WELCOME FROM OUR CEO
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Issue 1, March 2024
MATLEADERSHIPTEAM OFTHEYEARWINNERS
On the 7th March, the trust received recognition at the national Multi Academy Trust Awards, being awarded the Leadership Team of the year in what was a hotly contested category, with seven shortlisted trusts from across the country.
In receiving the award the trust and its leadership team were recognised for “demonstrating unparalleled dedication to fostering an educational environment at TLP that would allow every pupil to flourish.”
CEO Dan Thomas commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to be recognised at the National MAT Awards. Every single member of staff at The Learning Partnership deserves to be acknowledged for this achievement, especially following the merger in September 2023 leading to the formation of the trust.”
NEWS FROM
myself and my new position as irector of The Learning Institute
o this role, I bring over 20 years xperience in the field of eaching and learning I have een based predominantly at ead of a large & dynamic English rked in leadership capacity in building CPD, coaching programmes and leading curriculum reviews. I have also worked nationally as a Lead Practitioner for English and as an Educational Consultant, exploring the Quality of Education in a range of different contexts and supporting its development.
I am passionate about empowering and supporting the professionals within our Trust to thrive & excel As the CPD hub for The Learning Partnership, the Institute is dedicated to fostering professional growth and enhancing teaching practices across our schools.
professional development programmes, such as the ‘Leading People’ course, are tailored to the specific needs of our staff. These initiatives are aimed at equipping emerging leaders with the skills & knowledge required for effective management roles
Curriculum Enhancement & Quality Teaching:
We are really keen to build on the support we can offer colleagues in navigating curriculum changes, implementing transition projects, and refining teaching strategies. Our aim is to develop high-quality continuing professional development materials to assist school leaders in delivering impactful professional development programmes
STAFFWELLBEING STAFFVOICE
Staff wellbeing is the foundation of which the TLP People Strategy is built. We have actively engaged with the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, integrating its principles into our culture and ethos Details of the principles are provided in the poster below.
Through staff surveys and wellbeing audits, we have started to identify sector trends and pressure points within our schools and devise tailored action plans to support school leaders. One area highlighted through the surveys has been communication, and we are working on a communication policy strategy that will cover use of emails, in particular ensuring a balance of when emails should be sent and responded to, internal school communication, how schools communicate with parents and also how the trust communicates with all of the schools The comms policy will be reviewed with the trust wellbeing team, school leadership teams and the unions.
RECRUITMENT ANDINDUCTION
We have revamped recruitment and induction processes centred around employee experience, ensuring a supportive entry into our community. This work is being led by The Learning Institute to ensure a seamless process enabling new employees to feel welcomed and supported Headteacher of Blacks Firs Primary who joined the school in September 2023 commented
WELCOMETOTHESCHOOLIMPROVEMENTTEAM
The central School Improvement team are focussed on delivering improvement in six key strategic areas across the Trust. These are:
Special Educational Needs
Safeguarding
Reading
Behaviour
Early Years Foundation Stage Personal Development
We support headteachers with their school improvement priorities and are focussed on creating communities of practitioners codifying and sharing the best that is being thought and said in the practice of school improvement across our schools, and beyond, in order to improve the outcomes for all students within our institutions
THETEAMINCLUDES:
Over the academic year we have created a number of network groups related to the priorities above, giving colleagues the opportunities to meet regularly to share best practice and work together to support wellbeing and workload reduction We are working closely with The Learning Institute to ensure we expand the networking opportunities available into the curriculum space over the next term and into the next academic year
ENGLISH LEAD
We look forward to welcoming Katie Halliwell as our new English Lead, who will be joining the team in April
SALLY EARL EYFS Lead
CATHY LORD
Behaviour and Pupil Wellbeing Lead
ALISON HOOPER Personal Development Lead
JULIA GAWN
SEND Lead: Primary
GILL JOSEPHS
SEND Lead: Secondary
EMMA HOOLEY
Director of Safeguarding and School Improvement Co-ordinator
OFSTEDUPDATES
Over the spring term, two of our schools have received Ofsted inspections. They are both receiving a good judgement which we are delighted with.
WHEELOCK PRIMARY SCHOOL
Wheelock Primary School had an Ofsted inspection on 23 and 24 January, which found the school to be ‘Good’ in all areas. This is Wheelock's first full inspection since 2011. Ofsted praised how their learning environment fosters pupils' ability to fulfil their potential and they commended their effective support of children with special educational needs. Sally Whitehead, Headteacher at Wheelock, said: “I am so proud of this result which reflects the dedication and hard work put in by staff. I want to say a huge thank you for their continued efforts to make sure we deliver the very best for our pupils.”
SHAVINGTON PRIMARY SCHOOL
Shavington Primary School continues to be a ‘Good’ school, following Ofsted’s monitoring inspection on 30th and 31st January This is the school’s first full inspection since 2014 and Ofsted commended their “ambitious and wellthought-out curriculum” where reading and phonics were emphasised as being taught well Jo Young, Interim Headteacher said: “I want to thank all the staff for going above and beyond to deliver for our pupils every day ”
UPDATEONSEND
Our schools are no exception to the challenges being faced nationally in the delivery of SEND provision. As a result we are working exceptionally hard to support all staff with additional training and tools to meet with the increased demand.
Our SEND leads have been working with SENCOs to agree an aligned early identification pathway for schools to use. The main focus of this is supporting classroom teachers and support staff to adapt the delivery of the curriculum to help those students who may be struggling.
We are also supporting all schools on the ‘EEF Five a Day’ strategies and to ensure continued professional development opportunities are well planned and iterative. To support this we have introduced the use of ‘Walkthrus’ as strategies that support staff in the classroom. All schools now have access to the online platform and also have sets of books available for staff to use.
Over the next term, we will be working alongside leaders, to ensure staff understand how the aligned pathway can be implemented in their settings
SIRWILLIAMSTANIER JAMIEOLIVERFILMING
To be seen on Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food social media channels
We were delighted to welcome a film crew on behalf of renowned Chef Jamie Oliver to the school in March. Students in Years 7 and 8 were filmed in Food Technology cooking chicken fajitas with the footage planned to be used on Jamie Oliver’s social media channels in the coming weeks as part of a campaign to promote food technology and healthy eating in schools.
After their visit, the film crew expressed their admiration for the school’s facilities and the passion the students showed the prepare a healthy meal
WISTASTONCHURCHLANE
CYGNETSNURSERYOPENING
Wistaston Church Lane Academy recently officially opened its newly built nursery Cygnets The new building was opened by Headteacher Cathy Elsley and Chair of our Trustees David Wootton CBE
The new state of the art facilities offers nursery care for 32 children aged between 3 and 5 years old as they start to prepare for the move to primary school A rapid building schedule saw the nursery built in just 5 months and with 2 classrooms, extensive outdoor area and additional learning space for the young children
Cathy Elsley commented, “This is a fantastic new facility for the young children in our local community which provides ample opportunities for structured and instructed play, both indoors and outdoors, fostering curiosity, imagination and experimentation under the guidance of our amazing Cygnets team ”
EMPLOYABILITYSKILLS ATTHEOAKSACADEMY
Year 10 students at The Oaks Academy have had practice interviews with local employers, who kindly gave up their time to carry out this important exercise Mock interviews are a key element in The Oaks’ Key Stage 4 Careers Programme, for which students prepare letters of application and CVs. The students’ positive attitude and professionalism were commented on by the visitors: Balfour Beatty. Bakkavor Group, Home Instead, Staffordshire University, Cheshire College South & West, Avanti West Coast, Likewize and Bleisure. Formal feedback will be provided, which all links to their industry-specific placement in July
OFFICIALLYOPENSEXTENSIVE NEWFACILITIES
Congleton High School welcomed the Machin family, along with guests from Cheshire East Council, Jay Ashall Partnership Architects and The Learning Partnership in to the school to officially open their new 10-classroom Humanities block, ‘The Machin Building,’ named after former teacher and governor Roland Machin They also opened their new ‘Hungry Bear’ refectory, which has seating for up to 240 students, a fully purposed kitchen and toilet facilities
In February, Black Firs saw the launch of their brand new website which has been transferred onto our the Trust central website platform. The website captures the essence of the school culture and also provided the opportunity to launch the new school logo. Click here to take a look at the new website: https://black-firs.co.uk/
NEWDAVENTHERAPEUTIC CLASSROOM CONGLETONHIGHSCHOOL
NEWBLACKFIRSWEBSITE KNUTSFORDACADEMY OPERATINGTHEATRELIVE
We are currently working on transferring the Trust and the rest of our schools’ websites to the new platform and template and we hope for this to be completed by the end of the academic year.
Year 5 children at Daven Primary school love their newly refurbished classroom Headteacher Jenny Gosling has worked iwth TPC Therapy to create a haven of calm and a hub for great learning. The relaxed classroom setting includes sofas, soft lighting, mixed styles of tables and chairs and an option to remove shoes.
Operating Theatre Live provided a unique and immersive experience at Knutsford Academy to talented Year 11, 12 and 13 students who are studying Biology and considering careers in medicine or veterinary science. The students became doctors for the day and carried out a number of medical procedures It was brilliant revision for their GCSE and A Level examinations and real inspiration for their future careers
nts from Crewe UTC competed in the in Schools Finals and achieved a for the fastest car and reaction time
DOVEBANK PRIMARYSCHOOL JOINSTHETRUST
We were delighted to welcome Dove Bank Primary School who joined The Learning Partnership in January, becoming the 15th school in the Trust. The school is based in the heart of Kidsgrove in Staffordshire.
gning and producing a competitive rack, they had to secure sponsorship dges with their branding, marketing They received lots of positive ooking forward to competing again ey move up to the professional class.
Amber Richards, a teacher of Engineering and Design at UTC said “it has been a privilege to be able to develop these students to enable them to participate and progress through this competition, seeing them apply the knowledge they have learnt in class It has been great for me to meet with other likeminded schools and to develop the STEM enrichment at UTC ”
We are really looking forward to working with Headteacher Sally Dakin and her team, and supporting everything they do to provide the very best opportunities for Dove Bank pupils and its staff.
NewPartnershipFormed
EUTCF1TEAM IONALFINALS
