We often talk about collaboration and its value. This month there has been a range of activities which have brought home to me how great that value is and how we are seeing some important developments in this area.
March saw one of our regular Staff Liaison Committee meetings, a committee which currently has representatives from each of our academies invited and, in the future, will also include independent school colleagues. It is a very important forum and we discussed updates from the HR department around training, ED&I and career development, along with specific items regarding pensions, pay, policies and wellbeing initiatives. I would encourage you to speak to your staff representatives, who are normally your staff governors, to find out more about the Committee and to feed in your thoughts and reactions about what is and should be discussed.
One particular collaborative group has been undertaking some critical work in discussing the possible vehicles for our approach to digital unification. This Action Group, with representatives from all our schools, has developed a set of requirements for a central enterprise platform and has attended demonstrations by providers in order to inform our decision about how best to communicate and collaborate effectively across our community of over 1,600 colleagues and 11,000 students. Another new cross-Foundation group, to meet soon, is that which will be looking at and advising on our approach to environmental sustainability and I look forward to reporting in the future on their progress in this area, which will build on the energy audits of all our schools scheduled to take place this academic year.
The Foundation Education Group of headteachers, in their most recent monthly meeting were pleased to welcome a colleague from another organisation with a proposal for working together. James Hawkins, from Selly Oak Trust School, came to talk about supported internships for his Year 14 students to help them make a successful transition to the world of work, a transition that far too few students with special educational needs are currently able to achieve according to national statistics. Our headteachers were enthusiastic about this programme and we hope to see Selly Oak students completing their placements across the Foundation soon.
We have also made some important appointments recently of individuals who will have an impact within and beyond their individual school or office. Greg Lanston, currently Chief Financial Officer at Coventry University, will join us as Director of Finance for the Foundation in September, as Tom Rowland takes on a newly dedicated Operations Department. Karen Stevens has been appointed as the new Headteacher for King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls for September to continue the outstanding work of Linda Johnson; and Olivia Brechon-Smith and Taahira Khan are taking on new roles as Foundation Leaders of Education for ED&I.
We congratulate them all and know that they will add even more value to our collaborative efforts over the coming months and years.
