MESSAGE FROM TRUST LEADER

Dear Colleagues,

I wrote in September of my sadness and nostalgia for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and, once again, I find my thoughts (and airwaves) dominated by another seminal event in our illustrious history: the coronation of King Charles III. There cannot be very many readers who were alive to witness the last coronation of a British monarch on 2 June, 1953. Whether royalist or roundhead, it is difficult to deny that we are living through a defining moment in the history of these isles. The imminent passage to a new age – the Carolean – feels far from the advent of a golden age, despite the pomp and circumstance; we are facing enormous challenges as a society duly mirrored in our school communities.

Fascinated as I am by the history of the Gold State Coach that transported the newly crowned King away from Westminster Abbey - designed by William Chambers and built in 1762 as a royal runabout, it has been used at every coronation since William IV’s in 1831 – a 260 year old gold coach undeniably paints a discombobulating picture when viewed through the lens of the current deep cost of living crisis.

Let us step away from politics, however. Pomp and circumstance, glitz and glamour are by no means the preserve of the Royal Family. On Friday 21 April – as you will read in the pages to follow – we celebrated the tremendous success and achievements of our wonderful education family. The BET Awards might have moved from The Studio at TPS to the Old Thorns but the same sense of celebration and recognition of colleagues’ commitment was plain to see. There were 315 peer nominations which was a record number but there is still room for further improvement as one or two schools deserve to have a brighter light shone on their members’ wonderful work.

Some of our schools have been focusing on generating positivity for our year 11 cohort as they begin their public examinations showing true innovation in their approach, including leadership teams monitoring positives being awarded on ClassCharts in ‘real-time’ and hot-footing it to the classroom to reward the recipient with a sugary token of appreciation. That is not to say that our year 13 students are not held in mind as they sit - for the first time in their schooling - public exams. I wish each and every one success over the weeks to come and am incredibly grateful for the contributions they have made to our education family during their time with us.

Vive le roi!