CEO Blog

• Young people cannot be what they cannot see

  Mon 28 Oct 2024

  I was delighted to be invited to the Gujarati Writers' Forum (GWF) event for the launch of Ahmad Lunat OBE's new book 'Our Heritage 2'. Ahmad is a well respected member of our local community, a Member of our Trust, and a man who champions the role of women in our community and our society as a whole.

   

  During the evening I was thrilled to be presented with a special recognition award for outstanding services to education. Myself and several other women were the very proud recipients of special recognition awards on the night. We hope this helps to inspire the next generation of women and girls in our schools, and our community, to be the best version of themselves; aim high, be ambitious and achieve their goals. 

   

  The awards were as follows:

  
  Samantha Vickers - in appreciation of her outstanding contribution to the field of education and supporting GWF, presented by Rt Hon Iqbal Mohammed MP for Dewsbury & Batley.
   

  Fatima Patel - in appreciation of her outstanding continuous excellence in journalism, presented by Rashiqa Laher.
  
  Hawabibi Laher, OBE - in appreciation of her pioneering contribution to the education profession and inspiring the next generation, presented by Jeanette Dent retired teacher and still active in the profession.
   

  Saheda Yusuf Patel - in appreciation of her outstanding contribution to the Royal Voluntary Service, presented by Zaynab Daji, daughter of the late Ismail Daji who was the longstanding Secretary of GWF.
   

  Maryam Adam - in appreciation of being a lifelong host of legendary cricketers and their families, presented by Aisha Iqbal, BBC Journalist.

   

  You can read more about the event on our Batley Brilliance page.

  

• Enriching the learning experience for all at Manorfield

  Mon 21 Oct 2024

  Manorfield held their Batley Breakfast last week and our Members, Trustees, Governors, and colleagues from across the Trust family of schools, were incredibly impressed by the work of the fantastic staff team, and the brilliant learners. The Manorfield team are transforming their curriculum offer for learners, which includes extensive work to their outdoor learning environment and curriculum enrichment. Learners have been taking part in some superb careers work based on 'Little People, Big Dreams'. 

   

  The learners themselves were incredible; speaking confidently and articulately to a room full of adults about their experiences of learning at Manorfield and why education is so important to them, as well as why they truly enjoy learning at Manorfield. Well done to Mrs Bradshaw and her fantastic team of staff and learners. Manorfield is a great place for staff to work, and for children to learn. 

  

• The most rewarding job in the world

  Mon 14 Oct 2024

  Over the past few weeks we have been delivering a series of training events and conferences for our ECTs (Early Career Teachers). Our Yorkshire Rose Teaching Partnership led by Emma and Rebecca have been busy planning, organising and facilitating these events.

   

  Our ECTs are highly committed, highly skilled colleagues who have recently joined our teaching team and we are thrilled they have chosen to start their careers here with us in Batley. Working in education can be challenging at times, and it is hard work, but what job isn't if you put your heart and soul into it, and you love what you do? In education no two days are ever the same, and equally, no two lessons are ever the same. Every day is different, every class you teach is different, because every child is different. That is what makes the job unique, exciting, interesting and special. You have the opportunity to make a difference to a young person's life and to help them build a bright, positive, happy and healthy future.

   

  The work educators do each and every day helps to transform children's lives, and helps to build stronger communities, therefore impacting positively on society overall. Those of us who are fortunate to work in education have a very privileged role. 

   

  The early days of learning how to teach can be a little like how it feels when you first learn to drive; how can you steer, check your mirrors, change gear, coordinate the pedals etc all at once? Some readers may even be old enough to remember when cars had a choke to contend with as well, those were the days! However, before you know it, you are driving comfortably and confidently, and wondering what you used to worry about; and teaching is exactly the same. You learn the basics, then you find your style and your stride, and everything clicks into place.

   

  You'll never look back, working in education in a teaching, or an associate staff role, really is the most rewarding job in the world.

  

• Great Governance

  Mon 07 Oct 2024

  On Saturday we held our Trust Annual Governance Conference 2024. The event was very well attended and the Batley Buzz was definitely in the air. This annual event brings together our Members, Trustees, Governors and Central Trust Team to discuss our strategic plans for the year ahead, and how Governors at all levels help our schools to deliver on those plans and ensure we practice our mission of being the Trust at the heart of the Batley community. Our work focuses on three key areas: our learners, our staff and our community.

   

  We currently hold three key annual events that are pivotal for our Trust community: the strategy day our Trustees lead with the Central Team and the Chairs of our Local Governing Boards in June; then our Trust Annual Conference in September, for all our staff, begins the new academic year; followed by our Annual Governance Conference. 

   

  Our Trust work is informed by all our key stakeholders and these events are a fantastic way to bring people together to share creative ideas and strategies for success. All of this helps to build an incredibly strong team ethos in Batley.

   

  Our Governance team made three pledges, which form the pillars of their support for our Trust family of schools for the year ahead:

  • the wellbeing of our staff and learners,
  • building stakeholder engagement e.g. through our parents/carers Stronger Together networks, and our community,
  • and challenge our leaders appropriately to ensure every school in our Trust is a remarkable school.

   

  In Batley we have bucked the national trend and continue to recruit highly skilled and experienced Members, Trustees and Governors. We have a 70-strong team now and are always looking for more great people to join that team. If you are keen, enthusiastic, forward-thinking and able to support our Trust family of schools in a Governance role, we would love to hear from you.

   

  The Governance team is led by our outstanding team of Governance Professionals. You receive advice, guidance and ongoing support from the moment you express an interest in joining our team. If you have the right skills to add even further capacity to our team please contact us at:
  governance.professional@batleymat.co.uk.