As the academic year comes to a close, and as I begin to wish you well for the coming weeks, I have been enjoying looking at the yearbook for one of our schools, King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys.
Reading it, I have been struck by just how much our schools, staff and students have been able to achieve this year, a year in which we have only just begun to emerge from the worst of the pandemic. There has been a huge amount of activity across all our schools and I have great respect for how you have been able to fit so much in, in addition to making up for the learning lost through the dislocation of education in the darkest days of Covid.
This year we have also sought to develop our collaborative educational practice and resources to make the most of being in a group of schools. We have seen forty-seven members of staff begin the new National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), the work of six Subject Network Leads, and the support of eight Foundation Leaders of Education (FLEs) across our schools. Leaders from our schools have also been at the forefront of delivering the NPQs as part of the North Birmingham Teaching Schools Hub and will continue to do so into next year, as we also extend the number of FLEs and, as they will become known, Subject Research Leads. These opportunities, among others, form part of our new Foundation Career Framework as we seek to support colleagues at all levels with their professional development, something that our recent ConnectEd conference sought to do last month. A number of our educational developments this year have been led by Amy Whittall in her role as Interim Director of Educational Development and thanks are due to her for this important work. We also thank Linda Johnson, Headteacher of King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, who retires at the end of the academic year and who has led the school to great success, as well as contributing to the work of the Foundation Education Group.
As we look forward to next year, we will see the further enhancement of our collaborative work as we welcome a new colleague to our Education Team. Lee Tallent, currently Vice Principal at a local school, will be supporting our Director of Education, Julie Waddington, in working with and across schools in developing education. We will also see some changes to Foundation Office departments, with a focus on Access and Participation and Estates and Sustainability, as well as the new Education department.
We are very excited to be welcoming Lordswood Girls’ School to the Foundation and Academy Trust in the autumn, as they become King Edward VI Lordswood School for Girls as our fifth comprehensive school. We have already been working with Lordswood in some ways this year and look forward to them formally being part of our organisation and contributing to our collective endeavours.
As I have been walking through the University’s Vale this week, I have seen the athletes’ village for the Commonwealth Games taking shape. It is set to be an exciting summer in Birmingham and I hope that all of you, whether on leave or working to ready our schools for September, have the chance to make the most of this special time and to spend some well-deserved time in relaxation.
Jodh Dhesi, Chief Executive Officer
