This week's edition includes:

Being Headteacher at Woodston Primary School...

By Jacki Mitchell, Headteacher, Woodston Primary School

I joined Woodston in January 2002 after two terms as an Acting Head at a Junior School in the city where I’d been Deputy Head for six years.

Woodston was a very small school then, with four classes and 110 pupils. I didn’t even know where it was, tucked down a drive behind a Community Centre. You could quite easily miss it!

I was advised by my-then Headteacher to go for a couple of years, make a difference in something substantial and then move on. I was there when the intake was as low as seven pupils in Reception because we were the ‘lower-favoured’ school to Brewster Avenue & Old Fletton.

I established a nursery on-site and took out full-page colour ads in the Evening Telegraph to try to increase numbers. I feared that as we were on a large site, we’d be razed to the ground and the land seized for housing – I imagined I’d be out of a job.

However, building houses had commenced on the old brick pits, and we were the catchment school for ‘Hempstead’ which saw our first building expansion. Several years later, we expanded again as we were the only school to have space for increased numbers; followed by a further expansion four years later – taking our capacity to 630 – a far cry from a one-form entry, then reduced to a PAN of 20.

Those expansions gave me the opportunity to grow as a leader. When Stuart, Simon and I started discussing forming our own multi-academy trust, I knew that this was going to be good for us and for the children attending our schools. We have different catchments and communities, but there is a commonality in our overarching principles.

The benefits are tremendous. The ability to have Joint Practice Development teams; focussed teams involving the SENCos across the schools; Phonics leads coming together to discuss practice; joint Leadership Group meetings; Assessment Leads across the Trust; Early Years leads across the Trust – and so it continues!

We have commenced a Schools Partnership Programme on Peer Review, inviting 6 other schools to join with the Trust – this is a three-year development opportunity where we will all benefit from the support of fellow professionals.

The opportunities that we can offer across the Trust, and the expertise that we can draw on, especially at short notice, are of huge benefit moving forwards, as is the premise of ‘learning from each other’.

I’m so glad I stayed at Woodston!

Jacki Mitchell

Headteacher

Woodston Primary School

Discover what's been happening at the OWN Trust over the last half-term.

OWN Trust Development Day

By Stuart Mansell, CEO, OWN Trust

On Saturday 26th March, from 8:30 am -12:30 pm, the OWN Trust Development Day took place at Orton Hall Hotel. An open invitation to attend had been sent to all Trust Members, Trustees, Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers, as well as all members of the Local Governing Bodies for each school. We were delighted that so many were able to attend along with the OWN Trust Chief Financial Officer, Governance and Compliance Manager, and Digital Lead.

The Development Day provided an opportunity to bring together those responsible for governance throughout the Trust and enable a greater understanding of how schools can contribute to, and benefit from being within OWN Trust.

We aim for Trust Development Days to happen twice each year (unfortunately, due to COVID last year, we were only able to have one). The development sessions are followed by the Annual General Meeting for the Trust. Members receive reports from auditors and Trustees, outlining progress and achievements as well as details of financial compliance and budget management.

This group of sessions brought together the current strategic work of the Trust. The 5-year strategy for growth and improvement, underpinned by the 2-year Trust Plan, was presented, in addition to component work on branding and Trust communications strategy.

Simon Eardley (Headteacher, Orton Wistow Primary School) and Sadie Wiles (Chief Finance Officer, OWN Trust) have worked extensively on our branding road map with Brave Agency. They have produced an easily identifiable corporate image, that strongly reflects our ethos and focus on providing for children. This will be launched for the autumn term. Fiona Schneider (Digital Lead, OWN Trust) has been developing the Trust website and social media presence, incorporating news items (such as this one!) and blogs. Stuart Mansell (CEO, OWN Trust) and Jacki Mitchell (Headteacher, Woodston Primary School) facilitated activities to support a greater understanding of the aims and objectives for the Trust, its staff and, most importantly, its children.

The Development Day was rewarding and informative for those involved and an opportunity for the OWN Trust to meet face-to-face again and discuss a range of topics. One of the attendees commented:

"Thank you to Simon for setting the scene around the beginning of the OWN Trust, it was great to hear all about the journey you have all been on from the start.  It was also a great opportunity to speak to others and hear about their relationship with the trust and how passionate they all are.

I really enjoyed the last session looking at the vision, values and future identified in the 5-year strategy document.  

Thank you for inviting me, and all the hard work that went into creating the day.  I look forward to working/supporting you all in the next stage of the journey and seeing what is ahead for the OWN Trust."

Thank you to everyone who attended the event, and we look forward to the next OWN Trust Development Day next academic year.

OWN Trust Board Meeting 8th March 2022

By Mary Foreman, Chair of Trustees, OWN Trust

The move towards normality following the removal of many Covid-19 restrictions saw the Trust board meet in person and able to welcome a recently appointed trustee, Laura Holland, to her first face-to-face meeting rather than being on Zoom, and a newly appointed trustee, Steve Parrott, to his first meeting of the trustees. We were delighted to meet together at Orton Wistow Primary School and see first-hand the wonderful learning environment that is in place for children there.

Apart from covering our usual agenda items, as well as confirming the appointment of Steve Parrott to the Trust board, we were delighted to welcome Catherine Barratt to the meeting.

OWN Trust is currently undergoing a review of governance by Catherine Barratt through the National Leaders of Governance programme – funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and delivered by the National Governance Association (NGA).

The review will look at the 6 features of effective governance:

• Strategic leadership
• Accountability
• People
• Structures
• Compliance
• Evaluation

The review will allow the board of trustees to provide reassurance to stakeholders and others that it takes its responsibilities seriously and is endeavouring to carrying them out effectively.

We expect the outcome of the review to enable trustees and governors to use their skills and knowledge to function well as part of our team and make an active contribution to effective governance. This includes holding leaders to account for improving outcomes for all pupils and to continuously improve.

A great deal of the meeting was devoted to risk management discussions. We also looked at budget priorities for the Trust.

OWN Partnership (Schools Partnership Programme) Advanced Training for Improvement Champions

By Stuart Mansell, CEO, OWN Trust

On Tuesday 22.02.2022 ('Twosday’), Improvement Champions from all nine partnership schools and the Partnership Lead (OWN Trust CEO Stuart Mansell) took part in a full day of training. The OWN Trust hosted the event at Woodston Primary School.  In the afternoon, headteachers from each of the schools joined in the collaborative development.

The event provided an update on progress by Improvement Champions' Successes and areas for development in delivering workshops to school staff following their peer review.

Several school reviews have taken place, with their focus ranging from ‘extending provision for able writers’ to ‘developing independent enquiry skills’.  

During the reviews process, each school identifies a focus for the review, which is undertaken by an independent review team from within the partnership. 

Approximately two weeks after the review, a workshop is delivered at the school by an Improvement Champion from elsewhere in the partnership. They then facilitate an action plan from the school to make improvements in the area of focus.

The partnership is currently halfway through the schedule for reviews and workshops and is developing a central repository for resources and workshop guidance that all schools in the partnership can access.

The Improvement Champions have set up their own WhatsApp group to keep in touch and share ideas and resources. There were lots of positive comments about the event including:

• "Sounds like everyone is now a pro at planning a workshop!"
   
• "Found it really useful hearing about your experiences".

Thank you to everyone who attended and took part.

Find out what's been happening across the OWN Trust at Orton Wistow, Woodston and Nene Valley Primary Schools.

World Book Day at the OWN Trust Schools

Discover how the OWN Trust schools enjoyed celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March 2022.

Woodston Primary School by Louise Luter, English Lead

The children and staff at Woodston had a great time celebrating World Book Day! We all came to school dressed as words: it was great to experience the ‘buzz’ around school as we all tried to guess which words everybody had come dressed as.

Everyone in school enjoyed playing Catchphrase to work out books from their front covers and loved finding out more about the authors of those books.

KS2 had fun taking part in The National Literacy Trust’s Premier League Takeover World Book Day special event with Football School authors Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, and TV presenter Kelly Somers. Everybody agreed it was a fun-filled day and some of us even learnt some new words!!

Nene Valley Primary School by Nick File, Acting Headteacher

Nene Valley had a brilliant week of events planned by Mrs Stainsby, who really got the school excited; starting at the beginning of the week with a book hunt.  Books hidden around the school were found by children, who could then collect some hot chocolate for a family treat.  Secondly, we had a woodland creatures competition to be made and then take residence in our school library – a £5 voucher was supplied by Peterborough United for a winner in each class and judged by our pupil Art leaders. 

On Thursday we all came dressed as a word. Finally, we had a Mask Reader – Mr Mogford helped create a video with adults reading familiar books, but hidden by an electronic mask.  Prizes were awarded for the adult, the book and the author!  A very memorable week.

Orton Wistow Primary School by Emma Edwards, Reading Lead

At Orton Wistow we were so excited to return to a full celebration of World Book Day. All of the children and adults in school were invited to come to school dressed up as a character from a book which they love. There were costumes from so many different books, some classics, some well known and some less so, all equally brilliant. We were so proud of the efforts made by the children and their families. During the day the children had an opportunity to see all the costumes from their teams in a mini outdoor parade.

The focus for the day at OWPS was poetry. Each team was gifted a new set of poetry books which make up the new Poetry Spine in school. Throughout the day, the children and adults dipped into the new books and read a variety of poems. Some classes became very competitive about how many they had read - even keeping a tally!

The children also watched a virtual assembly during which Mrs Campling broke onto the screen, setting an exciting challenge for the children: to help us come up with a Reading Spine for all years, as chosen by the Children. Mrs Edwards also launched the sponsored Readathon, raising funds for books and storytellers for Addenbrooks Children's Ward. This also offered a 'Double Dojo' reward for children taking part.

We were so pleased to be able to celebrate this special event again, and hope that the children enjoyed it as much as the staff, many of whom were in disguise as 'The Crayons who Quit' for the day - causing much entertainment for the children as they tried to hunt them all down!

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

Welcome and Farewell to Staff

Nene Valley Primary School 

Since February 2022, we've been delighted to welcome Frances Smail (Teaching Assistant) who joined us on the 21^st February 2022. She is working mainly with our Skylarks, Year 3/4 class.

We have no leavers but will be welcoming back Hannah Scothern from maternity leave on the 19^th April 2022.

Woodston Primary School 

Since the last newsletter, Deborah Gregory has taken on the role of Catering Assistant as well as cleaner. We have said good luck and farewell to Gemma Costello who worked as a Caterer.

Orton Wistow Primary School 

Since February 2022, we have welcomed Annalisa Machin to Orton Wistow Primary School.  She has started a relief Midday Supervisor. 

OWN Trust Central Office

We have been delighted to welcome two new members of staff at the OWN Trust office, which is based at Woodston Primary School.  Sophie Lewis has joined us as Finance Officer and Adam Charlton has joined us as IT Manager.

We have said goodbye to Collette Hunter, Trust Business Manager, and Andrei-Nicolae Pastiu, and wish them the best of luck in their new roles.

^{Photo by Sooz . on Unsplash}

Each half-term, we learn more about the daily life of those who work in the OWN Trust.

This week it's the turn of Rebecca Campling, Librarian at Orton Wistow Primary School, and Chloe Blake, Reception Class Teacher at Woodston Primary School.

Before I come to work I...Enjoy a cup of tea in bed whilst looking at the weather and my diary/calendar for the day. I then get my lunch ready and prepare anything that I can for dinner.  

My typical day includes... Working with a class in Reception alongside a wonderful team. I currently have a class of 27 children. They all come into school with a smile on their faces, exploring the classroom for the wide range of learning which is on offer to them each day. We have structured Phonics, Maths, Literacy and Vocabulary sessions, and Understanding the World Around Us sessions each day, as well as weekly Music and PE sessions. The children are becoming more and more independent each day, and it is great to watch.

Right now I'm feeling...Relieved to be back at work rather than isolating with Covid. Thankful for the happiness and health of everyone around me in and out of school.  

My favourite work snack is...Anything! Food is my favourite thing! Especially savoury!

To relax I...Enjoy mindfulness colouring, completing sudoku puzzles, listening to music (particularly Ed Sheeran) and taking my dog for a lovely long walk.

My most memorable moment is...At work - completing my NQT year at the age of 22. In my personal life- becoming an auntie this year for the first time to the most beautiful little girl.

One day, I would like to...Island-hop around Greece. I also cannot wait to start a family and build my future with my boyfriend.

Current vacancies are advertised below and on the website.