Heads Up - Friday 8th May 2026

Heads Up Friday 8th May 2026 1

A message from CEO Designate, Sarah Lack Dear Colleagues As we come to the end of another week, it’s hard to believe that we’re now only a few weeks away from half-term. The summer term always seems to move at quite a pace, and there’s been so much to celebrate across our schools.

Next week, I’d like to send my very best wishes to all our Year 6 pupils as they sit their SATs. This is an important milestone for them, and I know how much hard work, care and encouragement has gone into helping them feel ready. To every Year 6 pupil: do your best, take each day as it comes, and remember that we’re already incredibly proud of you.

This week also marks a very special occasion: Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. What an extraordinary life and legacy. When I asked a pupil today whether they knew who Sir David was, they gave the most wonderful answer: “Sir David is the defender of our planet.” I don’t think I could put it better myself.

It feels like a timely reminder of the importance of curiosity, care and responsibility - values we see every day in our children. Whether they’re learning about the natural world, supporting one another, or preparing for the next step in their school journey, they continue to inspire us.

Sarah Lack

I hope you all have a restful and enjoyable weekend.

Sarah Lack CEO Designate

Attendance Data Below is the attendance and persistent absence data from across the Trust for the period of 20 Apr 2026 and 01 May 2026

Attendance

Group Name

Attendance

Persistent Absence

Tollgate Primary School

97.1%

12.5%

Cleves Primary School

96.9%

12.5%

Shaftesbury Primary

96.2%

18.3%

New City Primary School

96.0%

20.7%

Ravenscroft Primary

95.7%

16.5%

Rosetta Primary School

95.7%

21.8%

The Clara Grant Primary

95.0%

23.3%

Monega Primary School

93.4%

27.1%

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International Cultural Exchange On Wednesday, our pupils took part in a wonderful cultural exchange with Yang’an Primary School in China, centred around the theme Art and Brushstrokes. Pupils learned about the traditional techniques and expressive brushwork of Chinese calligraphy, gaining insight into this important art form. In return, our pupils shared their learning on the optical art of Bridget Riley, demonstrating how line and pattern can create movement and visual impact. The exchange was a great success, enriching pupils’ understanding of art and culture and providing a memorable learning experience for all involved.

Thank you to Ms Patel, Ms Wu and Ms Dong for supporting this project.

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Semi-Formal Pathways: Transport Semi-formal learners in Pathways 2 explored different forms of transport through stories, pictures, songs and DT. The pupils learned to recognise and name vehicles used on land, in the air and on water, including cars, buses, trains and aeroplanes—and how these help people travel from place to place.

The pupils used paper mâché to create their own red aeroplane inspired by The Way Back Home. They showed great focus and creativity while shaping, sticking and painting, making clear links between the story and their learning about transport as they brought it to life

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A Journey into Space: Pathway 1 Explores Zoom Rocket Zoom It has been an exciting week for our preformal learners in Pathway1 as they explored the story Zoom Rocket Zoom.

The children thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the theme of space through a range of practical and sensory activities. They had great fun dressing in space suits, roleplaying journeys into space and exploring sensory lights within the space-themed tent.

The highlight of the week was designing, building and launching their very own space rockets, which sparked enthusiasm, creativity and teamwork among the learners.

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Year 3 Earth Day Year 3 pupils celebrated Earth Day by taking part in a litter pick. They explored the grounds and discussed why it is important to protect and care for the environment. The children worked together responsibly, learning that even small actions can make a big difference in keeping their surroundings clean and helping to look after our planet.

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Staff Accolade; Pathways 2 Team The Pathways 2 team consistently deliver truly transformational progress for their pupils, with the impact of their work clearly seen in pupils’ confidence, engagement and independence. Under the strong leadership of Sarah, Urmila and Tracey work together as an exceptionally skilled and dedicated team. Their commitment, creativity and high expectations ensure that learning is meaningful and longlasting.

The semiformal pupils are incredibly fortunate to benefit from the exciting, wellplanned activities that enrich their experiences and support outstanding outcomes.

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Running Club This week marked the start of our new Running Club, led by Mr Terry and Mr Vanderpoll. The children made a fantastic start with a 2k run to Plashet Park, showing great determination, teamwork and enthusiasm. The club will now build gradually on distance and stamina, helping pupils develop their fitness, resilience and love of running over time. We’re really proud of such a positive first session and look forward to seeing the children continue to grow in confidence and endurance in the weeks ahead.

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Stars Of The Term Our Stars of the Spring Term enjoyed a well-deserved reward today with a special trip to the cinema to watch The Magic Faraway Tree. After the film, the children headed to Pizza Express to enjoy a delicious meal together. It was a fantastic day out and a lovely way to celebrate their hard work, positive attitudes, and achievements over the term.

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A Trip to the Circus!

Some very lucky children enjoyed a special visit to the circus last week, where they were treated to an afternoon of amazing performances, laughter, and excitement.

From impressive acrobatics to colourful costumes, it was a memorable experience that brought plenty of smiles and provided lots to talk about back at school. We’re delighted the children had such a fantastic time!

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An Unforgettable Trip to Italy Children from Year 5 and 6 were incredibly lucky to travel to Trento in Italy last week through the Turing Programme, enjoying an unforgettable international adventure.

They explored breathtaking views, visited beautiful Lake Garda, ate plenty of pizza and ice cream, and made new friends with pupils from the local school. It was a truly special experience full of learning, laughter and memories that will last a lifetime.

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Staff Accolade We would like to nominate Nadia, Michael, Adam, Sarah, Ahmed, Andrea and Lisa for their fantastic contribution to the Year 5 and 6 trip to Trento, Italy.

Their dedication, teamwork and care ensured the children had a safe, enriching and truly memorable experience. They went above and beyond throughout the trip, supporting pupils every step of the way and helping create lifelong memories.

A special shout‑out must go to Nadia for her exceptional organisation and planning. Her hard work behind the scenes was instrumental in making the trip run so smoothly and successfully.

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Earth Day On Friday 24th April, New City celebrated Earth Day by wearing green! In assembly, the eco-warriors explained the purpose of Earth Day, and launched 5Rs poster competition. In KS1 and KS2, the children then learnt more about the history of Earth Day and the importance of looking after our planet. Many year groups also developed their mathematical datahandling skills by producing graphs showing how good classes were at turning off lights. Mrs Jukes, our chair of Governors Ms Harrington and the ecowarriors went litter picking in the local area. We collected 3 bags of litter!

We'd love for parents and carers to support us at home by encouraging your children to enter the poster competition and also to reduce energy usage by turning off lights and electrical appliances.

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Eco Arts Day Last week as part of our school's celebration of Earth Day on Wednesday 22nd April 2026, a group of KS1 and KS2 pupils went on a trip to West Ham Park for an Eco Art workshop. The children went on a nature trail and collected natural materials to create their fabulous sustainable artwork with. It was a fun exploratory and hands on creative activity which perfectly reflected this years Earth Day theme of "Our Power, Our Planet".

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EYFS Growing and Changing Topic What an exciting week it has been here at New City! As part of our Growing and Changing topic, Reception children welcomed some very special visitors. They eagerly watched chicken eggs hatch and proudly named each chick: Nugget, Lucy, Goldie, Eggy, Daisy, Fluffy Fluffy, Max, Zuzu and Jingle. One chick, Minnie, kept us waiting but finally hatched fashionably late, together joyfully.

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Reception Local Area Visit As part of our growing and changing topic, our Reception classes recently went on a local area walk to explore the natural environment around them. The children followed the Greenway, where they had the opportunity to stop, observe, and closely examine a variety of plants and insects. This hands-on experience brought their learning to life, as they have previously been discussing the life cycles of plants and frogs in the classroom. They were especially amazed and excited to see insects thriving in their natural habitats, which helped to deepen their understanding and curiosity about the world around them.

It has been an incredibly busy and exciting week for the children, filled with memorable learning experiences.

Alongside their outdoor exploration, the children also witnessed the hatching of our baby chicks, which sparked great enthusiasm and wonder among the group. In addition, they have been spending time in our outdoor garden area, carefully observing the progress of the sunflowers they planted earlier in the term. The children have shown great care and pride in nurturing these plants, eagerly checking their growth each day. It has been wonderful to see such excitement and engagement in learning, with many children demonstrating a growing interest in nature and the environment. We certainly have a group of very enthusiastic, budding gardeners in our EYFS, who are developing a real appreciation for the natural world through these meaningful and practical experiences.

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Year 2 Money Matters Workshop This week the children had the opportunity to participate in a Money Ready Workshop, learning about the value of money and how to make informed financial decisions.

It was a fantastic opportunity to build confidence and develop skills that will support them in the future.

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Reception – Planting Seeds This term, our Reception children have been planting cress seeds as part of their work in Science. Over the upcoming weeks, the children will be taking care of them, monitoring how quickly they grow and documenting it. The aim is that they will grow enough to use them to make a sandwich with.

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St George’s Day On St George’s Day, the whole school dressed patriotically in England’s flag colours; the school was awash with red and white!The children enjoyed taking part in different activities in class including making and colouring flags, watching Newsround and BBC bitesize to explain the meaning of St George’s Day.Our SEN pupils had playdough with flag mats and colouring activities too.

At lunch time, we were treated to a traditional lunch of Fish & Chips, always a favourite with our pupils!

At the end of the day, our Wellbeing Team were selling doughnuts to raise money for our future pupil events at school.

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Bloom Spring Nature Workshop Our Year 5 pupils took part in the Spring Nature Workshop at Canning Town Recreation Ground. The children were able to compare the differences in the environment around them since their Winter Workshop. They were lucky to have a lovely sunny day for their visit, something that is not always guaranteed at this time of year!

Pupils were blindfolded and were able to touch the trees, asking them to describe what they could feel and not see, using different senses.

They also had worksheets to use to help them find different things in and among the plants and trees.

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Staff Accolade Glen Regan – Mid-day Supervisor Glen has worked at Ravenscroft since 2022.

Glen is one of our friendly midday supervisors. Always calm and fair, he helps the children sort out any problems they have at lunchtime. He can normally be found near to our giant playground chess set – supporting the children with their games.

Glen always has a smile on his face and is ready and willing to help out with anything that the children need

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Reception Learning This week in Reception, we have been learning about the artist Vincent Van Gogh apart of our Expressive Art and Design lesson. We explored some of his beautiful still life paintings and talked about what we could see, including colours, shapes, and textures. The children were especially interested in his flowers artwork and enjoyed sharing their thoughts about what they noticed and liked.

Using this interest as inspiration, we created our very own still life pieces. We placed a vase with flowers in the centre of the classroom and spent time carefully observing it, just like real artists. The children discussed the different parts of the flowers and thought about how they could represent them in their drawings.

Using pencils, the children practised making different types of strokes to add detail to their work. They also began experimenting with shading, learning how to press more lightly or more firmly to create different tones and effects. It was wonderful to see them concentrating so carefully and taking their time to improve their drawings.

We were incredibly impressed with the children’s creativity, effort, and enthusiasm throughout the activity. They showed great focus and pride in their work.

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Year 3 Ukelele Year 3 have continued to make strong progress in their music lessons this year.

They are now playing the ukulele with increasing confidence, demonstrating secure chord changes, steady rhythm, and improved coordination when performing together. Alongside this, the children have been learning to sing a range of cultural songs in Bengali, showing growing accuracy in pronunciation and a clear appreciation for the language and its musicality. It has been excellent to see their focus, teamwork, and pride in their learning during each session.

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Year 1 Spring Watch Year 1 visited the park during Spring Watch week, where they collected natural materials such as twigs, rocks, and flowers. They then used these items to create a habitat, thinking carefully about the type of living thing that could survive there and what it would need to thrive.

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Mini Marathon 2026 Last week, Mr Brown, our PE teacher arranged for some of our pupils to attend the London Mini Marathon 2026. The children were amazing and encouraging of each other and they showed fantastic determination.

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Year 4 Fairplay House Last week, our Year 4 pupils visited Fairplay House for 2 nights. They had an amazing time, conquered fears, experienced new places and activities and made new friends. It was lovely to see all the children immersing themselves in the activities and making the most of the experience.

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Football The boys and girls football teams took part in some thrilling matches against St Helens Primary on Friday. Each side battled hard and showed incredible footballing ability, teamwork and amazing use of the 5Cs. We are very proud of their efforts. The girls unfortunately lost their game, but the boys sealed an amazing victory in theirs.

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Geography Y4 Year 4 have been learning about mountains this term in Geography. Year 4 explored how mountains form by sculpting different gradients with salt dough and painting their finished models.

Fantastic geography and creativity combined!

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Y5 Ragged Museum In History, Year 5 have been learning about the Victorian Era. They had a fantastic opportunity to visit the Ragged School Museum this week and participated in two workshops. They experienced a Victorian classroom lesson and a domestic life lesson, which were very informative, memorable and engaging. The children thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Ragged School.

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Y3 Roman Workshop Children in Y3 had the opportunity to experience what it would have been like to be a Roman soldier through role-play.

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Y3 History trip Year 3 immensely enjoyed their recent educational visit to The Natural History Museum. The trip helped reinforce concepts covered in both Science and Geography. In Science, Year 3 have explored bones and fossils. Whereas, in Geography we have been learning about the features and stages of Volcanoes as well as The Earth's Structure. The children particularly enjoyed the earthquake stimulator; They demonstrated a clear understanding of tectonic plates.

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Y1 Science Y1 Science In Science, pupils have been learning about the different parts of a plant, their function, and what plants need to grow.

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Nursery The Nursery children have are learning about People Who Help Us this half‑term.

They particularly enjoyed exploring Space and astronauts through the story Whatever Next. The children engaged in role‑play, pretending to have a picnic on the moon, which encouraged imaginative play and positive social interaction with their peers. They also participated in a range of fine motor activities designed to strengthen hand muscles, improve coordination and develop early writing skills. Using playdough, the children practised rolling, pinching, squeezing, and shaping materials to build dexterity. During the chickpea exploration, they used tools such as scoops, tweezers, and small containers to pour, pick up and transfer items, supporting their pincer grip, hand– eye coordination, and concentration.

These activities provided valuable opportunities for sensory exploration and supported each child’s growing manipulative skills.

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Pathway Rooms Our Semi-Formal learners have been exploring the book 'Handa's Surprise'.

They have been developing their fine motor and independence skills by safely cutting then tasting exotic and non-exotic fruits. Not only did they taste the fruit, they also collectively rated the fruits. They found new fruits they liked and fruits they didn't. During their English lesson, they matched fruit to the animals that they remembered from the story.'

'Our Pre-Formal learners have had a great time immersing themselves in their multisensory learning as part of their book Handa's Surprise. They have been tasting some exotic and non-exotic fruits. Our PreFormal learners have been developing their fine motor and independence skills by learning how to use a knife to cut fruit safely.'

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Book Sale Our recent book sale was a wonderful success bringing together families and the wider community to support both reading and our school. It was fantastic to see so many children excitedly picking up books discovering new stories and choosing texts that will inspire learning beyond the classroom. Not only did the sale help increase access to high quality books for our community but it also raised valuable funds that will go directly back into supporting our pupils and school resources. Thank you to everyone who donated browsed and bought your support truly makes a difference.

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Year 5 Visit to the Tower of London Year 5 had an exciting and memorable trip to the Tower of London as part of their learning about the Tudors. From the moment they arrived, the children were immersed in history, exploring one of the most famous landmarks in England and deepening their understanding of this fascinating period.

During the visit, pupils were able to see key areas of the Tower and learn about its role during Tudor times, including its use as a royal palace, prison and place of execution. The children were particularly engaged by the stories of famous historical figures linked to the Tudors, which helped bring their classroom learning to life and put history into real perspective.

A highlight of the day was watching the re-enactments, where actors recreated scenes from the past. These performances helped the children imagine what life was like during the Tudor period and gave them a deeper understanding of historical events and people. Seeing history performed in front of them made the experience both enjoyable and memorable.

Throughout the day, the children showed great enthusiasm, curiosity and excellent behaviour. They asked thoughtful questions and made strong links to their learning back in school.

Overall, the trip was a fantastic success. Year 5 had a wonderful time, learnt a great deal and returned to school inspired, with a much richer understanding of the Tudors.

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Wear it Blue for Autism Day Wear It Blue for Autism Day was a fantastic opportunity for children to learn more about autism through a range of engaging activities across the school.

Pupils explored what autism means learned about famous people with autism and discussed how their strengths talents and determination have helped them achieve great success. The day helped promote understanding acceptance and celebration of differences while reinforcing the message that everyone learns and succeeds in their own way.

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Chicks in Nursery We are excited to welcome some very special visitors to Nursery as our chick eggs have arrived and are currently being carefully incubated and are nearly ready to hatch. The children are already enjoying learning about the process and will love meeting the chicks when they arrive. This experience will help bring learning to life as pupils explore life cycles care and growth through first hand observation.

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Staff Accolade Cathy consistently goes above and beyond for our children. Through her work running Breakfast Club and after school tuition she helps ensure every child starts the day well and has the support they need to achieve. Her dedication commitment and care make a real difference to our school community and she is a fantastic example to everyone who works alongside her.

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Year 2 Maths World Visit Year 2 had an exciting and educational visit to Maths World, where the children explored maths through fun, hands‑on activities. Pupils took part in a range of interactive challenges that helped them practise counting, measuring, shapes, and simple problem solving skills.

The children especially enjoyed working together to solve puzzles and games, which helped to develop their teamwork and reasoning. Staff at Maths World encouraged pupils to think carefully and explain their ideas, building confidence and resilience when tackling new challenges.

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EYFS CHICKS As part of their learning about living things, the children in EYFS explored the life cycle of a chicken by observing eggs as they hatched into chicks. This exciting hands‑on experience helped the children develop a deeper understanding of how animals grow and change over time.

The children watched the eggs carefully each day, noticing changes and asking thoughtful questions. Once the chicks hatched, the children helped to care for them, learning about their needs such as warmth, food, water, and gentle handling. This supported important learning about responsibility, kindness, and respect for living things.

Through stories, discussions, drawings, and observations, the children learned new vocabulary linked to life cycles and animals. The experience sparked lots of curiosity and enthusiasm and supported learning across the EYFS curriculum, particularly in Understanding the World and Communication and Language.

It was a memorable and enriching experience that brought learning to life and inspired the children’s natural curiosity.

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Year 5 Science Museum Visit Year 5 had a fantastic trip to the Science Museum as an exciting introduction to their upcoming Earth and Space topic.

During the visit, the children explored a range of fascinating exhibits and showed great curiosity throughout the day. They particularly enjoyed the Who Am I? and Flight galleries, as well as the incredible Space gallery, which helped spark lots of questions and enthusiasm for their new science module. It was a wonderful opportunity to inspire their learning and bring science to life beyond the classroom.

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Wear Blue for Autism Last Week, Tollgate Primary School pupils and staff wore blue items of clothing to show their support for Autism Awareness.

Throughout the day, children took part in studies of famous artists with autism, exploring their lives and artwork and celebrating their unique talents. We also celebrated the diversity in our community and explored the theme of how amazing it is that we are not all the same. We were also proud to raise money for autism awareness charities, helping to support and promote greater understanding of autism.

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Staff Accolade We would like to recognise the work of the wonderful Vikki Healy. She has recently come back into the mainstream teaching team and is working wonders with her class and being a great help across EYFS/KS1.

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Secondary NPQH at Cumberland School At LDE we are lucky enough to have some incredible Head Teachers facilitate on our programmes.

Thahmina Begum (Executive Head Teacher of Haggerston School and Forest Gate Community School) leads this Secondary specialist NPQH with Craig Hewitt from Stratford School Academy.

Sessions are held at Cumberland School in Newham with aspiring Head Teachers from all over East London.

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LDE Out and About...

The team keep being told off as they forget (on purpose) to take photos at all the school visit!

But this week Rosetta and Elana have started the mamoth task of signing off all 50 trainee teachers for QTS. Hence the visit to Ranelagh, one of our partner schools.

Harriet Harvey-Moore our Senior ITT Fellow from Ambition Institute accompanied Rosetta to Haggerston to quality assure our QTS assessments.

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Supporting other schools...

This week Craig and Sam ventured to Battersea again to support at Griffin Primary School.

Sam Dutch (DHT at New City Primary School and expert EYFS teacher) is supporting the Head Teacher and Early Years Lead to improve outcomes in Reception and Nursery.

As part of the Targeted RISE support funded by the DfE, we are also supporting Griffin with attendance by providing an EWO as well as training Subject leaders and TAs and much more...

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We need you!

If you know anyone with a degree who would be amazing as one our teachers of the future, then please ask them to come and talk to us about teacher training...

We also welcome school visits for potential trainees to any of our schools, so please get in touch.

Or contact our Director of Teacher Training directly: rosetta.robinson@londondistricteast.org

Meeting Registration - Zoom

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CONTACT US

https://theboleyntrust.org/

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