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Moderation

By Nicola Mitchell, Year 5/6 Class Teacher (Ravens), Year 5/6 Phase Leader and Writing Moderator

Two years ago, it was our turn at Nene Valley Primary School to be moderated. I had all the usual worries: the books would not be good enough; the writing tasks would not measure up or my guidance would not have enabled the children to reach the appropriate level. 

On the day, my experience could not have been more positive. Our moderation group enjoyed a very professional conversation during which we celebrated each child’s achievements and laid to rest my concerns. It was positive to feel that my opinions were valued and that the final grades were an agreement and not a judgement.

In fact, after too many years to count in the teaching profession (unless asked to place yourself in order according to "number of years of experience” on a Training Day!), I felt like writing moderation was something I would like to find out more about. I was inspired to become part of the process. So, I looked into it….

The last academic year was my first as an accredited moderator. Fascinating training took place across the Autumn and Spring terms, with an assessment in January. The assessment is annual, and I have just passed this year’s paper - phew! The government issues each moderator with a certificate to prove their accreditation. It is quite cool!

Over the year, I shadowed and supported my far more experienced colleagues at Moderation Training Events, learning how to encourage and guide Year 6 colleagues as they shared their children’s writing, celebrated emerging achievements, and considered next steps. 

In June, I was privileged to be part of the teams that moderated three schools in OWN Trust. 

Being the only moderator in the Trust, I was eager to help where I could but daunted by expectation. At Nene Valley, I worked with colleagues to agree on judgements before being asked to support colleagues in other Trust schools. 

As we near the end of Spring 1, I look forward to offering my support to colleagues at the same time as continuing to develop my skills as a moderator.

^{Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash}

OWN Trust 5-Year Anniversary Celebrations

^{Nene Valley Primary School headteacher, Neil Reilly, with OWN Trust CEO, Stuart Mansell, and children from NVPS next to the school mural depicting the people who inspired each house.}

By Fiona Schneider, Marketing and Communications Officer 

OWN Trust was founded in 2019 and is marking its fifth anniversary this month.

To celebrate, OWN Trust presented each school with five non-fiction books for current and future children at the schools to enjoy.

OWN Trust Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Mansell, gave the books to the children and headteachers of each school: Colin Marks (Orton Wistow Primary School), Neil Reilly (Nene Valley Primary School), and Becky Ford (Woodston Primary School).

Stuart commented: “We are delighted to celebrate the first five years of OWN Trust with a gift to each school that will benefit the children. We look forward to another five years and more of working collaboratively with children, parents, and staff to transform aspirations, change attitudes, and raise achievements for our community through our passionate belief in the power of education.”

Neil Reilly, Nene Valley Primary School headteacher, commented: ‘Celebrating five years of OWN Trust gives us all an opportunity to reflect on how the trust has grown in strength from its inception. It also gives us an opportunity to look forward to what we can achieve together during the next five years and beyond. The selection of books that we have chosen is linked to Nene Valley’s house captains. They will allow the children to further understand the important contribution our house captains made to society.’

^{Orton Wistow Primary School headteacher, Colin Marks, with OWN Trust CEO, Stuart Mansell, and children from OWPS in the school library. Photo by D. Lowndes, Peterborough Telegraph.}

During the last five years, children, parents, and staff have experienced the benefits of being part of the OWN Trust community. OWN Trust has had a positive impact on children’s learning and enabled the schools to operate more effectively. Its schools work closely together to share knowledge, expertise, and central services such as IT, Estates, Finance and School Improvement.

Ofsted Inspectors, who visited all three schools last year, stated: “The Multi-Academy Trust supports school leaders and has a sensitive ‘hands-on’ approach. MAT leaders know the school’s strengths and areas for development and provide both support and challenge.”

The schools have also been involved in several initiatives across OWN Trust, including sports tournaments, a ‘Trust in Residence’ project with Nene Park Trust Nursery, art projects including the Queen’s Jubilee and Peterborough Celebrates ‘Fields of Colour’, joint fundraising days for the Cavernoma Alliance and MacMillian Cancer Support, and shared training sessions for teaching and support staff on areas such as safeguarding and special educational needs. OWN Trust has strengthened its community, ready for a planned period of growth in the coming years.

^{Woodston Primary School headteacher, Becky Ford, with OWN Trust CEO, Stuart Mansell, and children from WPS in one of their school libraries.}

The books received as part of the 5-Year celebrations include a variety of non-fiction texts chosen by each school.

Nene Valley Primary School chose books about the famous and influential people who represent their houses: Marie Curie, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, and Mary Jackson.

Orton Wistow Primary School opted for a set of DK Children’s Anthologies about Intriguing Animals, Aquatic Life, Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Life, Wonders of Nature, and Mysteries of the Universe.

Woodston Primary School chose an Encyclopaedia, the Guinness World Records 2024, and books about Mythical Beasts, Mysteries of the Universe, and Intriguing Animals.

Reflecting on Five Years of OWN Trust

By Stuart Mansell, CEO, OWN Trust

‘OWN Trust is five years of age’ – that is something I find very difficult to comprehend, and not just because of the effect COVID has had on all our memories and timelines.

It was way back in 2017 that initial conversations were taking place about forming OWN Trust. Behind the scenes, it took many months to develop a vision, common values, and common practices such as finance and assessment systems, and bring everything together to present to the East of England Advisory Board in May 2018. Once approved, we then had a long process of due diligence (risk assessing the conversion for any pitfalls and surveying stakeholders) before finally converting in March 2019.

Just one year later, we all went into lockdown as a result of COVID. It was at that point that all the headteachers and senior leaders found being in a trust hugely beneficial. There were many conference calls (it was pretty much pre-Zoom and TEAMS), sometimes several each day, seeking advice and support from each other and how best to manage an almost intolerable situation.

That aside, OWN Trust has moved very quickly to establish a range of systems and expectations that support its schools in ways that our current Local Authorities find difficult, if not impossible.

Looking at our operations first (finance, HR, estates, IT, marketing, governance, etc.) it is clear that working as a trust has enabled these to be far more effective. Our current finances are very secure when many schools are facing deficit budgets and OWN has even been asked to support Local Authority schools with their financial management. OWN now provides IT support and estates management to other schools in the Local Authority, outside the Trust, which helps generate additional income to spend on the children in our schools – hence the positive budget balance. We have now moved into IT provision with the same ends of internal good practice and external support (at a charge to other schools).

Governance at all three schools and the Central Board of Trustees was recognised as a real strength following an audit from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and this has been mirrored in all external and internal audits that OWN Trust is required to undertake.

The impact on provision for children at all of our schools has been enhanced by the extra income that has been generated. Phonics provision has improved greatly by having all three schools working closely together under the guidance of our Trust Phonics Champion, Jill Ironside. A similar impact has been felt by the coming together of our Mathematics Leads (guided by the Trust Maths Champion, Elizabeth Hobday) and now our science provision too, under the guidance of Claire Bentley.

All three schools worked extremely well together during the hectic two weeks of Ofsted last summer, with statements of recognition from inspectors saying: ‘The Multi-Academy Trust supports school leaders and has a sensitive ‘hands-on’ approach. MAT leaders know the school’s strengths and areas for development and provide both support and challenge.’

In addition, the Special Educational Needs, Early Years, and Safeguarding Teams all work effectively together to ensure children are safe and well provided. This has been achieved in a way that would be far more difficult when faced with the ever-stretched resources of many other individual schools. The Trust’s Inclusion practice and especially its provision for children with special educational needs is viewed very positively by the Regional Director following mentions in all three Ofsted reports.

There are fundamental, strategic developments that are now securely in place to help the schools make the best possible provision for the children, but also many one-off instances that demonstrate a really strong sense of community between the three schools. Some examples are:

• Cross Trust sports tournaments (admittedly delayed during COVID) such as football and multi-skills and coordinated P.E. provision;
• A joint ‘Trust in Residence’ project to work with Nene Park Trust and establish access to the Nene Nursery;
• Involvement in cross Trust art projects, including work at the Peterborough Celebrates Festival, ‘Fields of Colour’, and our upcoming ‘Through the Door’ project to create artwork based on the school grounds;
• Joint charity fundraising days for Cavernoma Alliance, Macmillan Cancer Support, and UNICEF;
• Joint staff training sessions for teaching and support staff;
• Joint safeguarding and Special Educational Needs training;
• Simultaneous work for more cost-effective grounds development (Orton Wistow and Woodston Golden Mile projects);

During the five years of OWN Trust’s existence, there have been some changes that were not originally planned. The appointment of three new headteachers was the most prominent. However, the strong values and vision of the OWN Trust community as a whole have ensured that not only were the previous Headteachers recognised and celebrated for all their hard work in ensuring the success of the individual schools and the transition to OWN Trust, but also that the new Headteachers have been able to establish themselves so quickly and feel that sense of ‘belonging’.

Given that COVID slowed everything down by at least a year, these are not bad achievements for an infant of just five years!

CEO Appointment Announcement

By Mary Foreman, Chair of Trustees, OWN Trust

On behalf of the trustees of OWN Trust, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Lorraine Greco as the incoming Chief Executive Officer of the trust who will take up her appointment for the start of the academic year 2024 – 2025. During the summer term, Lorraine will have time to work with our current Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Mansell, before he retires. Lorraine will be visiting all our schools, and meeting staff, children, and governors. 

Our interview process was a very rigorous 2-day process involving the five shortlisted candidates from our 10 applicants. Trustees, members, governors, and staff were all involved at every stage of the process, including during the interviews.  

Lorraine Greco is a very experienced school leader, having also had significant senior leadership roles within an academy trust. She is committed to strengthening OWN Trust as it grows and is delighted to have the opportunity to drive the trust forward to fulfil our vision, which is: 

‘To have transformed aspirations, changed attitudes and raised achievements for our community through our passionate belief in the power of education.’ 

I know that Lorraine will want to get to know the OWN Trust community at the earliest possible opportunity as our parents and children continue to be at the heart of everything OWN Trust does for Nene Valley, Orton Wistow and Woodston Primary Schools.

Secondment of Director of Education Announcement

By Stuart Mansell, CEO, OWN Trust

OWN Trust is very pleased to announce the temporary secondment to OWN Trust of Sarah Levy, as Director of Education for the summer term.

Sarah has been Headteacher at Old Fletton Primary School for many years, guiding the school through several successful Ofsted inspections and many other achievements. Since September 2022, she has been working with OWN Trust on Mondays to develop a range of quality assurance processes and the Trust’s model for school improvement. This has already supported the establishment of regular Quality of Education meetings with each school, in addition to reporting systems for accountability to the Trust.

As part of OWN Trust’s plans for supporting the transition to a new Chief Executive Officer as well as securing an effective framework for Trust growth and wider provision, Sarah and Old Fletton governors have been approached to increase the time to four days per week for the summer term. We are very pleased that Sarah has said yes, and that Old Fletton’s Governing Body has approved the secondment for this short period.

Sarah will take up her post on the 15th of April and will work with OWN Trust central team and Executive Leadership until the 19th of July. During that time she will be securing the quality assurance process for all the schools in the Trust and leading on Trust self-evaluation against the government’s new Trust Quality Descriptors for education. This will support any future applications for growth. She will report to the OWN Trust Quality of Education Committee, providing a valuable role in creating a platform for the new CEO, Lorraine Greco, to build upon.

Highlights from the latest news at Orton Wistow Primary School, Nene Valley Primary School and Woodston Primary School.

World Book Day 2024

OWN Trust Schools celebrated World Book Day on 7th March 2024. Discover the exciting and imaginative ways each school marked the occasion.

Woodston Primary School

Woodston Primary School had fun celebrating World Book Day on 7th March 2024. There were lots of exciting activities happening to develop the children's love of reading and promote the importance of reading.

Children excitedly discussed their fancy dress choices and explained to their peers why they had chosen their particular character and why it was special to them. Every class read and enjoyed a range of different texts and even took part in a teacher swap! The children eagerly awaited the arrival of a different teacher from another class in the school who came and shared a favourite story with them.

There was a lovely buzz of excitement and enthusiasm throughout the school, and we are so pleased that the children enjoyed the opportunity to read for pleasure throughout the day.

Nene Valley Primary School

Children at Nene Valley Primary School enjoyed a fabulous World Book Day, dressing up, writing stories, drinking hot chocolate, and visiting the book fair!

It was wonderful to have the focus on reading and enjoying books. The children had numerous opportunities to relish reading and other activities linked to books. 

There were also some very imaginative entries for the 'book in a box' competition.

Orton Wistow Primary School

Orton Wistow Primary School enjoyed the World Book Day celebrations on 7th March 2024. Children and staff dressed up as their favourite book characters, with an imaginative and varied array of costumes.

Mrs Campling, the OWPS librarian, organised a series of activities throughout the week with a CSI book-themed investigation for the classes to solve. The children had great fun being detectives, solving the clues, and finding out what had been stolen, and from whom. 

As part of the World Book Day celebrations, children were invited to come in after school to experience Bedtime Stories. The children enjoyed a hot chocolate and a biscuit whilst the teachers read to them.

Nene Park Trust Nursery

By Nick File, Executive Deputy Headteacher, OWN Trust

On Wednesday 6th March, 10 children from each school in the OWN trust schools returned to Ferry Meadows to continue the Schools in Residence project in association with Nene Park Trust.  One of the aims of the project is to encourage members of the wider community to access the park.

Again, the day began with a coach ride starting from Woodston Primary School, collecting from Nene Valley and Orton Wistow on the way.  It was rewarding to see the children greeting each other and the adults as they joined the coach, new friendships continuing to grow.  This time, the children had created a school plaque/sign for their own raised bed at the nursery.

After a quick introduction in the Discovery Den, they moved back to the secluded Nursery Gardens. 

Seeds, seeds and more seeds were the activities for the morning.  Identification, planting and nurture the themes of the different activities.  Did you know flowered plants generally have a split seed?  The children had to estimate how deep to plant their seeds, 0.5cms, 1.0cms. Who knew different seeds needed planting at different depths?

Just before lunch, the word of the day - Hibernaculum – which was important for the afternoon activity.  Not easy to say, let alone spell!

After lunch, the children worked in mixed teams from each school, and so they continued to make new friends.  There was also a competitive element to see which team could build the best Hibernaculum.  This was the opportunity to use a spade, a fork and a rake safely.  All the Hibernacula (Plural doesn’t just add an s!) looked toastie and warm – go and have a look if you can make it down to Ferry Meadows.

At the end of the day, the sun had shone, the children had learnt some new language, used some tools and had to think mathematically - just like school, but better! Thanks again to Tom and Alex for delivering the content effectively and in a very fun way. We look forward to the next trip on the 8^th May and the start of activities in schools.

More News From the Schools

You can read more about what's been happening by clicking on the links.

Discover more about those who work at OWN Trust, how they got involved in education and what inspires them to do the job they do.

In this edition, we learn more about Hayley Fidgett, Director of Learning and Year 5 Class Teacher at Orton Wistow Primary School.

Beginnings

I am a very local girl having spent my childhood growing up just a stone’s throw from Orton Wistow School. Even my earliest memories centred around schools and teaching, I vividly remember lining all my cuddly toys up at home whilst I constructed registers on my Etch a Sketch!

During past transition weeks, I have introduced myself to my new class with a game of True or False. The statement ‘I came to school here as a child and Ms Harries was my teacher’ always gets a shocked response when I reveal it’s true! Experiencing Orton Wistow Primary as a pupil was very different from the perspective I now own as a professional, however both hold a special fondness. I strongly remember residentials, class assemblies, and the fuzzy feeling inside when you were selected for your special day, everyone loved a compliment from their peers. 

Finding a vocation

My Mum was a MDS at a local school when I was a child so I owe a lot of my position today to her early influences. She also supported the running of their out-of-school club. Whilst at secondary school, I worked there to earn some extra pocket money. It was my first experience of working with and facilitating play for young children. I also found myself gaining quite the following for babysitting duties during this time too!

After completing my A-Levels, I studied English Literature and Linguistics at the University of Birmingham. My claim to fame was reading 24 Shakespeare plays in just 12 weeks, it certainly tested both my brain power and my eyesight! 

Following my degree, I moved to Norwich to complete my PGCE at UEA as an Early Years specialist. I was placed in an eclectic mix of schools, spanning nursery to Year 2, city-based placements contrasted with tiny village schools where just 3 classes stretched across all the primary phases. I returned to Peterborough after completing my training, gaining my first teaching post as an NQT in Reception at Nene Valley Primary. Special mention here to Stuart Mansell for providing me with my first big break! Nene Valley had a hugely positive impact on my early career development and I am always grateful for the many supportive people I met there during that time. 

Responsibility-free with the world as my oyster I said a fond farewell to NVPS after 3 years, boarded a one-way flight to Abu Dhabi, and secured a job working in an international school in the UAE. I heavily credit my time abroad for shaping the person and teacher I am today. It gave me a much greater appreciation for different cultures and backgrounds and set alight a love for travel I still hold dear today.  

On my return to England, I taught in KS1 in local schools before joining the OWPS teaching team in 2014.

My current role

In my 10-year span at Orton Wistow, I feel very grateful for the many CPD opportunities that have come my way. I’m proud to have taught classes in all corners of the building, completed my NPQSL, and been a phase leader in KS1, LKS2, and UKS2. These experiences have supported my transition into the Director of Learning role this year. I relish the opportunity to support staff with teaching and learning in the confidence that I too have walked in their shoes. 

I’m really excited about the new prospects and challenges the role brings. From working alongside MDS to improve the quality of lunchtime provision to becoming a safeguarding lead, I’m enjoying learning new leadership skills. Driving and supporting the whole school change at OWPS alongside the headteacher is an absolute privilege. I am looking forward to implementing teaching and learning techniques that will have a positive impact on life in every classroom. I hope my commitment to the school, its staff, and most of all its pupils, will allow me to build upon what is already a school with an abundance of strengths.  

Working within the Trust

A big positive of working within the OWN Trust has been to utilise the skillsets of a much larger group of colleagues. I’ve found recent shared staff meetings and professional days really valuable experiences. I’m keen to see how the Directors of Learning can emulate the leadership group model and increase our opportunities for collaboration in the upcoming term and new academic year.

Catch up on what's been happening within the OWN Trust community.

If you'd like to make any suggestions or comments about community activities within the OWN Trust, please have a chat with the OWN Trust Community Representative in your school:

Carly Pearson (NVPS), Lucy Fogg (NVPS), Joanne Simmons (OWPS), Emily Gray (OWPS), Kelly Fenton-Bradshaw (WPS) and Mia Downs (WPS).

OWN Trust Display Boards

By Fiona Schneider, Marketing and Communications Officer, OWN Trust

As part of the Community Group's work on developing robust Internal Communications Guidelines, we have established a Trust Display Board in each of the schools' staff rooms.

These display boards aim to provide a visual hub for news and information about the trust, and an effective means of enabling communications between staff across the trust. 

After agreeing on the layout and content of the boards, the Community Representatives in each school (Mia Downs and Kelly Fenton-Bradshaw at Woodston Primary School, Jo Simmons, and Emily Gray at Orton Wistow Primary School, and Carly Pearson and Lucy Fogg at Nene Valley Primary School) worked with Fiona Schneider (Marketing and Communications Officer) to put up the boards.

We hope that the boards will be a valuable source of information. Each board includes the following:

• Photos, job titles, and contact details for staff in the trust central office
• How to report an IT or Estates issue
• Vacancies 
• News - with QR codes that can be scanned to view the OWN Trust news and news in Orton Wistow, Woodston, and Nene Valley Primary Schools
• OWN Trust's vision
• Events
• How to give feedback about the trust and record CPD and training via QR codes

The boards will be kept up-to-date by the Marketing and Communications Officer, with the help of the Community Representatives, and reviewed annually to make sure the content is meeting the needs of the community.

A big thank you to the Community Representatives for their help in making the boards look eye-catching and informative!

^{Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash}

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