Issue 1
Trust Newsletter
May 2023
Follow us @ncltrust
A message from our Chief Executive Welcome to our first NCL Newsletter - a digital publication to keep our community updated on developments in the Trust. I hope each edition will help to give some insight into some of the amazing ranges of activities that are happening this term. I am also very keen to hear feedback from you - we are setting up an NCL Staff Council so we can hear direct from staff about how we can develop our support for staff wellbeing. But I would also love to hear from you directly - if you have any suggestions for this newsletter, or anything else you’d like to raise with me, just email me on anthony.wilson@ncltrust.net Wishing all our staff and community a restful and happy half-term break! Best wishes Anthony Wilson, CEO of NCL
Increasing support for SEND One of the most important features of NCL schools is our commitment to ensuring all students, including those with SEND, are fully supported to achieve their potential. You may already know that Lister School hosts the JFK Plaistow Annex, creating 25 additional spaces for young people with autism. Through our ties with JFK and their Trust, Learning in Harmony, we have the chance to learn from their expertise. LiHT’s SEND Adviser, Kathy Rees, an experienced SENCO, is now working with our SENCO network and our current plans include: A cross trust Training Day on SEND in November 2023 An NCL SEND parents forum Opportunities for NCL staff to visit JFK to develop their awareness of techniques to work with young people with autism
Your Voice Matters - headlines from the NCL Staff, Student and Parent surveys Thank you to the nearly 350 staff who completed the NCL survey - it’s been really helpful to have access to your views. Much of what we learned was very positive - 94% of staff and around 75% of parents would recommend their school. 88% of parents felt their children were making good progress. But we noted not just the positive percentages but also the detailed comments. Across the country schools are finding a need for a reset in some areas of their behaviour policy and pastoral support and we know that the experience of lockdown was really difficult for many young people and families. Student feedback gave us some areas to follow up, and this term we are conducting a review of Behaviour and Pastoral Support, to be led by Gary Phillips - a very experienced former Headteacher and HMI (Ofsted inspector) - who will have access to the comments made in the survey.
Goodbye and good luck This term has marked the departures of some long-serving staff. We won’t be able to mention everyone who is moving on in this newsletter but we’d like to highlight two people in particular who’ve both made hugely important contributions behind the scenes. Alberta Boston Mammah - Alberta joined the primaries just as we had academised and formed Leading Learning Trust. She was pivotal in setting up the financial systems and processes that ensured that we were following all the compliance set out for multi academy trusts. Alberta was fantastic at her job and somehow made the world of academy finance quite enjoyable! Claudia O’Garro - after working in Hackney, Claudia took on the huge role of Lister School Business Manager in August 2013, and has kept the school going through covid, building programmes, and much more. A key feature of her work throughout has been her constant concern for and focus on staff wellbeing, and many of us know how much time and support Claudia gave to individual staff as well as focusing on her whole school responsibilities. Our thanks and best wishes to both Alberta and Claudia!
Welcome to new staff in the central team Please join us in saying a warm welcome to Justen Murton, our new HR Director. Justen joins us from a similar role working with a Trust in Cornwall. He is initially based in Lister, getting hands-on experience of the day to day work at that school, pending the appointment of a new HR officer at Lister. “I am delighted to introduce myself as your newly appointed Director of Human Resources for NCL Trust, having previously worked in Alternative Provision (AP) and Higher Education. The opportunity to work alongside you and support you all as you enrich our students' education is exciting to me. I am looking forward to meeting you all in person, but I would like to thank everyone I have met so far, including Lister staff, Kunal, Charlotte, and the rest of the teams for the warmest of welcomes.”
Governance spotlight - the role of Trustees Janette Ballard was previously the Vice Chair of Leading Learning Trust and was involved in mapping out the merger of LLT with NCST, and once NCL formed she made visiting all of our schools her priority. She has joined the NCL Board and Chairs the Audit & Risk Committee as well as being a member of the Trust Board and Growth Committee. Beyond NCL, Janette runs a media literacy company fighting the good fight against fake news. Previously she was a journalist and director at the BBC. She has three girls at school in Redbridge, all in Year 3. Yes, triplets! What do you feel is the most important aspect of your role as a Trustee? Listening. The role of Trustee is collaborative - decisions are taken collectively, it’s a conversation. So the most important thing I can do is listen - to students, teachers, parents, leaders, the news, trends on social media... because every good conversation starts with listening. What’s been most interesting for you about your role this year? A Rokeby student helps a friend read. Portway pupils’ wait for a Christmas donkey ride. A young woman at Lister tells me her career plans. Sarah Bonnell’s debating teams. An Eastlea student helps me. Selwyn children singing. Honestly, these are my year highlights.
Snippets on some of our other activity this term: -
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ECTs continue their learning together in our successful joint programme A cross-Trust Maths Review will take place with additional support from the Maths Hub As a Trust which is now eligible for annual School Condition Allowance funding, we have received our first notification of the capital funding which we can now expect to receive annually We continue to press the LA for improvements in the support of SEND students, and Anthony, our CEO, is contributing to a revised SEND strategy We are also busy planning our Trust-wide TeachMeet event on June 21st. Over 20 teachers from across all of our schools have already volunteered to share their T&L ideas and provide inspiration for good practice. Safeguarding developments - our cross-Trust safeguarding work is being significantly strengthened this term - more details in the next newsletter, plus photos of the new facilities at Lister, an update on Staff Wellbeing initiatives, and more examples of fantastic activities and opportunities for our young people across the Trust
CELEBRATING EUROVISION Newham Music put together an incredible video with over 500 students from all over Newham singing last year’s winning Eurovision song from Ukraine, Stefania Mamo. Eastlea students were involved in the recording, and you can see and hear them in this video on Twitter. Vesko, our year 10 student, has a starring moment!
WILD ISLES WITH EASTLEA On April 8th, we were very excited to premiere an episode of the David Attenborough series 'Wild Isles' to students in year 11 who feature in it! Our students loved learning about nature and wildlife Click on this link to watch the very special episode recovery with Cody Dock. of Saving the Wild Isles on BBC iPlayer.
EXPANSION UPDATE The building expansion programme at Lister is drawing to a close, with students and staff due to occupy the new Performing Arts Wing, with its state of the art dance, drama, and music spaces, from Monday, June 6th. Our new fitness suite, which opened to students in the spring, has now been made available for staff use. The Rainbow Cafe has been a roaring success, and we are excited to open it for community use in the near future.
JP SPEAKOUT CHALLENGE Lister recently had the pleasure of hosting the Newham Regional Final of the Jack Petchey Foundation SpeakOut Competition.It was great to see so many students from the NCL Trust taking part.
IMMERSIVE ART AT PORTWAY
The Art Ambassadors at Portway have been working hard to achieve their Arts Award. To achieve their award, ambassadors planned and hosted their very own exhibition to educate their peers about artists, techniques, and skills. Portway pupils also exhibited their beautiful art work to celebrate the King’s coronation.
BRILLIANT CLUB AT SOAS
SPRING CONCERT
We would like to thank the teachers and the students for their performances and help putting on a truly wonderful show. Year 7 students have had a great start to their 7-week programme. Students had a tour of the campus and particularly loved the library, filled with over 1.3 million books. The boys will be learning about microbes and antibiotics with their PhD tutor. They will then complete their dissertation on ‘How can chemists save the world?"
The Spring Concert was a night to remember! With a diverse range of performances from incredibly talented students, it was an electrifying celebration of music, dance and artistry.
PARIS ADVENTURES CELEBRATING DEBATING SUCCESS Our debating teams rocked the Debate Cup 2023 London Regional Finals at the The University of Law. Huge congratulations to our girls for clinching the cup two years in a row, securing a place in the National Finals!
Our girls enjoyed an exciting day trip to Paris. They immersed themselves in the language and culture, practicing their skills in real-life situations. They also had the chance to explore iconic landmarks. What an incredible opportunity for our students!
MUSIC MATTERS Year 5 students have been rekindling their musical spirit with the return of violin lessons. These lessons are conducted by a specialist music teacher from Lister. Year 6 students also loved practising their coronation song with specialist music teachers from Lister.
OUTDOOR LEARNING Year 3 have been making the most of the good weather and are enjoying learning about the process of seed germination and where food comes from. Here you can see students working on our crops, ready to enjoy after the half term.
SUMMER TERM KEY DATES School
Event
Date and time
Contact
Sarah Bonnell
GCSE Art and Design Exhibition
26 May 2023 15:30 - 17:30
maariyaah.lunat@sarahbonnell.net Maariyaah Lunat, Head’s PA
Lister
Y7 Theatre School Production
8 June 2023 16:00
heads.pa@lister.newham.sch.uk Melissa Brown, Head’s PA
Lister
Y8 Theatre School Production
15 June 2023 16:00
heads.pa@lister.newham.sch.uk Melissa Brown, Head’s PA
Trust-wide
TeachMeet
21 June 2023 16:00
kate.naylor@ncltrust.net Kate Naylor, Interim Director of Trust Development
Lister
Summer Music Concert
6 July 2023 16:00
heads.pa@lister.newham.sch.uk Melissa Brown, Head’s PA
Sarah Bonnell
Graduation - Year 11
05 July 2023 18:00 - 21:00
maariyaah.lunat@sarahbonnell.net Maariyaah Lunat, Head’s PA
Sarah Bonnell
Summer Showcase and Alumni Event
05 July 2023 17:30 - 19:00
maariyaah.lunat@sarahbonnell.net Maariyaah Lunat, Head’s PA
Eastlea
Summer Concert
13 July 2023 4-6pm
sandra.corbyn@eastlea.newham.sch.uk Sandra Corbyn Head’s PA
Sarah Bonnell
SBS Sister Assemblies Achievement Assemblies
20 July 2023 TBC
maariyaah.lunat@sarahbonnell.net Maariyaah Lunat, Head’s PA
Rokeby
Rokeby Summer Awards Celebration
6 July 2023 TBC
rachael.wiley@rokeby.newham.sch.uk Rachael Wiley, Head’s PA
Portway
Nursery Graduation
20 July 2023
info.portway@leadinglearningtrust.org
Selwyn
Parents’ awards’ assemblies and poetry recitals
Monday - Thursday 22nd May - 25th May 09:10 - 09:30
helen.mawer@leadinglearningtrust.org