CEO Blog

• A weekend filled with Batley Buzz

  Mon 27 Jun 2022

  We have experienced such an exciting weekend in Batley for the Great Get Together 2022.

   

  On Friday the annual Batley Bake Off was held and we were delighted to welcome Jo Cox's family - Jean and Gordon Leadbeater, and Kim Leadbeater, MP, to our family of schools to judge this exciting competition. We thank Laura Bland the Trust's Director of Governance and Compliance who also sat on the judging panel and had to taste all of the cakes - the standard of entries was tremendously high this year, and Batley is certainly not lacking in creativity. Well done to Megan from Batley Grammar School for her super creation that won first prize. 

   

  On Saturday there was a Community Wellbeing Event at Wilton Park and we were thrilled to see so many members of the community there. Then on Sunday we took part in the Run for Jo at Oakwell Hall.

   

  Continuing the legacy of Jo Cox's work is very important to us across our family of schools and the Batley Buzz was evident everywhere this weekend as we met new people, made new friends and celebrated the wonderful people who live and work in the Batley area. We are very proud of our rich and diverse cultural heritage. We really do all have far more in common than that which divides us. 

  

• The Great Get Together 2022

  Mon 20 Jun 2022
  The Great Get Together weekend is almost here. Across our family of schools a wide range of activities and events are taking place to help bring our community together. As we always say in Batley, Community Makes Us, and it is the unity in community that is key.

   

  The Great Get Together events started after our MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016.  A group of Jo's friends and family came together and wanted to do something to honour her memory and continue her legacy. From there the Great Get Together was born and what started as a coffee morning in Batley became an international movement with coffee mornings taking place all across the world to bring people together to tackle loneliness and celebrate diversity in communities.

   

  Jo was a true humanitarian and she believed the world could be a fairer and kinder place. We work hard across our family of schools to continue Jo's legacy and make this dream a reality. The Great Get Together takes place on the weekend closest to Jo's birthday so that's 24-26 June this year and events in Batley commence with the Batley Bake Off on Friday 24th June at 10am at Upper Batley High School. People of all ages and all talents bake a birthday cake for Jo and the standards are incredibly high! The competition is judged by Jo's family - her inspirational parents Jean and Gordon and her sister Kim, who is now our MP. Jo always loved a piece of cake, to meet new people, and make new friends.

   

  We bring our community together to celebrate what unites us, to bridge divides and tackle loneliness. In Jo's words "we have far more in common than that which divides us". There is a big community wellbeing day on Saturday at Wilton Park, and the Run for Jo at Oakwell Hall on Sunday. Plus, special assemblies are taking place in all of our schools so our young people can continue to lead the way in making our world a kinder, fairer and better place to live for everyone. 

  

• Transformation in our Trust

  Mon 13 Jun 2022
  This week we are very proud to share some superb news from Healey School. In the school's first inspection since joining our Trust family they have been graded Good in all areas in their recent Ofsted inspection. It is the first time in the history of the school it has ever been awarded this level of accreditation and is testament to the dedication of the whole school community that the Ofsted inspection recognised good practice in every area of provision.

   

  This Ofsted outcome evidences the hard work and devotion by everyone involved in the school. An even greater accolade, in the context of post-pandemic recovery, with children having been impacted by home learning and the lack of social interaction. We are so proud that Healey School has achieved this recognition, it is extremely well deserved. Placing young people at the heart of everything we do is one of our Trust’s core values and it’s very clear that Healey School upholds this ethos. Mrs Lang is a wonderful Headteacher and we congratulate her and her team on this super achievement. Their work at Healey has been transformational, and children thrive and succeed thanks to the staff team’s care, guidance and support. Very well done to everyone.

   

  One of the very best lines in the report is feedback a child gave to the inspectors: 'If you are coming here to learn, you leave with lots of knowledge and a smile on your face.' Perhaps one of the most important excerpts that can be taken from the report; after all, this is why educators do what they do, putting in the hours and determination. They do it for the children. Young people deserve the very best education, and the very best start in life.

  

• Time for tea, anyone?

  Mon 06 Jun 2022
  Welcome back, we hope you have had a great half term break, and a lovely jubilee weekend. This weekend we celebrated our wonderful community and the great people who live and work here, not just on National Thank You Day on Sunday, but we thank them each and every day. Batley is a wonderful town steeped with such rich cultural history and diversity. We thank our brilliant staff teams for their superb work in our schools; the parents and carers who support their young people and our schools, and the young people themselves who we are so hugely proud of. We know our Year 13 and Year 11 students have been working hard over the half term break so they can excel in their examinations and we wish them the very best of luck over the next few weeks of their final examinations. 

   

  Our family of schools managed to produce over 110m of handmade, bespoke bunting that was on display at the Tate Britain this weekend. Well done to everyone who took part in making that Batley masterpiece. Healey School children delighted the residents of Charles Jones Court to a delicious Jubilee afternoon tea, and special performances from every year group. A wonderful way to showcase the students' talents and celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, and her 70 years of leadership. Community makes us.