’s School)

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF TRUSTEES We have reached that time of year when traditionally we look back on everything that's happened and think about the future - but what a year it has been.

We are all still coming to terms with the impact of the pandemic and trying to understand and address the long-term effects it has had across our school communities. There is much we can be grateful for in how we have been able to support each other over this time, and we have seen many benefits from being able to tackle the challenges of the pandemic together as part of a larger community of schools within the Trust.

But there is still a long way to go, and the pressures which come from operating in the face of Covid look set to continue in the months ahead, which is why we must put wellbeing at the centre of our thinking and planning for all children, young people and staff across our Trust. We need to ensure that we are looking for the best ways to support everyone in their personal, educational and professional lives, so that we can emerge from this period stronger and happier, having learned as much as we can from such a difficult time.

We should be very proud of the way we have helped each other through the last year and I am confident that by listening and appreciating the wellbeing needs of our communities, we will become more resilient and better-equipped for whatever challenges the future has in store for us.

I wish you all the best for the festive season, and let's all hope and work for a happier New Year!

Alex Fry Member and Chair of the Board of Trustees, The Marches Academy Trust

TRUST MEMBERS & TRUSTEES The Marches Academy Trust is governed by the Board of Trustees.

Trustees are appointed by the members.

Members

Anna Burgess

Robert Forrester

David Griffiths

Arthur Walpole The Church of England Central Education Trust

Trustees

Alex Fry Chair

Catherine Bennett Vice Chair

Stuart Cowper

Pam Edwards

Sarah Finch CEO

Mark Liquorish

Angela Cattermole

Arthur Walpole

ALLIANCE OF LEADING LEARNING

Celebrating how The Marches Academy Trust spots, nurtures and develops the professional journey for our staff.

The Marches Academy Trust invests in the talent pathway, to ensure staff have a clear sense of purpose, an appreciation of their unique contribution and a strong sense of belonging, recognising that the Trust exists to deliver the highest standards of education.

Our Talent Pathway enables staff to identify the standards of excellence that pertain to their role and the professional development they have had to support the next steps on their professional learning journey.

LEADINGLEARNING.CO.UK |

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SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING Tracy Whelan, Assistant Headteacher - Teaching & Learning, The Marches School The Marches School | Focus on developing staff skills of reflection Our aim for the school of the future (staff): We want to empower our staff to be reflective learners who actively develop their own and others practice. As a team we believe that, through role modelling reflective practice, we can successfully nurture and embed these skills in students.

How we are developing this aim in practice through continued professional development: During our October PD Day, Directors submitted plans for the schedule of the day with a view that the time would be used effectively to further improve and move forward teacher subject knowledge and pedagogy.

All departments used the day productively with a wide range of activities taking place. In Maths and MFL prominent external visitors joined the teams to help develop exciting approaches to classroom delivery and pedagogy. The Humanities staff went out and about in the local area to source ideas for trips and visits to bring the curriculum to life and enhance classroom-based practice post-Covid. In English there was a focus on developing academic reading whilst the Creative Arts staff collaborated to produce a wide range of ‘how to’ videos to support specialist teaching. These included screen printing and the use of digital media. Science looked at the possibility of an Entry Level certificate being introduced to enhance the curriculum for nurture groups. Performing Arts and PE worked to realise ambitious plans for the school production, practical activities and the curriculum intent through a series of workshops aimed at upskilling staff.

Staffs’ evaluations of the day have been hugely positive and the impact is being seen across the curriculum: “Helped to give fresh delivery ideas for Maths - some of which I have already implemented today!"

“It was so refreshing to be able to clearly align our priorities, assess any subject knowledge gaps and difficulties.”

“A far deeper knowledge of local history; ideas how to incorporate History trips into the department; cross curricular ideas for enrichment activities; ideas around how to better use learning journeys in lessons.”

“A focus on improving the KS3 schemes of works by utilising the library as a resource, and experience of marking and moderating Year 10 mock exams."

SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING Cat Jones, Deputy Headteacher, Woodlands School Woodlands School | Community Links Every visitor to Woodlands School reminds us how grateful we are to work and learn in such a beautiful environment, with nature and wildlife in abundance.

We are especially fortunate to have many links with the community who often surprise us with their generosity.

Recently, through our Catering Teacher Debbie Jones, we managed to acquire a brace of pheasant to use as part of the catering course.

Year 11 Catering student Callum Robinson skilfully removed the breasts from two pheasants in preparation for his Catering examination. He plans to make pheasant goujons served with herby potato wedges, homemade coleslaw and a side salad. This is a first for Woodlands School but we are hopeful that this level of gourmet cuisine continues over the coming months.

SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING Samantha Hill, Head of School, Oakmeadow CE Primary School Oakmeadow CE Primary School | Refugee Shoebox Appeal As part of topic work on learning about the geography of Europe, Year 6 have been looking at the social make up of Europe, in particular the prominent refugee crisis under the title of ‘the same but different’. The children have been learning about our school curriculum drivers of community, culture and diversity and the range of people who make up the continent in which we live. We wanted to empathise with what causes people to flee their homes and to understand the tribulations they face along the way for survival. As part of this, we decided that we could help by contributing to the annual ‘Operation Christmas Child’ shoebox appeal run by Samaritan’s Purse, this year appropriately called ‘shoebox for refugees’.

Our fundraising was simple: run the distance cumulatively as a year group to Greece from Shrewsbury: 2157 miles by Christmas. Why Greece? This is one of the main countries that refugees make their way to across the Mediterranean as they are escaping their homelands and before they begin their journey further into Europe.

We were keen to involve all children in the buying process, and so took the children to the shops each armed with a list and £10 to spend. All children packed their boxes, attached the gender and age label and then wrote a note for the recipient to learn about us and where the box had come from. We then took down 32 boxes to Kwik-Fit to complete the operation!

This was a hugely worthwhile project to take part in which really made our learning come alive.

The children were a credit to the school, and all had lots of fun in the process.

SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING Zillah Cope, Headteacher, Longlands Primary School Longlands Primary School | Practical Investigations Some of the children have been investigating how the height of asteroid impact may have affected the width of a crater by dropping ‘asteroids’ (a pebble) from different heights then measuring the width of the crater.

Lesson feedback from the children was fantastic, with them commenting: I can’t wait to do this.

It is so exciting.

Pupil

I love Science, it is my favourite subject I am excited to do this.

Pupil Furthermore, as part of our push on learning in the outdoors, our Year 3 Class worked with Stuart Cowper on catching and ringing birds. During the workshop the pupils gained an understanding about the importance of counting and tracking various species of birds and the impact of climate and environment on numbers and behaviour.

PRIMARY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY UPDATE George Hounsell | Director of Primary Sport & Community

Increasing the PESSPA (Physical Education, School Sport & Physical Activity) opportunities within our primary schools in The Marches Academy Trust.

Since our pupils returned in September, our primary physical education staff members have been working closely to mirror physical activity opportunities to ensure children in all Trust primary schools receive the same sporting chances. During the past four months, our primary schools have welcomed various sporting charities and providers into school. These have included Chance 2 Shine, Shrewsbury Town in the Community, Bikeability Shropshire and Zerobounds.

Members of The Marches Academy Trust primary physical education team recently attended the Shropshire Football Association Grassroots Awards and proudly won their category of ‘Grassroots Project of the Year 2021’. Our Trust is starting to receive regional and national coverage for the PESSPA offer we are providing to our pupils. Because of this, we have recently secured funding for Tilstock CE Primary School and The Grange Primary School to participate in the national pilot ‘Creating Active Schools Framework’ in partnership with local active school’s organisation Engerize STW. This is just one key example of how our schools are receiving opportunities to help increase the offer in schools.

Statistics of physical education and physical activity opportunities since September 2021:

%

of pupils within our Trust primary schools have participated in at least one sporting opportunity. sporting organisations have visited our Trust primary schools. primary pupils have taken part in sporting competitions.

£

funding to help support our primary school’s physical education offer.

Follow the Trust primary physical education team on Twitter @MMATPrimaryPE

STUDENT WELLBEING UPDATE George Hounsell | Director of Primary Sport & Community Across the country, you will not find many social farms in educational settings. The Marches Academy Trust are proud to have three social farms within our schools, that are based at Longlands Primary School, The Grange Primary School and Woodlands School.

Over the past 6 months, staff and volunteers from these schools have started working together closely to lend additional support to help increase the animal capacity at these sites. A recent example is this month (December), Longlands staff have been supporting Woodlands School with introducing three goats to their outdoor learning area. In total within The Marches Academy Trust, we have to date 52 animals that include chickens, goats and snakes!

A lot of visitors from outside the Trust are interested in learning the benefits of the social farms. During the pandemic, staff at our three social farm sites have seen the positive impact that our outdoor learning environments have had on our children and staff. When children interact with animals, they build the all-important senses of connection, empathy and caring. These are all vital on a day-to-day basis but even more so during the pandemic. We also explain to lots of visitors from outside of The Marches Academy Trust that our animals benefit our staff massively. Animals can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness that can all support staff during their breaks, lunches and after school.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES UPDATE Amy Chevin-Dooley | Deputy Headteacher for Safeguarding, LAC & SEND Lead In order to support children with special educational needs, the SEN Code of Practice (2015) outlines the need to follow a cycle of assess, plan, do, review (APDR), and we follow this process in all our schools for children on the SEND register. As a society, we do this all of the time: we assess what, in any situation, went well, and what could have been improved; we plan to repeat successful plans or adopt alternative strategies where previous plans were less successful; we implement the planned strategy; we then review, either immediately, or with time, the impact and outcomes… did we achieve the desired expectations? As a Trust, we model this in the ways we work together.

This year, all SENDCos across our Trust have collaborated in network meetings to improve the outcomes for all children with SEND, and for children who may benefit from targeted support in the future: there has been co-production of referrals and processes in the primary meetings; collective work has been completed among secondaries to produce screening tools; best practice has been shared across all settings to bring in cost-effective models of intervention and support including the purchase of IDL to support learners with dyslexic profiles, visual aids and speech and language services; some schools have introduced the SnapB screening tool to help devise support plans for children with social, emotional and mental health concerns; the roll out of MAPA® training has been completed in primary settings, soon to move into secondary settings, as a de-escalation and intervention strategy – and these collaborative approaches continue to move into the new calendar year.

As a Trust, we are stronger together. With ten schools, the skillset of our Trust colleagues spans across all key stages (Early Years to Key Stage 5) and extends to specialist provision – we pull on the strengths of each other to serve the thousands of children and young people in our Trust. We have exciting plans for the development of SEND provision within our Trust and so with an already extensive knowledge base in our SENDCos and their teams of access leaders and teaching assistants, the future is bright for our learners within The Marches Academy Trust.

AN ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH CARING UPDATE Gareth Bridges | Chief Financial & Operating Officer, The Marches Academy Trust Trust Development During this term, life in our schools has returned to something approaching normality following the significant covid disruption of the past 18 months. Reflecting on this period, we have learnt a whole new language and managed issues that we would never have imagined a short while ago.

Throughout this time the strength of collaboration across the Trust has come to the fore.

Examples of this include our schools sharing practice and experience in manging the health and safety and operational implications of Covid. We have often come together to develop our internal control systems and reporting methods to ensure we keep all members of our communities as safe as possible. I know this collaboration has brought our schools even closer together as a selfsupporting network.

Despite the disruption over the last 18 months we have continued to move forwards with developments across our Trust – we welcomed Oakmeadow CE Primary School and Woodlands School to the Trust, developed new building projects in a number of our schools and commenced an IT infrastructure improvement project.

In all of our actions and decisions though the pandemic, we have continued to hold true to the vision and values of the Trust. Finding creative solutions to the obstacles we face and ensuring equality of opportunity to all, through the distribution of free school meal vouchers, provision of devices to enable all staff and students to access remote education and supporting our staff team with Covid testing and risk management protocols.

We do not know what the future holds for us this coming year, but we can head into the Christmas break with the knowledge that the experiences of the past 18 months demonstrate that our school communities have the resilience and flexibility to take on whatever challenge may face us, we are truly stronger together.

TILSTOCK CE PRIMARY SCHOOL Rowena Kaminski | Head of School Tilstock's Local Community Heroes!

Church: We are so privileged to be situated a few minutes walk from the beautiful Christ Church.

As a Church of England Primary School, we have been so grateful to the church and Reverend Armstrong for the continued support, nurture and enrichment that they provide our school with, and the special link to our community. In October, we were so pleased to have finally been able to plan and take part in our church Harvest Festival. Harvest Festival reminds our children and community of all the good things God gives them, and to be thankful. We learnt about what harvest means around the world and in our local community. This made our children want to share with others who are not so fortunate. Our children collected and donated food to our local foodbank and walked proudly with their offerings to church. There was something very special about being together and singing together in such a beautiful church – our church. On Remembrance Day, I led every child to the Tilstock War Memorial to remember our soldiers, past and present. There, we were greeted by local veterans, community members and Reverend Sue Armstrong, who led the service with readings and prayer. The children then listened to The Last Post, which was played beautifully by a local Tilstock resident. We held a 2-minute silence, before listening to the names of soldiers, from Tilstock, who served during WW1 and WW2. Each class placed a poppy wreath on the war memorial and said a prayer. The children made us incredibly proud. They were impeccably well behaved and showed such respect and responsibility. These special events are a reminder of something particularly special. The church serves as a vital link to our community and one that is cherished through times of celebration, times of need and times of remembrance.

Using our environment in partnership with Shropshire Wildlife Trust: Tilstock was lucky enough to secure a year-long project with Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Nature Friendly Schools has empowered our teachers to deliver outdoor classes independently, helping them overcome barriers that made it challenging to head outside to teach. Ellie from SWT has worked closely with staff and pupils, delivering onsite professional development, as well as taking our staff meeting to Whixall Moss to show how our beautiful Shropshire countryside can be an engaging and purposeful learning environment. Ellie has helped us to make the most of limited outside space, managing behaviour outdoors and helping teachers measure learning outside of a conventional classroom. SWT have installed a sail on the field, where we can enjoy outdoor activities, under cover. The most memorable experience was this term, when Ellie and the staff planted a tree on our school field with our youngest children in Bumblebee Class. This was a symbol of hope and to illustrate how our staff will work with each child to help them grow.

Enrichment with local ‘music-heroes’ in our community: At Tilstock we feel it is vital that our children receive as many opportunities to enrich their learning experiences as possible. Aside from the obvious addition to a child’s skill-base, learning to play a musical instrument teaches our children perseverance, patience and responsibility. However, private music tuition outside of school can be difficult for parents to access, often having to travel miles away from home and trying to fit in around school and working hours. So, at the end of last term we invited ‘Music Heroes’ into our school - a local band of professional music tutors. They perform locally and recently hosted the ‘Young Musicians Competition’ at The Buttermarket in Shrewsbury, to showcase local talent. At the beginning of term, they played as a live-band and talked in depth about the instruments they play with such skill and passion. The children were in awe of them and this reaction to music spurred us on even more to want to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument if they would like to. Now we have a large number of our pupils learning the piano, drums, guitar and even the ukulele. Who knows, we may even start a band!

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LOWER HEATH CE PRIMARY SCHOOL Deborah Sadler | Headteacher This term, the pupils and staff at Lower Heath CE Primary School have been incredibly grateful to be returning to some form of normality, and to be re-connecting with the community which we value so much.

In the first half of the term, we enjoyed returning to Fauls Church for our first service in almost two years, as we celebrated harvest-time. This was a fantastic opportunity for us all to give thanks for all of the food we have, and to help those less fortunate by making valuable contributions to the local food bank. We were overwhelmed by the support from our families! For our churchschool community, harvest is such an important time of thankfulness and reflection. Following the church service, the children made their way to the church hall where Fauls PCC had kindly provided a harvest tea for everyone. Again, this reminded us how lucky we are to be part of such a close-knit community, and how pleased we are to be able to share special times of the year with that community.

More recently, the Lower Heath pupils took part in a reflective service to mark Remembrance Day. The children had prepared for the day by making poppies, which were displayed around school and also at Fauls Church. During the service, staff shared readings with the children, Reverend Armstrong led our prayers, and all of the children marked the two-minute silence in a respectful way. Following our service, our two eldest school council representatives joined Reverend Armstrong to lay a wreath at our memorial statue.

Returning to events with and for the community has been a priority this term, and the whole school enjoyed a ‘Hello Yellow’ day in October to mark World Mental Health Day, in support of the charity Young Minds. In connection with this, we enjoyed a visit from author Sarah Griffiths, who came to share her latest book 'When the Fireflies Came' and to talk to the children about her life as an author. This particular book aims to support children in managing emotions, sharing worries, having hope, developing self-awareness and maintaining balance in a world which is always changing. This advice was so timely, but also communicated to the children in such an engaging and age-appropriate way. We are very grateful to Sarah for taking the time to visit.

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LONGLANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL Zillah Cope | Headteacher It has been a great term here at Longlands Primary School. The children and parents love the new Buzz the bee uniform which has really helped to raise the profile of the school and impacted positively on children’s behaviour and pride in their appearance and sense of belonging. The pupils have fully embraced and are demonstrating our three new behavioural expectations and staff are loving the stripped back simplicity and can see the impact it is having on the way children conduct themselves, articulate and apply the expectations in their daily lives in school.

We have been focusing on being ‘confident communicators’ this term and each class is in the process of drawing up a discussion charter (set of agreed guidelines) and having lots of fun opportunities for structured talk and discussion. There are lots of exciting things coming up where the children can practise these important skills including poetry performance competitions, a Trust debating competition, and a visit from Jake Evans, the storyteller, will give all the children the opportunity to tell their own stories.

The children are becoming super artists and in a recent survey said that Art was one of their favourite subjects as well as PE, Science and Maths.

We have had some interesting visitors this term including Anna Jackson who was part of the Great Britain women’s wheelchair basketball team, Stuart Cowper from Shrewsbury School who did some bird ringing with our Year 3 class and the vets from The Nantwich Vets who brought in lots of equipment and helped the children in EYFS tend to and bandage their ‘sick animals.’

We have been out and about in the community with our choir singing at the Ginger and Spice Festival and Festival of Lights in Market Drayton and received some excellent feedback. We also had a wonderful open event on our social farm and eco-garden that drew in a large crowd from across the whole of Market Drayton.

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OAKMEADOW CE PRIMARY SCHOOL Samantha Hill | Head of School As we near the end of our first term of this academic year, it is a time to reflect on the wonderful opportunities our children have had and how special it has been to be able to come together again in ways which we have not experienced for the past two years.

We have very much enjoyed the events we have been able to hold this term. In September, we held a welcome back event linked with Bayston Hill Big Green Week – our Eco Fair. Through our links with the Parish Council and the Big Green Week committee we were able to have several stalls on site from local businesses to promote the importance of caring for our environment. The Shropshire Cycle Hub, Go Green, Carbon Zero Shropshire, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, The Food Hub, the Sunshine Therapy Pony and Master Composters all visited as well as the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre who came to do an informative talk for the public. We were very pleased to welcome the Mayor of Shrewsbury Julian Dean to support our event! Linked to this we were very excited to have been invited to take part in some wildflower planting as part of Big Green Week.

Our annual fireworks event was a great success again this year. We were so grateful to everybody that helped – Tarmac donated £1000 to the event and the Friends of Oakmeadow PTA worked hard organising stalls and running them on the night. The event raised over £4000 which can now be used to enhance the provision within school for our children.

This Remembrance Day, Year 3 and 4 led a moving assembly and two minutes silence to mark the occasion. The children sung, read poems and shared art they had completed. We were also particularly proud to see Oakmeadow pupils in the Remembrance parade through Shrewsbury on Sunday for their Beavers and Cubs groups.

This term we have also been pleased to welcome the Shropshire Music Service into school to introduce the children to a variety of instruments and to Scottish and Irish dance music. We have also welcomed in The Arts Centre Telford to support with the delivery of our curriculum through workshops which the children have really enjoyed. We hope we have inspired some budding musicians!

We have been able to start after school clubs again and we have children involved in Young Voices, Boxing, Ju Jitsu, Pyjama Drama and Coding Club to name a few. We also have children who have been attending sporting competitions at other venues. We are so pleased to be able to have pupils involved in these exciting opportunities beyond the classroom.

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It has been an exciting and productive term at The Grange Primary School. We have been very busy getting to know our new school values. As Grangers, we try our best, are honest, are kind, are curious and we respect each other. Pupils have learnt actions for each value and our teachers use them to talk to the children about their learning.

The Granger Code – our new system for managing behaviour has been implemented across school. This sets out clear processes and systems for managing behaviour. We have already seen a positive shift happening due to following this new code.

Our new wraparound care service has also been introduced this term. This has been a great success, with numbers of children wanting to attend increasing weekly. It has been lovely to hear about all of the exciting activities taking place.

Our social farm continues to be a hit with the children. The farm is for, maintained by and all about the children. Classes take turns to look after and visit the animals. We have seen first-hand the calming and therapeutic effect visiting the farm has on our children.

It has also been great to see so many parents/carers popping by the chickens and rabbits to say hello to the animals at pick up time.

THE GRANGE PRIMARY SCHOOL Charlotte Summers | Headteacher

This term we have also introduced our afternoon provision for children with social and emotional needs – The Nest. In the form of bespoke patchwork timetables, the Nest provides nurture based activities such as forest school, cooking and gardening to name a few.

We were overcome with pride (as I am sure many parents/carers were) when our Year 5s took part in a performance event at Shrewsbury School. This was the culmination of weeks of the children’s hard work and we could not be prouder of them. Well done Year 5!

We were treated to some beautiful singing to celebrate Christmas from children across the school to close the term. Well done children! Thank you also to parents/carers for supporting with contributions for the Christmas hampers.

Finally, on behalf of all staff we would like to wish all of our Grange families a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

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WOODLANDS SCHOOL Julia Taylor | Headteacher What an amazing term! Woodlands finally made the huge transition and welcomed all year groups, from Years 5-11 onto one site. Although this initially had some challenges, our journey of developing a safe, positive and caring culture has begun in earnest.

We had our first whole school enrichment days with all students enjoying bubble football in our fabulous grounds. All students (and some very brave staff) spent a whole afternoon wearing giant inflatable bubbles whilst simultaneously attempting to score goals against each other.

This success was followed up by a trip to Chill Factore in Manchester, where students skidded and slid their way down the indoor snow-covered hills. Staff also had a whale of a time and really enjoyed getting involved with all the activities.

This term, we have been fortunate to join the Midlands SEMH league, competing in division 3 against schools from as far afield as Peterborough. We have had six matches in total winning the majority. Our whole school New Year resolution is to not lose our amazing winning streak. We will keep you posted of our success over the coming months.

Several reward trips have taken place with Year 11 visiting Pizza Hut for completing amazing English work. This was followed up by an Art reward trip to Inflata Nation in Telford. Year 8 also went ‘climbing the walls’ at Climbing The Walls!! Year 8 Walnut defeated their arch enemies, Year 8 Willow in a tense spellathon based upon recalling the sequence of onomatopoeia.

As well as welcoming new students, we also welcomed two new furry friends called Buddy and Bodie. The lower school in particular have really benefitted from having a constant companion to cuddle and walk. We hope our menagerie of animals continues to grow in the New Year.

WOODLANDS.SCHOOL |

@WOODLANDSSHROPSHIRE

THE MARCHES SCHOOL Alison Pearson | Headteacher Christmas and the end of the year is always a time for reflection, with 2021 perhaps being a tougher year than 2020 in many ways.

Our school continues to be resilient and forward facing with as much normality as possible. This term has seen so many parts of life reopen – trips and visits to theatres, field study expeditions, Duke of Edinburgh relaunched, our first rewards trip to the cinema for two years and our Carol Concert – outside but in person again.

Sporting competition has returned in full force, and we have grabbed every opportunity to have our students out competing – and often winning!

The students have been amazing, we have seen an excellent attitude to mock exams and the Covid vaccinations and flu inoculations were completed in record time thanks to their mature outlook.

Learning is strong in classrooms as we move back to more interactive styles of lessons and we continue to be confident in our approach to the unknowns ahead – knowing we can shield our students from uncertainty, with clarity and confidence as we demonstrated in the past.

There have been many highlights this term – the term began with our Kindness initiative which saw students learning about how to be kind to themselves – mentally and physically as well as considering others and visiting the town to share our kindness with our neighbours and community.

Our COP26 week was a fantastic initiative bringing solutions-based business into the school to demonstrate their technology and thinking in a careers fair, as well as our own UN summit with a live link up to the COP26 in Glasgow. Every student‘s awareness of the challenges for the world has gone up, this was a real whole school event, with every department including climate lessons through the week.

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THE GROVE SCHOOL Sonia Taylor | Headteacher A Mind Set To Succeed.

This has been the school moto at The Grove School for several years now. To have ambition and slogans is one thing, but without revisiting them – without ensuring they remain the genuine guide and core of what we do – we run the risk of them becoming meaningless.

So how are we all in this moment? There is no doubt that we live in a time when our own mindsets are uniquely and routinely tested. Every day brings us all new news or challenges. But special moments such as Christmas offer a beacon, a finishing line of sorts and the promise of joy and relaxation. The natural temptation for us all therefore is to look to the promise of happiness on the horizon, but the power of considering our mindset comes in part from the ability to ‘live in the now’ and to be grateful for all we have. The way we think is directly linked to the way we feel and that is, of course, linked to the way we perform.

This is why education is actually an emotional experience. We learn more when we enjoy it, see value or feel pride in what we are discovering. So let us take a moment to consider how we feel now. The Grove School is a hive of energy and positivity and the Sixth Formers are deep into their planning of the charity fundraising event with Year 7 and we have had two Discovery Days in school. Olympic gold medallist Jonny Searle MBE has spoken with some of our students (including our own future Olympic hopeful), The Duke of Edinburgh's Silver and Bronze awards have been achieved by a number of students, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Potential students have enjoyed work with Imperial College London and Year 11/13 have celebrated their successes this term.

One of the many great things about education and, especially at The Grove School is that it is the present, not what is around the corner, that shapes our experiences and how we feel. Each day offers us all a new opportunity to define for ourselves what success will look like. So, as we wish all our students, staff, parents and carers a very Merry Christmas, you can be certain that we will make the most of every last day of this term and will embrace all that 2022 has to offer us.

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SIR JOHN TALBOT'S SCHOOL Tim Stonall | Headteacher As we reach the end of the autumn term and 2021 ends, we can take time to reflect on the full year that has passed. In school, we are grateful to have recovered some ‘normality’ and for the support that continues to surround us. Being just one school of ten in The Marches Academy Trust we can call on a wide range of expertise, knowledge and skills to help us maintain our Vision Achievement Through Caring. Our pastoral care has been a priority. Through form time, PSHE and our student leadership programme, we continue to look for new opportunities to promote the wellbeing of our students.

Remembrance Students and staff at Sir John Talbot’s School showed their respect for Remembrance Day with a two-minute silence. Will Lowe, Year 11, played the Last Post beautifully in what was a very poignant moment. This was the first time the whole school joined together outside to remember those who gave their lives. On Sunday 14th November, students, and myself represented SJT and paid our respects by reading at the Remembrance Service held at St Alkmund’s Church. All our students acted with compassion and respect and were a credit to both you and the school and I commend them.

Enrichment This term felt somewhat more normal compared to last year. Following The Department for Education guidance UK day trips were reinstated by the Trust, and to ensure fair opportunity for all, students across all year groups were privileged to be offered at least one of the many opportunities available to them. Besides our lunchtime and after school clubs there have been various sporting fixtures. In the last few weeks to support their A level and GCSE studies, students in English, Art, DofE, Drama/Theatre studies, DT Food, Photography, Product Design, Psychology and Geography have all been on visits which included museums in the Cultural Quarter of the City of Liverpool and Liverpool One, Shrewsbury College, Staffordshire University, Altrincham Garrick Playhouse and Birmingham Hippodrome.

Please pass our thanks to those involved in organising this trip. My child was absolutely buzzing when they arrived home. A fantastic opportunity.

Parent/Carer Shropshire Music Service brought a Ceilidh to Year 7 and a visiting theatre company brought ‘A Christmas Carol’ to Year 9 in school. A Pantomime trip to watch ‘Sleeping Beauty’, a trip to the Trafford Centre and a cultural visit to the City of York and the Christmas Markets as well as a Sixth Form Christmas Ball have also been planned. Sadly, our Year 8 Geography Fieldwork trip did not go ahead due to unforeseen circumstances, but it will be rescheduled for the spring term.

Community links have also included a Careers Fair held at St Alkmund’s Church with employers from the local area and students in attendance. We also held a CareersFest and virtual careers events in school. Students who attend Art Club were invited by St John’s Church to make and decorate a Christmas Tree. The tree which students named ‘SJTree’ was just one kindly donated to St John’s for their Christmas Tree Festival.

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It has reached another end of term here at Shrewsbury Academy and I just cannot believe the fantastic term that we have had. I sit here and reflect on the things that we are so grateful for as a school, as a community and as individuals. As the dark nights roll in, it is easy to forget some of the light and bright of the beginning of the term but it is important to remember the positives to enable us to grasp the great that we have achieved and carry it forward into a brand new and exciting school term.

Our new Year 7 cohort has brought with them a vibrancy and exciting new wave of eagerness to learn and explore. Our new uniform looks absolutely fantastic and fills me with pride every time I see our new logo emblazoned on the jumpers. Shrewsbury Academy is changing, growing and developing and I am so happy to be leading this.

When I reflect upon the successes of individual departments, I cannot express my gratitude any more to the staff who every day give their time, care, patience and expertise to the students in front of them.

Our English Department have really paved the way for excellence this year with a new focus on developing reading. The work with reading and reading school across The Marches Academy Trust has inspired the team here at Shrewsbury Academy to engage groups of strong and confident readers to support those entering the school with a need to develop their reading ability. The success of this programme has been phenomenal and has demonstrated the resilience and drive for excellence in many of our students.

SHREWSBURY ACADEMY Julie Johnson | Head of School

As a member of The Marches Academy Trust we hold the principles of #togetherwegrow at our heart. We have been so lucky this term to have been able to work in partnership with a number of groups and communities to enhance the learning experiences of our students. Our Year 9 students had a week of writing with author Richard Seymour from White Water Writing to create their own novel that can now be purchased from Amazon! How amazing is it that our students have a novel – ‘Ways of Grieving’ - to buy from such a huge and well known site!

Our Art Department always does a fantastic job of helping us collect our thoughts and reflect in such positive ways. The beautiful purple poppy for remembrance is now displayed in our new reception area; a thoughtful and caring contribution from staff and students to those animals who fought and died in war. Our students can be such advocates for care and consideration, their ability to be considerate and contrite can be overwhelming and I am so proud of each and every one of them.

As we move into the new term I look forward already to our January start. I look forward to seeing our students arrive safely back on site, eager to learn, eager to face 2022 with determination and strength. We are a community that cares. Our school prides itself in all that we do and our inclusivity. To finish this term, I look out of my window at our new flag; the flag of progress that represents every one of all colours and genders and am thankful to be part of this world. I wish everyone a safe holiday. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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