Moving forwardtogether

When Director of Education, Catherine Lock, joined DEMAT in 2020, it was clear that if the Trust was to be successful, we would all have to benefit from our partnership. Here, she celebrates those staff in school who are delivering the best education possible.

Over the last three years, we have significantly developed our CPD offer and created thriving subject communities, where our subject leaders are working together to develop our curriculum and supporting pedagogies, as well as contributing to resource-sharing platforms.

We are starting to see the fruit of this work together in our children and in the joyful way they talk so knowledgeably about what they have been learning. Centrally, there has been a great deal of work to make this happen, but none of it would happen without the true dedication we see, daily, from the school staff at the chalk face.

In recent visits, I’ve heard children using phonics to lift words off the page, experiencing the wonder of making meaning from challenging texts. Year 2 children speak with knowledge and excitement about how the human body works; Year 5 children having just had their minds blown about our relative size in the universe and Year 6 children animatedly telling me about the allegorical nature of Animal Farm. In all these conversations, what stands out most is how proud they feel to be able to share their knowledge. This is what we cannot measure. This is the start of sparking intrigue and curiosity; it allows them access to the educated community and all the possibilities within.

There is no greater privilege than working with the brilliant teachers, teaching assistants, and school leaders who ‘make the magic happen’ for the children in front of them. My very sincere and heartfelt thanks to all in our schools who work tirelessly to give our children the very best education possible. Thank you all for catching the vision of what we are doing together and for truly believing that anything is possible for the children in our schools.

Here’s to the next 10 years of creating wonder through learning and the highest expectations for our children.