CEO Blog

• Charity Champions

  Mon 22 Apr 2024

  At Batley Multi Academy Trust we know our staff go over and above, and always go the extra mile. This week three colleagues, in particular, are quite literally going the extra mile.

   

  Two colleagues, Craig and Amy, from two separate schools in our Trust family, ran the London Marathon this weekend for causes close to their hearts. They both managed to complete the 26.2 mile course in sub four hours, as well as raising huge amounts for important causes. Wow - what a wonderful achievement! We really admire how hard they have worked not only on the day itself, but to train for this event, whilst having a busy day job, as well as personal commitments. This demonstrates how determined they both are and how focussed on helping others. Really well done, we are all very proud of you both!

   

  Then, on 1 May, one of our school governors will be 'Biking for Breakfasts' when he takes part in a sponsored cycle event to raise money for school breakfast clubs. Jonathan will be cycling 245 miles in just 3 days. Jonathan is part of a team of 18 cyclists taking on this challenge. They are raising money for the Huddersfield Town Foundation's school Breakfast Club initiative. The Foundation has provided 2.5 million breakfasts to children in schools since it was established 11 years ago. The Breakfast Club costs over £140,000 per year to run, so Jonathan and his team are helping to raise much needed funds to keep this initiative going. Many of the young people in our Trust family of schools benefit from these breakfasts each and every day, and a good breakfast in the morning helps young people to be ready to learn.

   

  We wish Jonathan the very best of luck and if you'd like to sponsor him please click this link. Please make a donation if you can, every little helps. 

   

  Our staff, and our Trust family of schools are at the very heart of our community, always doing their very best for all our young people and their families. 

  

• Celebration time

  Mon 15 Apr 2024

  Our Trust family of schools have been celebrating over the past week. Our new Trust-wide attendance strategy, launched in September 2023, is having a hugely positive impact with attendance improving across all our schools and many schools winning attendance awards for their success. Every Day Counts, so reducing lost learning days by reducing absence from school is essential in maximising young people's outcomes. We thank our whole community for their hard work on securing high attendance for all.

   

  Many of our families have also been celebrating Eid, and we wish our whole community good health, peace and happiness this week and always. 

   

  Our family of schools are also continuing to promote careers' education because high attendance, brings high achievement, and with a great education our young people are in the driving seat for an exciting future ahead of them. 

  

• Welcome Back

  Mon 08 Apr 2024

  Welcome back; I hope you have all enjoyed a relaxing Easter break and spent time with family and friends. Easter is a time of hope, renewal and a brighter future. To everyone in our community celebrating Eid this week, we wish you Eid Mubarak, and we wish our whole community good health, peace and happiness.

   

  This week sees the start of the summer term in our schools and the last 15 weeks of this academic year. Our learners have been working hard to prepare for their forthcoming examinations, with many of them attending master classes over the school holiday period. We praise them all for their hard work, dedication and commitment to securing a bright future. Education is the ticket to every young person's further education, employment or training; and to all our learners, regardless of their background or starting point, securing a job that they love and can thrive in. Here's to a great term ahead with everyone succeeding and achieving together. 

   

  "Education does not transform the world. Education changes people. People change the world." 

  - Paulo Freire. 

  

• Love to Learn

  Mon 18 Mar 2024

  We have held some fabulous, immersive learning experiences recently across our Trust family of schools. The Trust-wide careers event - Trust Us, held at Batley Town Hall, was a big hit with our young people, our staff and our community, and made front page news in the local press.
  
  Careers education is a core part of our work to raise aspirations, and ensuring everyone can be the very best version of themselves. It is also hugely important to us that we set young people up well with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their next steps of education, employment or training, so they can pursue the career of their choice. As Confucius once said; "choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life".  

   

  A crucial part of being ready for further education, or ready for the world of work, is being highly skilled in literacy - reading, writing and oracy - and our Trust family of schools celebrated World Book Day in style. Developing a love of learning often starts with a love of reading. Reading not only teaches us about other experiences, it is also how we can all deepen and enrich our vocabulary. Anyone who says they don't like reading, just hasn't found the right book yet! 

   

  Batley Girls' High School linked literacy to a creative challenge and young people decorated their classroom doors in the theme of their chosen book. The door displays look amazing! What better way to get our learners engaged with reading, and to have a lasting display of the relevance, importance and significance of a book. Absolutely brilliant!

   

  And, do remember, at Upper Batley High School there is a community library for anyone to come along and take a book, relax and enjoy! You are never alone when you have a good book. 

  

• An inspirational way to start the day

  Mon 11 Mar 2024

  It was Field Lane's turn to host the Batley Breakfast last week and they did it superbly well! The Fields community space was packed full, and the Batley Buzz was definitely in the air. Members, Trustees, Governors, Trust Central Team colleagues, school leaders and other colleagues from across our Trust family of schools were all treated to a presentation by the Headteacher and then a tour of the school in action. From start to finish the event was simply marvellous.

   

  The Headteacher outlined the school's vision and values and how these align with our Trust vision and values. She also described how Field Lane achieves such tremendous success with all of their young people, regardless of their background or starting point. Field Lane is an exceptional school - each lesson of every day embodies their values, and they have high aspirations for everyone, both staff and young people alike. 

   

  Field Lane not only achieves exceptional outcomes (way above national averages) but they have such wonderful creativity, a really strong focus on wellbeing, caring for and nurturing the whole person; and they are research driven, using evidence-informed practice well in every area of their work.

   

  Visitors saw the school's impressive, handcrafted bespoke library which is a magical space to help promote the love of reading, and we saw the librarians in action delivering books to every class as part of World Book Day activities. The excitement was palpable as each class eagerly received their specially gift wrapped book and carefully unwrapped it to reveal the captivating contents inside. Field Lane is a truly unique and special school. At the end of the tour no one wanted to leave.

   

  Well done to the Field Lane team; a superb school and a wonderful place for children to learn, grow, develop and thrive.

  

• Trust Us - with your future

  Mon 04 Mar 2024

  Last Thursday saw our first ever Trust-wide careers event held at Batley Town Hall.

   

  Our Trust family of schools all came together for the Trust Us event. The aim of which was to be community centric and provide a careers event appropriate for both our primary and secondary age young people, our staff and our community.
  
  We are the Trust at the heart of the Batley community and we know firsthand that if you choose a job you love, you never have to work a day in your life. That's the hope and aspiration we have for our whole community; that our young people will work hard at school, aim high and be successful. They can then secure a job they love and have an extremely satisfying and rewarding career.

   

  The day commenced with an immersive, bespoke drama experience for our younger learners, then a range of providers set up their careers stands and stalls. We were joined by universities, colleges, public services and local businesses - the Town Hall was absolutely packed full of people all excited about what the future can hold for individuals and for our town overall.

   

  The Batley Buzz was evident everywhere. The event was really well attended by members of the local community, parents/carers, our Members, Trustees and Governors. Our incredibly skilled and talented young people are excited about what their future holds. 

  

• People Make Places

  Mon 26 Feb 2024
  Across our Trust family of schools we know that People Make Places.
  
  Every half term one of our schools hosts an event to showcase their unique skills, talents, passions and ambitions for the future. Staff and young people from across our Trust family come together to share what they believe is special about working and learning in their school, and in our fantastic community. 

   

  Last week we all visited the brilliant Field Lane School. The theme was "choose a job that you love and you never have to work a day in your life". Young people talked about their hopes for the future and career ambitions, and staff members shared their career journeys so far and what they hope to achieve in the future. It was an immensely inspiring event and well attended by people from across our community. 

   

  This Thursday is our Trust-wide community careers event taking place at Batley Town Hall - Trust Us with your child's future and your career - everyone welcome. At a time of such division nationally, and across the world, it has never been more important to build a strong sense of belonging and hope for a brighter future for our community. Batley is a brilliant place to live, to work and to learn. Community makes us and the unity in community is key. 

  

• Batley Breakfast

  Mon 19 Feb 2024

  Welcome back! We hope you have all enjoyed a relaxing half term break and spent time with family, friends and doing things that make you happy. The Batley Buzz was definitely in the air at the end of last term with a great Batley Breakfast event at Healey School. The Headteacher, Mrs Lang, and her team hosted a super event when they opened their school doors to those in governance roles across our Trust family of schools.

   

  The Batley Breakfast events are a key part of our Trust Governance Strategy. These events enable our team of governance professionals; including Members, Trustees and Governors, along with school colleagues, to have a firsthand experience of our school environments. They meet with the Headteacher and their team to see how the school's vision aligns with the Trust vision and values, and to observe the progress the school is making towards their key priorities for the year. 

   

  These breakfast events also provide the opportunity for those with a governance role to tour the school site, witness the quality of the learning environment and really get a feel for how the school operates, as well as meeting colleagues from across our Trust family of schools.

   

  Those in governance roles have a key leadership role in our organisation, and it is crucial that they know our schools well and are therefore able to make informed strategic decisions when reviewing finances and budgets, site improvement works, and suchlike. They really do play a vital role in our organisation, and as volunteers they give their time so generously. We thank everyone who has a governance role in our organisation immensely for their time, commitment, dedication and ongoing support in ensuring we are the Trust at the heart of the Batley community, and that every young person receives a great education here in Batley. 

  

• Do the next right thing

  Mon 05 Feb 2024

  Across our Trust family of schools so many exciting activities take place each and every day. We work on three main key themes across our whole organisation which are focussed on;

  - our young people

  - our staff team

  - our community

   

  Currently we have just finished external reviews of all our SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) provision with national expert, Natalie Packer, and from that we are designing our Trust-wide SEND provision, which we hope will include an all-new SEND Hub.

   

  Our People & Talent Team are working with stakeholders to further enhance and develop our Trust-wide People & Talent Strategy to ensure we are always the employer of choice.

   

  In addition, our Trust Development Centre is almost completed. This will provide key space for training, development and networking meetings to strengthen our collaborative networks across our family of schools, as well as office space for the central team. We are also at public consultation stage for two new schools joining our Trust family this year. 

   

  Finally for this week, our new Chief Operating Officer (COO) has joined the team, to strengthen our site development so every school is a great learning environment for our young people to learn, and our staff to work.

   

  Our mantra is to always do the next right thing, and do it well. 

   

  Have a great week everyone and enjoy the half term break next week. Stay safe. 

  

• Great Winter Get Together 2024

  Mon 29 Jan 2024

  The Batley Buzz was evident at Healey School last Tuesday. The school hall looked superb, all decked out with red and white gingham for the Great Winter Get Together. Healey School put on a tremendous spread with a huge array of sweet and savoury delectable treats. The school doors were open to the whole community and it was wonderful to see Trustees, Governors, school leaders, staff from all across our Trust family of schools, parents/carers, young people and members of the local community.

   

  It really was an incredibly special event with people sharing their stories about their lives working and/or living in Batley, and people making new connections. One elderly lady donated a beautiful tea set which had been a wedding gift to her and her husband. She wanted to support the school, and help leave a legacy for these wonderful afternoon tea events, which benefit the whole community - young and old. 

   

  This is exactly what the Great Get Togethers are all about - bringing people together through one connection at a time. A HUGE thank you to Mrs Lang and the wonderful team at Healey for such a superb afternoon. Healey truly is a school at the heart of their local community.