CEO Blog

• Belonging

  Mon 29 Sep 2025

  Our theme this term has been all about belonging in Batley. Children starting a new school, or a new year of their education; parents/carers making strong connections with the schools their children attend; new staff settling in to their promoted role or new school, and Governors, Trustees and Members volunteering to help lead our schools and giving their time so generously in these unpaid roles. We are very privileged to work in such a great community. We are very fortunate in Batley to have such highly committed individuals working in our schools, and such great parents/carers and families choosing our schools for their children. Batley=Brilliant Education.

   

  Attendance has been our big priority to get the school year off to a great start. We want all our children to feel like they belong here, so they want to come to school every day. The research proves that children with low attendance e.g. less than 98% have lower achievement. When a child has 98% attendance they have missed 4 school days, or 28 lessons. That is a lot of lost learning!  Higher attendance=higher achievement. 

   

  The target for everyone - staff and learners is at least 98% attendance. We don't ask for 100% as we know life happens and at some point in the school year your child may be genuinely ill. However, that will hopefully be rare. We also thank all those families who have ensured their child has 100% attendance so far this term. Really well done to them!

   

  Thank you also to the families who know the value of a great education and therefore do not book term time absence. We know flights are much cheaper during term time (anyone who works in education has always been frustrated by that as they can never benefit from cheaper flights). However, a great education is priceless. Higher attendance = higher achievement.

  

• Community Makes Us

  Mon 22 Sep 2025

  Upper Batley High School hosted our first Batley Brilliance event of this academic year last Thursday 18 September. Attendance was excellent with Members, Trustees, Governors and colleagues from across our Trust family of schools, all coming along to hear the Headteacher's vision for 2025/26 and beyond, and how this aligns to the Trust's mission, vision and values.

   

  The Batley Brilliance events showcase all that is truly unique and spectacular about each one of our schools. Every school is part of the Trust family but each school is a sibling rather than a clone. Plus, these events are a great chance to network across the Trust family and share a cup of Yorkshire Tea. 

   

  Upper Batley has so many unique specialisms such as the Batley Barnyard, Batley Bees, Horticulture and their very own Forest School. Sadly over the summer holiday period vandals burned down the Forest School outdoor classroom and all the fantastic learning spaces learners and staff have worked hard to develop over the past 11 years. The police are dealing with this matter, and the perpetrators are known to them, but for Upper Batley it is about never wasting a good crisis. The staff team are already working with the talented and creative learners to design what the new outdoor classroom could look like, and working on increased security for this area, as well as fundraising so their vision can become a reality. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Forest School will be back even bigger and better than it was before!

  

• Community makes us

  Mon 15 Sep 2025
  We were delighted on Friday evening to be invited to speak at a launch event for a new book about the importance of community, history and heritage. The book captures the stories of people’s cultural heritage, the importance of family, friends and community, and outlines the hopes, dreams, ambitions and aspirations of so many individuals both for themselves and for generations to come. When there is sadly so much division across the world today, books like this are needed more than ever, so that we can celebrate difference and diversity. 

   

  The individuals whose life stories are recorded in the book, have helped to shape the communities in which they live and now call home, and their stories evidence how community makes us, and why the unity in community is key. The commonalities between these personal stories are so endearing.

   

  People talk about friendship, love, and the kindness shown to them by others, and in so many cases by strangers. The importance and significance of family and community values resonate clearly. A common theme for so many people is the importance of a good education. A great education informs our thinking, our decision making, how we understand and respect different cultures and different people, and informs the choices we make. We should all be continually learning each and every day, and a great education can never be taken away from us. The more we learn, the more we realise there is to learn. 

   

  As a great man once said; ‘Education doesn’t change the world. Education changes people and people change the world.’

  

• Welcome Back

  Mon 08 Sep 2025

  Welcome back everyone to the start of the new school year. We missed you!

   

  At the start of the new school year it is the time for new beginnings. Time to make some new friends, especially for those young people just joining our Trust family of schools, and those moving up into a new year group and maybe starting the year with a new teacher.

   

  September brings an opportunity to attend every day, and to make the most of the experiences school brings. That may be new friendships, learning new things, trying new activities and joining new clubs. School is welcoming, rewarding and provides the opportunity for you to be the best that you can be.

   

  For each and every one of us the new term is about being the best version of ourselves. We don't need to be better than anyone else, we just to be the best that we can be. This September, unlock your own unique potential! You have so much to offer, so much to give and we are thrilled that you are here in the Batley community. 

   

  Batley=Brilliance. This is going to be a great year!