CEO Blog

• Award winning again in 2023

  Mon 18 Dec 2023

  Well, this is it, the last CEO blog of 2023! Oh, what a year we have had raising standards across our Trust family of schools, and we are absolutely delighted to end 2023 on a high, where our Trust has achieved another award. We are proud to announce we are now a Disability Confident Employer.
   

  Our people really matter to us and we are the employer of choice locally. We recruit only the very best people for every role, in every school, because our children deserve the best. We are also an inclusive learning community and we treat everyone with respect. Our superb People & Talent Team have rigorous and thorough recruitment procedures. We ensure all individuals have equal access to the roles we advertise and use inclusive processes and practices. We really are thrilled that this good practice has been recognised with this award. 

   

  We would like to thank our whole community for their ongoing support for our Trust family of schools throughout 2023, and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

   

  This week our schools are busy with end of term concerts, nativities and celebration assemblies - we hope to see you there! We are also delivering hampers and food bank parcels across our community, and activities are running at Healey School during the holidays.

   

  We are a Trust at the heart of the Batley community. See you in 2024, for another exciting year in Batley.

  

• Recycling Hero

  Mon 11 Dec 2023

  This week we are celebrating the wonderful achievements of Liam, our gardener (and more), who was awarded a Recycling Hero Award by Kirklees Council. Liam is a creative genius; there appears to be nothing that he cannot design, make or build, and he is transforming the outdoor and indoor learning spaces at both Field Lane and Manorfield. He handcrafted the most spectacular library at Field Lane, and built from scratch an amazing climbing frame at Manorfield, as well as resources for their sensory room. 

   

  The judges' criteria focused on those who had demonstrated that they'd gone over and above expectations, and who had not only put in the hard work themselves, but who had inspired others to take steps to tackle climate change and reduce waste. Liam inspires our staff and young people each and every day, not only via his gardening and design expertise, but by the type of person he is. He is creative, humble, hard working, intelligent and one of the kindest, most selfless people you could ever hope to meet. 

   

  Liam's amazing creative pieces ensure that our school buildings and grounds are innovative and inspiring learning environments. We are extremely fortunate to have Liam on our staff team.

  

• Lighting up our town

  Mon 04 Dec 2023

  The Batley Buzz was evident in Batley town centre on Friday evening, when three of our super schools collaborated to form a schools' choir and bring a little festive cheer to Batley, as part of the Christmas Lights switch on ceremony.

   

  A huge thank you to Batley Girls', Healey and Upper Batley schools whose young people all sang superbly well and helped to generate a real air of excitement in our community. Also, a massive thank you to Mr Rodwell, the music and More In Common leader from Upper Batley High School for coordinating the choir; and to our Trust Headteachers who came along to support.

   

  On Sunday, our festive hamper packing continued, with Emma Rodrigues and her team continuing to put together the festive food and toy hampers ready to be delivered across our school community this winter.

   

  Our Trust family of schools really are at the heart of the Batley community.