questionnaire, mainly from staff of the 4 schools and from parents. ... platform from which we can expand and a means of
Cmat Stakeholder Newsletter Summer Term 2015 “A family of academies that promotes lifelong learning and inspires everyone to succeed”
Foundation Stage building at Black Firs nearing completion
The new purpose-built centre is due to open at the end of June Turn to page 3 for our interview with Black Firs’ headteacher, Martin Casserley, on the school’s first year as part of Cmat.
Feedback on Cmat Consultation In April, we consulted with all stakeholders on a new ‘Vision’ for Cmat. We received 41 responses to the questionnaire, mainly from staff of the 4 schools and from parents. There was little support from stakeholders for changing the motto – Achieving Success Together - and it was therefore proposed by Senior Leaders that we do not have a motto for Cmat and that each school keeps its own motto. It was also agreed that we should adopt a strapline for Cmat that incorporates the most popular responses into one sentence and this will therefore be: “A family of academies that promotes lifelong learning and inspires everyone to succeed” In answer to questions about how Cmat has developed, around half of respondents felt that there has been very little change to their day to day work. Many saw the setting up as a positive strategic decision with comments like “visionary”, “resilient”, “risk talking” or “progressive” and commented about it being a platform from which we can expand and a means of “extending our great reputation.” There were a number of comments that suggest that great things are anticipated for the future through increased collaboration. When asked what future priorities people would like us to consider, comments included transition for Castle School students, developing The Congleton College, making academies “outstanding”, SEN specialism being developed, middle leadership links across the academies, reviewing management and teaching standards, investment in buildings and sports facilities and staff development. www.congletonmat.com
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Language Teaching at Castle Primary School This year CHS Languages teachers have been teaching Spanish every week to 105 students from Years 3 to 6 at the school. Students have had fun covering topics such as greetings, birthdays, pets, food, and Christmas and Easter traditions and, of course, learning to communicate with one another at a basic level in Spanish. The study of a Modern Foreign Language is now statutory at KS2 and our MFL teachers have welcomed the opportunity to extend their skills to teaching primary students, to enjoy teaching in the idyllic setting that Castle offers and to work with such helpful and positive primary colleagues and students.
Cmat Launches New Website In May, we launched our new website— www.congletonmat.com enabling everyone interested in finding out more about the Trust and its members to access all the information in one, simple and userfriendly location.
The site addresses all the areas of interest about Cmat, including the background to the formation of the Trust, the particular benefits of being a member, the Board, current vacancies, news stories and the ‘family of schools’, which currently comprises Black Firs Primary, Castle Primary, Congleton High and The Congleton College. Above: The Spanish healthy living display created by students at Castle Primary School
Anyone interested in keeping up to date with Cmat can also do so via Twitter @Congletonmat or on Facebook as Congleton Multi-Academy Trust.
Cmat Improving Standards for All Cmat is once again demonstrated its commitment to raising and maintaining standards across the whole of education by hosting and supporting a number of BME workshops and courses in June. According to a 2012 census, the North West Region has only 450 educational leaders from BME backgrounds. Cmat is supporting the North West BME Project, funded by the National College for Teaching and Leadership, which aims to tackle this under-representation in the education sector. CHS hosted two workshops, one each for primary and secondary, run by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate, designed to help head teachers and senior leaders improve their schools by providing an insight into how Ofsted inspects. The ‘Through the Lens of an Inspector’ course demystified the process of inspection and also helped schools to evaluate themselves and make necessary improvements in advance of inspection. The workshops were free for delegates from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds . In addition to the workshops, Cmat also supported ‘Authentic Leader’, a residential course held in Nottingham, ‘Investing into the diversity of Black and Global Majority Leaders in Schools’. The course aimed to help delegates become more confident and self-aware and, ultimately, become more effective school leaders. The successful leadership of Congleton High will be used as a case study throughout the course.
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www.congletonmat.com
A year on from joining Cmat... It is now one year on since Black Firs Primary School became the first Primary to join Cmat and the school has gone from strength to strength in that time. Martin Casserley, head teacher at Black Firs for the last eighteen years, explained why he and his team took the decision to become part of the Multi-Academy Trust. As a school, Black Firs has always been very entrepreneurial, keen to get involved with new, beneficial ventures at an early stage. Its status as a ‘cheque book school’ meant that Black Firs already had a great deal of financial autonomy and it was keen for this self-sufficiency to increase and extend to other areas of the running of the school. With the general consensus of opinion regarding the conversion of schools to academy status being that it was not if but when schools would convert, investigating the opportunity of becoming an academy seemed to be the next logical step for the school.
sees that, as part of Cmat, Black Firs can now help to make this even easier for students on their way to CHS. Development and funding As with CHS, the continued success of Black Firs now sees it at full capacity, with space at a premium across the school but, as part of Cmat, Black Firs has been able to access funding to construct a new Early Years Foundation Stage facility. Built to house Pre-School and Reception, the new state-of-the-art building will ultimately be of benefit to the whole school, freeing up more space in the main school and relieving the pressure on the previously over-stretched class rooms. Black Firs had been in discussions with the Local Authority for six years to try to secure funding for the project. As part of Cmat, the school was able to access the Academies Maintenance Fund, which provided almost £400,000 of the £740,000 required for the new build, with the school financing the remainder.
Pooling of resources There are a number of distinct advantages he sees to being part of Cmat, from basic day-to-day running of each member academy, the economies of scale of being able to purchase goods and services as a large group and the opportunity to be able to create improvements across teaching and management. Being part of the Cmat also means back-office activity can be pulled together across the Trust to make things more streamlined and cost-efficient. Learning from one another Martin sees a distinct difference in culture between primary and high schools and appreciates the opportunity to begin to blur the lines through involvement, giving schools a greater understanding of the issues that each faces. CPD is a key benefit of working closely within the Trust family, with both teaching and leadership teams able to learn from each other and share experience and expertise to ultimately improve the learning experience for students. Transition The transition from primary school to high school is a crucial time in the learning journey and one that both Black Firs and Congleton High have always worked hard to make as smooth as possible. Martin
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The new centre has teaching and learning spaces designed specifically with pre-school and reception children in mind. It also has plenty of storage, sport changing rooms at the back and features a mezzanine level, which will have a slide for the children to use to get back down
The future Since joining the Cmat family, Martin Casserley definitely sees the benefits of being part of a multiacademy trust and would urge his fellow Primary Schools to consider this as an extremely beneficial option, offering opportunities to make changes, to develop and to improve, not just for your own school but also for education as a whole.
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The Congleton College Strengthens its Industry Links As part of the Cmat overall aim of offering relevant and accessible learning for all and to create further opportunities for students, The Congleton College has continued to forge and strengthen its links within the business community. Over the past year, The College team have organised a programme of Business Breakfast meetings, met with twenty five individual employers on site and have hosted a Chamber of Commerce event. Through these ventures, the team have been able to raise awareness amongst local, regional and national businesses of the new offering for Congleton, update them on the progress made by The Congleton College to date and inform them of what the future holds. This has been a two-way conversation; The College has sought to use the knowledge and expertise of these businesses to steer its own development and has discussed with them how The College can help them achieve their own business goals. At all stages, the team have sought and encouraged the involvement of these businesses going forward and are delighted that most have been extremely Employers at one of the Business Breakfasts positive and eager to get involved. Some businesses are hosted by The Congleton College this year already working with The College to offer students unique opportunities to get ahead in the learning and employment stakes, such as leading sessions on Interview Skills. There have been a number of offers of work placements, helping to develop vital work skills and often leading to permanent employment. These future employers are also working with the college to offer Apprenticeship places for The Congleton College students, enabling them to combine learning with work experience. An exciting development to The College offering came earlier this year, with the launch of the Football Development Academy, in conjunction with Stoke City Football Club (SCFC). Students study a Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Sport (Performance and Excellence) whilst fine-tuning their football skills through high quality training from SCFC coaches. This new link also enables The College to access specialist goalkeeping training and offer extra-curricular training for girls. The Congleton College plans to continue to build new links with the business community and maintain and develop the strong relationships already created in order that each and every enrolling student will benefit, offering them opportunities to give them the very best foundation on which to build their futures.
Cmat at Full Capacity We are delighted that since our last stakeholder newsletter, Cmat has continued to expand, with Castle Primary joining our family of schools in March 2015. We welcome their headteacher, Jill Mason, as well as all staff, students, parents and governors. Cmat schools continue to prove the schools of choice for Congleton and surrounding areas. CHS’ latest Ofsted inspection ensured that all Cmat members remain as GOOD schools and as such, with the exception of a few spaces in some year groups, they are now at full capacity. With the introduction of The Congleton College, CHS has capacity at sixteen plus but has seen a record number of applications for Sixth Form this year and anticipates that spaces there too will soon be at a premium. 4
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