It was a privilege to meet with so many members of staff from across the Trust on Monday 6 January.
Our in-service training day provided an opportunity to reflect on our core purpose, work together and respond to key stakeholder feedback.
We revisited our values and considered how we can all work together to bring about wider improvements.
Our discussions led to three key actions:
1. Pupil Survey
In a short film, pupils from each of our schools, reminded us why we all work in education. We are especially grateful to staff for helping the Trust’s leadership group choose the right questions for our first Trust-wide pupil survey. These were drawn from the question banks in Teacher Tapps’ School Surveys.
The leadership group reviewed the most frequently selected questions by staff at their meeting on Wednesday 8 January and considered their age appropriateness and relevance to our wider evaluation and strategy.
The Trust-wide pupil survey will take place in each of our schools in the week beginning Monday 3 February. Pupils in Years 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be invited to respond to the following 8 questions:
- I enjoy school
- I would be happier at school if…
- My biggest achievement at school recently is…
- Did you read a book at bedtime last night?
- My school encourages me to look after my emotional and mental health
- My school encourages me to respect people from other backgrounds and to treat everyone equally
- There is an adult I can talk to if something is worrying me
- I feel part of the school community
2. Staff Forum
We have invited staff representatives from each school to join a new Staff Forum. These roles will be voluntary and meetings will take place in the meeting room in the Trust’s Offices at Cirencester Deer Park School. The first meeting will be on Wednesday 26 February at 15:40. We will focus on the role of the Staff Forum and consider draft Terms of Reference.
We are anticipating the Staff Forum will meet 3 times a year. Membership will be by nomination to be determined by schools. There will be 2 representatives each from Kemble, Siddington and Down Ampney (one member of support staff and one teacher), 3 from Chesterton (as others, but with an additional member to take account of the nursery and C&I Unit) and 8 from Deer Park (4 support staff and 4 teachers). Membership will be reviewed annually.
The Staff Forum will be an important stakeholder voice group. It is not a governance role.
3. Training Opportunities
A further outcome of our first staff survey is a determination to offer more accredited professional development opportunities to our support staff.
This year, we are aiming to work with Be Ready, who offer training programmes funded through the Apprenticeship Levy. We are initially offering a Level 3 course for Teaching Assistants. More information can be found here: SEND Teaching Assistant – BeReady – Be Future Ready.
