TRUST NEWSLETTER
Summer 2 2023
And so it’s finally here…..
Congratulations to everyone for reaching the end of term in one piece and coping with the hot weather over the last few weeks!
It has been a whirlwind of a term with SATs, trips, sports days, reports and preparation for the new academic year but how much has been accomplished! I want to firstly thank all of the leadership team across the Trust who have continued to promote “Excellence Every Day” and focused their energies on school improvement. Fairford has gone from strength to strength with Pelham now the focus for the coming year as we prepare for inspection. Fairford has benefitted from support from leaders at Pelham and it is now time to return the favour. The beauty of working in a trust is that schools are not alone – they can draw on support and collaborate because they have commonalities which tie them together and make for ease of joint working.
SATS Results
Fairford in particular has had significant scrutiny this term with the writing moderation, quality assurance of the SATs Reading Paper practices with a group visit from the Local Authority and numerous visits from localHeadTeachersandotherleaderswhohaveheard about the Trust innovative approach to relationships and behaviour. I am proud of the school’s transformation with our Year 6 pupils achieving the best SATs results in several years. External moderation pushed up the overall marks for writing and the moderators were so impressed that leaders from other schools have subsequently visited to observe the writing cycle and its impact. Well done to all the Year 6 team – teachers and Teaching Assistants – as well as Alice Palmer and Aman Aujla who supported the focus on writing – and in particular to Kate Anderson who has overhauled our approach to writing with amazing results!
Pelham equally has done brilliantly with Year 6 results above the national average and a noticeable increase in Maths in particular. Sydnie Maldon joined the school as Maths Lead in April 2022 and we are seeing the impact of her revision of Maths delivery in outcomes for pupils throughout the school. Pupils continuetoperformwellin Readingandcombinedhas risen against last year’s data.
Staff across the Trust have continued to put children first. Staff absence remains very low and there is a sense of commitment to ensuring all pupils have a great experience every day! Both schools are characterised by a happy, purposeful atmosphere. The Summer Term reaches an end with staff feeling tired and in need of a break after a long, exhausting term and I want to thank everyone for their efforts over the last two months.
Tr
It is interesting to note the lower score in Writing at Fairford in comparison to the rise in every other area but in the context of external moderation. This emphasises the importance of joint moderation going forward to ensure our assessments are consistently accurate.
Breaking through the perceived “glass ceiling”
Our Year 6 SATs results were particularly interesting in that they highlighted the number of pupils who are moving on to local non-selective schools where their scores indicate that their needs might be well served in grammar schools. For some of our families, the prospectof a selectiveschoolfortheirchild isaforeign concept which they have not considered because of their own preconceived ideas about what kind of children these schools are for. It has to be a focus for us going forward to change misconceptions and widen opportunities for our most able pupils where deprivation or perceived limits are barriers to opening the doors to a different life.
conversation during the primary years to prepare the way for decision-making on options for pupils at the end of Key Stage 3 and build the foundations for understanding the purpose and connections between different subjects and future career goals.
Inclusion and the sense of belonging…..
There has been some great work this term on careers education at Pelham Primary where visitors came into the school to talk about their jobs and the roles they undertake. Children were able to ask questions and find out more about different careers, aiding them in understanding the varied and extensive choices they have before them. The more work we do on this area next year, the better prepared our pupils are to embark on the next stage of their education. As a Trust, we need to continually seek opportunities to reach out to other schools and trusts to increase the experiences of our pupils. This was highlighted again this week during a visit to the schools by a local CEO where we discussed how grammar schools within a mixed trust are able to work with primary pupils in extending their careers education. It is our responsibility to begin the careers
Only a few weeks ago, Aman and I delivered training on thethemeof “belonging” and revisited theconcept of inclusion. Whilst we have made strides forward in staff understanding of inclusion as a theme, there still exists a lack of understanding around our collective responsibility to all children, specifically meeting the needs of those pupils with SEND. “It’s not my role….”; “This child belongs in a special school”; “I can’t be expected to keep doing this – it isn’t working!” are the mantras characteristic of staff who are struggling to accept that the educational landscape has changed and with it the expectations for all teaching and support staff in mainstream schools.
Unless a child has a legal document – an Education Health Care Plan – which identifies the child’s educational placement as specialist, ALL children are expected to be taught in a mainstream school. In fact, ALL children have a legal entitlement in England to a place in a mainstream school and this cannot legally be denied to them. Most children with SEND will be educated in mainstream. The additional funding allocated to those with EHCPs is not of either the level or intended to be targeted for the securing of a “velcroed” Teaching Assistant. In fact, common sense tells us that the value of allocating an inexperienced and untrained TA on the lowest rate of pay does not equate with meeting theneeds of the most vulnerable pupils. Section F in the EHCP or the SEND plan outline clearly theinterventionsrequired toreducebarriers to
learning for pupils with SEND and this is about provision and NOT people.
The role of our SENCos is to coordinate provision, support parents in securing the right provision / funding for their child and, in some cases, to go through the acceptance process of realising that their child has needs which may present challenges for them as well as prevent them from meeting key milestones in the way that they expected they would. For parents who are yet to come to terms with their child not being able to access the curriculum or to work at the level of their peers, this can be a mourning process of sorts. Our job is to continually communicate with families to reassure them and to signpost them to the right support. What can and has happened is staff not understanding their role and forgetting that offhand comments to parents / carers can have a detrimental impact on the journey parents are on and suggest that their child is not getting enough support.
Therefore, a plea to all staff: please ensure you are not giving parents false hope, informing them they don’t have enough support in class and creating anxiety. If a parent speaks to you about a child with SEND, explain the support in place outlined on their pupil passport, refer them to the SENCo but most importantly talk about what you have in place in your class to enable the child to access the curriculum and flourish.
There has been a number of cases this term where parents have had conversations with staff and then used information out of context to challenge SEND decisions. This has a negative impact on the relationship between the school and parent and leads to many unhelpful conversations where parents have been given inaccurate information and false hope of a 1:1adultinclass! Continual withdrawalfrom classand over support from a 1:1 member of staff does not build a sustainable plan nor does it address pupils falling behind their peers. Where pupils are taken out of class to do something different, they then fall further behind and the gap between them and their peers widens.
Curriculum
Many of you have commented positively on the Curriculum Wrap which greets everyone on their arrival to Fairford Academy. This is also being organised alongside other Wraps for the corridor areas at Pelham. Looking at it again this week, I felt it essential to recognise the enormous contribution of Alice Palmer to the development of the Trust Curriculum. Alicehas coordinatedthedevelopmentof the learning journey of our pupils. She has led on CPD for staff, developed the non-negotiables for the classroom environments (aided by Jodie Cousins in terms of our Trust Display Policy) and woven the cultural capital we so value throughout. Alice has made a significant impact on the progress made by pupils which is now being evidenced through our recent SATS results and the engagement of pupils in theirlearning. Her knowledge in this areais impressive and I want to publicly thank her for all she has done over the last year in embedding and now further enhancing our offer to all children.
School Discos
I want to say a huge thank you to the staff involved in the PTAs in both schools! For Pelham Lexi DevincenziHume and Michelle Mason have worked together to organise discos, tea towel sales and sweetie bags which have in only 6 weeks raised almost £2000! This is a huge triumph! Children at Pelham had a wonderful time over the last couple of weeks attending the events. I would also like to thank those staff who stayed behind and helped support the events, making them memorable occasions and part of the holistic educational experience we as a trust promote.
The PTA at Fairford organised a fantastic Year 6 Leavers Disco last week which was hugely enjoyed by all! It was lovely to see the transformation of the children as they arrived in their finery and danced the eveningaway! Parentswentoverandabovetoensure all pupils had awonderful evening which was captured in photos and shared with parents through the FAB Twitter feed.
It has been lovely this year to see the launch of a partnership approach to our school PTAs. These are now very much a combined team effort which is essential if we are to build truly collaborative initiatives between home and school. The delight on our children’sfaces evidences why theseevents are so worthwhile! They also allow us to raise funds to further improve facilities and opportunities for all children in our schools but focused on what our school priorities are.
Talent Shows
fantastic event for their leavers which showcased the talent on offer. We are looking forward to a repeat of this next year!
Sports Days
A big thank you to Jenny Lowe for the whole school organisation of “Fairford’s Got Talent”! A very memorable end to the term and huge well done to all involved!
The Year 6 Team at Pelham have also ended the year with a
Sports Days have been well organised thanks to Jade Mitton and Dan Duffy! Feedback from Fairford parents has been particularly complimentary due to the different set-up and organisation of the events. The Parents Races and Dog Races were especially popular with staff also competing with enthusiasm in the staff race on each day. Well done to Louise Appiah and Finley Williams on their star performances!
For the second year running, the Trust will begin the academic year fully staffed and without any use of agency. This bucks the trend and indicates the success of the organisation in recruitment. As a Trust which invests in professional development and training, succession planning is key to our sustainability. I am delighted to announce the following promotions and wider experiences:
• Sam Robinson to substantive Head Teacher (Fairford)
• Aman Aujla (Fairford) to Deputy Head Teacher / SENCo.
• Kate Anderson (moving from Fairford to Pelham) to Deputy Head Teacher (Pelham) / English Lead
• Jodie Cousins taking up the role of Trust Assistant Head Teacher (Early Reading and Phonics) – Jodie will also be moving to Pelham School from September to lead on the introduction of continuous provision in Year 1, working alongside Oliver Dentith and Kelly Rackstraw whose vision for EYFS at Pelham is
truly inspirational, founded on educational research and the culture of belonging which is our USP as a trust.
• Louise Appiah taking up the substantive role of Assistant Head Teacher at Fairford with responsibility for STEM and Careers across the Trust.
• George Brocklehurst to Unqualified Teacher at Fairford Academy Barnehurst.
• Josh Jones to Teacher (Year 4 FAB).
Welcome
Our new starters who will be joining us in September are:
• Steven Hallinan – Premises Manager (Pelham) and Health and Safety Manager for the Trust.
• Ashleigh Starchuck – Teacher (Year 5 FAB)
• Chris Guildford – Teacher (Year 6 FAB / Maths Lead)
• Amy Willis-Richards – EYFS Lead FAB
• Megan Davidson - Teacher (Year 2 Pelham)
• Grace Smith – Teacher (Year 5 Pelham)
• Charlotte Garrett – Teacher (Year 2 FAB / English Lead)
I am sure you will make them all welcome and support them in settling into their new schools!
Farewell to…
The Trust says goodbye to the following staff:
Lee Robinson is also heading off to anew role in a local school. Lee will be missed by everyone I am sure and will no doubt be an asset to his new school.
At Fairford, we say farewell to Amelia Roberts, Laura English, Claire Cross, Jess Essex, Karen Ingram and Hayley Sutton as they move onto pastures new. Congratulations to Amelia who is leaving to get married and relocating to a different part of the country! Wealsowantto recognisethehard workand commitment of another member of staff, Karen Ingram, who is retiring after many years of service to Fairford and providing speech and language support to our children. Karen, you will be very much missed! We wish them all luck in their future ventures!
One big change for the leadership team is Claire Robinson moving onto a new, exciting role working in a company providing financial support to schools in the South East. This is a very different role for Claire combining working from home and travel to different sites. Iam sureshewillmake an impactas shehashere and I for one will miss her incredible competency, attention to detail and thoughtful strategic input. It has been a pleasure working together and definitely the end of an era but I look forward to hearing how the new job goes!
A Learning Community….
At Pelham, to Wendy Clarke, Linda Allen and Michelle Collins who leave after many years of commitment to the Trust – thank you for all you have contributed! Also, to Kaitlyn Brown who has secured her dream job in a school she attended as a child – certainly an opportunity she could not miss out on! – and Monisha Tyme who is off to work in Saudi Arabia, an ambition she has had for some time and is now going to be realised.
The Trust prides itself on being a learning community which puts openness and transparency at the heart of its culture. No one gets everything right all of the time but we hope that there is always a learning and change moves us forward.
I would always encourage everyone to talk to each other if you are unhappy about something and use the restorative conversations we promote with our pupils in dealings yourself with colleagues and our wider community: the staff teams, parents and carers.
As part of our learning, we are using exit interviews to gain insight from staff who are moving on to enable us to reviewpractices and look at where as a trust we can make further improvements to the schools. The feedback to date has been very positive but there is a common thread of communication issues which have beenaddressed throughtheexpansionof theMorning Briefing acrossboth schools. Staff have welcomed this and it will be a set daily feature from September in both schools.
Communication with parents and carers is also sometimes an issue with off-hand or casual comments being made which then lead to a sense of noncohesion between staff. Please be aware of comments made in an “unofficial” context which are never truly unofficial if you are employed by the Trust and will always be interpreted by parents as words spoken on behalf of a collective. I do not doubt everyone’s professionalism but feel that sometimes ill-advised comments are made and taken out of context and ask that staff are mindful of their communication with parents and carers at all times.
And finally…
So finally, I would like to wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable summer break! It has been an amazing year but I know, working with such a fantastic team, that next year will be equally productive and exciting! Enjoy time with friends and family, soak up the sun and come back in September refreshed and rejuvenated. I look forward to seeing you at Fairford Academy Barnehurst for our Trust INSET Day on 1st September 2023!
