Dear all

At the end of another school year, I wanted to write to you to say a huge thank you for the support you given your children to ensure that this year has been a successful one where they have been encouraged to take advantage of the wide ranging opportunities to continue their learning journey in our schools. We truly value the partnership that we have with our families and communities and recognise the important role this plays in our individual and collective success.

I had the pleasure of sharing our primary phase results with Trustees last week (all of which exceed national averages), and talking through the Ofsted experience at Perryfields Academy where I am immensely proud of the recognition we received for so many areas of our work. Both of these demonstrate the positive impact our improvement work is having. It was particularly pleasing to hear from leaders how the collaborative work that we do across our Trust had supported them over the year. That unity across our trust is one of the reasons we redefined our strapline this year, from ‘A growing family built on collaboration’ to simply ‘Growing Together’. Collaboration will always be at the heart of what we do but it is not the only thing that defines us and we are committed to celebrating the unique needs and approaches of all our schools and learners. I also had the opportunity to attend various school’s performances and awards celebrations – all of which just reinforced that we really do have a great deal of talent way beyond the academic.

Court Farm

I’m delighted to be able to share with you that Court Farm Primary School will officially join our Trust early in the new school year. We’re excited at the prospect of growing our Primary Phase and further enabling us to share knowledge and expertise across a wide range of educational needs and areas. I know the staff there are really keen to work with others across our partnership and I’m excited about what we can share with them. We have so much to offer schools, especially those who have felt isolated in the past, and we are hopeful Court Farm won’t be the last to make the choice to join us as we grow together.

Perryfields Rebuild

With funding secured the process for agreeing plans and drawing up a vision of what our new building will look like is ongoing. We are regularly in discussions with the DfE as we know how important it is to get this right, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a building fit for the future. As the recent Ofsted inspection showed, there is some excellent work being undertaken within the existing walls but I couldn’t help reflecting how the new build will eventually benefit our students and staff.

New Technology

I am excited to share some of the plans we’re putting in place to make the most of new technology and maximise artificial intelligence and online resources. Over the next year, we intend to become a ‘Google Education Trust’ with our focus being on working towards one to one access for children. Investment is being made into this area and we will be piloting this with some students very soon in the new year. I am also pleased to share that we secured funds to create an e-learning environment in Plantsbrook School and will be evaluating the impact of this on learning before deciding whether we extend this project into other schools.

Conjoined leadership at Holland House and Town Junior

I want to thank pupils and families who have adapted quickly to the new shared leadership  arrangements across Town Junior and Holland House Schools. I know that this was a big change but also know that this will be incredibly beneficial to pupils in their transition from Holland House to Town Junior as we start to create even more cohesion in learning opportunities under Mrs Smith’s headship.

As ever at this time of year, we say goodbye to some of our wonderful students. I wish you all a bright future and best of luck for your exam results. For those of you who are returning in September, I look forward to seeing you after our break – refreshed and ready to take on new challenges!

Claire Pritchard

Chief Executive, Broadleaf Partnership Trust