As we reach the end of this academic year, I would just like to take this opportunity to express my thanks, pride and admiration in how brilliantly everyone in our school communities have worked together in the face of immense change and challenges.
Although the journey has been tough over the last couple of years, for the sake of our young people, we need to keep up the positive momentum. Education is fundamental to unlocking potential and achieving aspirations. We must constantly strive to improve the offer we make.
We must continue with the robust, sustained school improvement agenda we created this year and ensure that the provision we offer our young people is the best that it can be.
We need to continue sharing good practice and supporting each other as schools and academy trusts. In the last two months alone, I’ve attended the NW24 Annual Conference, the CST Conference and a SW Trust Leader’s Network event, all of which were opportunities to network and share good practice with other educators. We were lucky enough to hear from the CEO of United Learning Sir Jon Coles and Hannah Woodhouse, our Regional Director. If my prediction is correct, teamwork and events like these are going to become even more important as we have to become more self-sufficient after some of the challenges faced. Going forward, it will also be crucial that local governments are supportive and engaging with schools in order to instil confidence back in the education system.
It is equally important to keep providing our students with the quality and quantity of opportunities that we managed to achieve even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This not only relies on the positivity and dedication of school staff but also on the generosity and enthusiasm of external partners that we work with to create our fantastic provisions. We owe countless people and organisations a massive thank you for helping us to offer our enrichment timetable, our school trips and our work experience programme, and that’s just mentioning a few.
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our trustees and governors. So much work goes on behind the scenes of schools and we are fortunate to have such a dedicated, effective and committed team driving things forward.
I also need, of course, to thank the parents and carers of our students. They play a crucial role in helping to make sure every child gets the most out of their time at school. It is essential that we work together to achieve the best for our young people.
To conclude, I sincerely hope that everyone working in education, whether it be CEOs, LSAs headteachers, SENCOs, teachers, therapists, admin staff, other support staff and everyone else involved in changing lives and achieving potential is up for the challenge of further improving our systems to provide the best for our young people, regardless of what is going on around us.
Have a lovely summer break and bring on September!
Kaye Palmer-Greene
