Across Nene Education Trust, we work with individual schools, and the collective group of schools, with the clear aim of providing a good quality of education for all pupils and the communities we serve.
At the heart of our school improvement strategy is a commitment to facilitate partnership working between all Trust schools, and with that goal in mind we have, this summer, created for the first time, a dedicated School Improvement Team.
Nene Education Trust aims to be the best it can be, and we recognise the need to bring in talented professionals with the expertise we need to ensure that every aspect of our work is done well and efficiently, to create the conditions and relationships in every school for teachers and staff to flourish and pupils to succeed.
The new team comprises Julie Bloor as Secondary School Improvement Partner, Karen Stevenson as SEN Lead, and Sam Parish as Safeguarding Lead. They will work together to make Nene Education Trust an organisation where exceptional working relationships are fostered, encouraging each school to become self-evaluating and outward looking.
As the new team came together during the summer to prepare for the return of pupils to the classrooms at the beginning of September, their enthusiasm for adding another level of support and opportunity to the staff within Nene Education Trust was clear.
Julie Bloor said:
“The creation of the team is an acknowledgement that if the Trust is to continue to grow and develop, it needs to invest in the leadership team. There’s no point in increasing capacity before you have taken the right steps to cope with growth and put the processes in place that support the staff in there and offer the high-quality professional development they need.
“It’s an investment in people. It’s about growing collaboration across not only our schools but also between Nene Education Trust and other trusts, finding links that benefit everyone.
“We have some very good people already in place in our schools, and it makes sense to streamline processes so that we draw on all those pockets of expertise and build on them.”
Karen Stevenson added:
“Bringing the new team together is an exciting and innovative approach. It will allow us to bring together all resources we have, look at the additional training that is needed, and help everyone be the best they can be.
“It’s early days, but we will be working to identify the expertise we already have within the Trust, and looking at gaining a clear understanding of how that looks in the classroom, and how that can be best delivered to pupils.”
When the new term begins, Julie, Karen and Sam will be spending time in the Trust’s schools, getting to know the staff and the pupils and beginning to bring their plans together to identify what the support and training structure should look like.
There are, of course, statutory elements to all aspects of education, and the team will be responsible for those, but their aim is to go beyond what is necessary and expand to doing all they possibly can to achieve the quality of education and engagement they want to see.
Karen added:
“This investment in leadership sends a clear message to any professional already working in, or wanting to work in one of our schools, that with us they will have the opportunity they need to develop themselves with expert support and guidance. In that way, we will build a strong team to take Nene Education Trust forward.”
Schools are only as good as the people in them and our goal is for every teacher in every classroom to be as good as they can be in what they teach (the curriculum) and how they teach (pedagogy).
Investment like this in expertise, makes that a realistic goal.
Nene Education Trust is an eight-school multi-academy trust made up of seven primary schools – Windmill Primary in Raunds, Stanwick Primary, Newton Road School in Rushden, Raunds Park Infants, St Peter’s CE Junior, Woodford CE Primary, Redwell Primary School in Wellingborough – and Manor School, Raunds.
Find out more about Nene Education Trust on 01933 627081 or at www.neneeducationtrust.org.uk
