One team, one dream!

In the world of sports there is a certain magic that occurs when a team come together as one, fuelled by reaching a common goal. Our girls football team have demonstrated this over the season and as a result, I was privileged enough to attend the ESFA National Cup Final at Stoke City Stadium last week.

The team had worked tirelessly to battle through to the cup final and had shared their hopes, dreams, successes and injuries as one unit since the start of the season. Despite the fierce resilience and hard-fought battle shown by the team, unfortunately it was not their day and when the final whistle blew the game ended 2-1.

In the realm of professional and academic pursuits, the power of teams is exceptional. Exceptional teams have the capacity to tackle complex challenges with agility and creativity and propel each other forward, as well as provide the emotional support required when experiencing difficulty or disappointment.

Exceptional teams are inspiring.

Throughout the course of our visit to Stoke, I felt completely inspired by the hard work and determination of the girls, and their unwavering commitment to the match but also to each other. This was a direct reflection of our whole school community where the same values are evident in each classroom and every interaction, no matter how small.

Working within education is a unique team sport; the commitment we show both on and off the field, coupled with the compassion and care required to ensure our learners feel nurtured, challenged and fearless is rarely seen in other sectors. This is what makes schools special.

I congratulate our girls for their enormous success and thank all staff who have been so personally and professionally invested in their success. We start as a team and end as a team!

Governance Leaders Group

20 May

Headteachers Meeting

23 May

HALF TERM

27 May - 31 May

Central Team Meeting

04 June

Trustee School Visit

Fullbrook

05 June

Deputy/Assistant Heads

06 June

Trustee School Visit

Moss Lane

11 June

HT Meeting

13 June

Audit Committee

18 June

Union Representative Meeting

19 June

25 Years Service Cream Tea

27 June

Governance Conference

27 June

Anna Wallis, Head of School, Fullbrook School

Trust Governance Conference

The Future of Governance

SAfE Annual Governance Conference

26 June, 16:30 - 20:00

Wotton House

27 June, 18:00 - 21:00

Boxgrove Primary School

• Join over 100 participants in Surrey governance
  
• Build professional relationships that will help create and expand your effective governance skill set
  
• Get the knowledge and tools to implement change that will have a positive impact in your school/s
  
• Understand the imperative to improve outcomes for underserved children and young people, who do less well in Surrey than statistically similar areas
  

The trust’s annual governance conference this year is entitled “The future of governance” and is open to all of our governors and trustees. It provides an opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and to share expertise and experience. We will be looking at and discussing how school governance has changed over the years and how it may look in the future. A detailed programme will be published and available electronically in due course.

Click here to

sign up

Click below to sign up

The Big Ambition consulted with 367,000 children and adults, between September 2023 and January 2024, and receiving responses from 253,000. Children aged 6-17, young people aged 18 still in school or college, and adults on behalf of children answered a broad set of questions about their lives. Themes covered family, education, children’s social care, youth work, online safety, health, safety from cirme, jobs and skills, unaccompanied children seeking asylum, and thoughts on “a better world”.

The NGA’s Governance Conference for Schools and Trust -

The Future of Governance

An opportunity to meet other trustees, governors and governance professionals from across England to share the latest governance ideas and best practice.

Delegates will choose a bespoke trust or school governance programme, spending the day with colleagues governing or working in similar circumstances to their own. Attendees will hear from keynote speakers who are setting the education policy agenda, and take part in a series of interactive workshops, focusing on specific governance hot topics.

Read the report here

This was formally launched on March 25, 2024. 33 practical ambitions have been set to overcome challenges the Children’s Commissioner was told children face. Challenges such as staying safe online, harmful myths around body image, managing money and finding and engaging in more enriching activities that divert away from crime.

Read the report here

Click here to sign up

Mental Health Awareness Week

New face to the operations team

Following on from the previous bulletin, we have further information for you on new team members to the central operations team which has gone through a significant change during this academic year with a view to offering further support and value to our schools, particularly in the area of policies, governance, compliance, estates and health & safety.

In partnership with Anna Freud, the DfE has launched a page for teachers, parents and carers to support the attendance of pupils experiencing mental health and wellbeing difficulties. Resources are also available to help you provide effective targeted mental wellbeing support in your schools and to help you embed a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Click here to access Anna Freud resources

Anne Benson

Head of Operations

Click to access the guide Developing your school or college targeted mental wellbeing support

Click to access the Mental health lead resource hub

Anne comes to the trust with many years experience as a School Business Manager, more recently working across both Guildford Grove and Loseley Fields Primary schools.

Anne’s early career was in sales and marketing for corporate businesses where she managed large multi-disciplined teams in retail and banking sectors.

Prior to moving to Surrey 12 years ago, Anne worked for the charity Homestart as a Scheme Manager and it was here that her interest in working with families and children inspired her to work in schools.

Anne recently completed a Diploma in School Business Management and is looking forward to leading the operations team to drive efficiencies and make improvements to the management of estates, compliance and governance.

The Youth Endowment Fund has published new guidance on how to reduce children’s involvement in violence. It has been developed in consultation with practitioners and leaders across the education sector and aims to reduce children’s vulnerability to violence by recommending the most effective approaches school leaders can take.

Click here

to read the guidance

Click here

to download the poster for your staff rooms

An update from Sarah Allen, Head of Finance

In these bulletin updates, we focus on the activities taking place which support the financial wellbeing of our schools. Given it is mental health awareness week, it seems like a good opportunity to look at financial well-being and what it means for us as individuals.

Put simply, financial wellbeing is about having a good relationship with your money, where you feel secure and in control of your finances, both now and in future. We are living in increasingly challenging financial times, taking time to prioritise personal budgeting and planning can contribute to your overall well-being, reducing potential stress and anxiety.

There are lots of resources available at no cost that can help with both guidance and support, some of these are;

Comparison and money savings websites such as MoneySaving Expert and MoneySuperMarket offer quivk and easy ways to carry out quotes and comparisons when household expenses are being renewed

Turning back to the financial wellbeing of our schools, the activities currently taking place are;

Termly Financial Reviews

Over the course of the last week, we have been meeting with schools to carry out the last of our termly financial reviews this academic year. The key focus of these meetings has been looking ahead and ensuring we have resilient financial plans for all our schools, covering 24/25 and looking out over the following three years.

24/25 Budget & 3 Year Plan

As a reminder, 24/25 Budget & 3 Year Plans are due to be submitted to the Trust by Friday 24th May. Please ensure, prior to submission, the budget has been shared with and scrutinised by the school LGB. Submissions must be made in the template provided by the trust and reference the Access education budgets scenario used to produce the budget.

Reminder -31 Day Notice Savings Account

A reminder for schools that a central business 31-day notice account has been opened with HSBC for schools and the central trust to deposit funds. The account tracks to the Bank of England base rate and will allow interest to be earned on cash balances, whilst they are not immediately required. We have shared with schools the process of how funds can easily be moved into and out of the account.

Learning Partners Employee benefits - there are ways to save money in the benefits section and the Employee Assistance Programme provides a wealth of support in terms of material and also a helpline which is available 24/7, 365 days a year

NHS England contains details on their MoneyHelper support line for free and impartial advice, as well as lots of tools and resources including budget planners, a 10-week plan, and information on benefits and debt advice

The Money Charity offer free resources, workshops and webinars

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT continued

Surrey Maths School Events

Surrey Maths School Outreach

Meet the Headteachers

At Surrey Maths School, outreach is a core element of our mission. Our programme is constantly evolving and aims to support developments in mathematical sciences whilst also responding to the needs of our local schools.

This term we have set ourselves an ambitious target! We want to engage with 1,000 students, to help inspire their passion for STEM and support the wonderful work that is already happening in Learning Partners schools.

We are offering sessions for both primary pupils (year 5/6) and secondary students (year 9/10). These may be workshops or assemblies, and we are happy to tailor them according to what YOUR class needs.

We are already working in partnership with some Learning Partners colleagues, but if you haven’t taken up this fabulous opportunity yet and would like to, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you!

25 June, 17:00 - 17:45

Online

Women in Stem - Summer School

8 or 10 July, 09:30 - 15:30

University of Surrey

This one day event will be led by the co-headteachers of Surrey Maths School. It is for female students in Year 10 who have an interest in the STEM subjects, particularly maths and physics. Lunch will be included and the event is free. Please do inform your keen female scientists and mathematicians. But be quick - spaces are filling fast!

Click here to email us

Please click here to download the flyer and for further information

on the day

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT continued

A summary of the CPLD the trust has offered so far this year.

“Great for

building

relationships”

“Excellent

session,

informative,

practical &

engaging”

“So useful.

Gave me lots

of ideas”

LEARNING PARTNERS Staff Benefits

Discounts for Teachers

& Ode Cashback Card

Free Will Writing Service

Learning Partners Academy Trust and Estate Planning and Will Writing specialists Dunham McCarthy are able to offer you a free will writing service to help you plan for your future, protecting your family and loved ones. The free service is provided remotely, either by telephone or video call, at a time to suit you. You will have an adviser to help you complete each step from start to finish.

All Learning Partners staff, in any role (not just teachers), can access exclusive discounts, cashback and vouchers when they join the scheme. There are over 1200 of the biggest brands on their website and thousands of deals. Save on holidays, fashion, homeware, days out, mobiles, finance, insurance, TV and broadband and more. It’s free to join and free to use, it only takes a couple of minutes to register, and you can start saving on your purchases right away.

Click here to watch a short webinar with advice on what can be included in a will

For more information and to book your initial appointment, click here

Freedom leisure - discounted membership

Freedom Leisure and Learning Partners Academy Trust can offer you discounted membership at Freedom Leisure sites in and around Surrey. There are three different packages to choose from offering various entitlements.

• Classic Corporate Plus (Peak) - £46 per month on direct debit or £460 annually (discount of 2 months free)
  
• Classic Corporate (Off Peak) - £37 per month on direct debit or £407 annually (discount of 1 month free)
• Connected Corporate - £51 per month or £510 annually (discount of 2 months free)
  

Click here to sign up for discounted membership

Click here for further information

Octopus Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Nuffield Health Discounted Membership

Learning Partners Academy Trust and Nuffield Health have teamed up to offer a 30% discount to all Learning Partner employees at Guildford Nuffield.

There are two membership options available with the 30% discount. The pricing for these options is as follows:

1. A monthly rolling membership of £61 per month (instead of £87) and can be cancelled with a calendar months’ notice at any time during the membership.

2. A 12-month direct debit membership of £50 per month (instead of £72) and can be cancelled within the 12-month commitment period (with a calendar months’ notice) if there is a change in circumstances that falls within the terms and conditions. This includes a health issue or injury, redundancy, pregnancy, relocation, etc.

Additionally, there is a 20% partner discount available for anyone who joins alongside Learning Partners members providing they link their membership payments together.

Click here for further information

Horizon Guildford

Surrey Sports Park

Horizon Guildford (in Merrow), part of Horizon Leisure, is a newly refurbished state-of-the-art not-for-profit charitable trust with over 25 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. With established locations in Havant and Waterlooville, Horizon Guildford marks the exciting expansion into the Guildford community. The mission is simple: to inspire more people to live healthier, happier lives. Alongside the gym, swimming facilities and classes, Horizon are passionate about promoting overall health and wellness. By becoming a corporate member, you will gain access to exceptional facilities, including a gym equipped with high-specification equipment, public swimming, sauna and steam room and over 100 weekly classes, including Les Mills experiences.

Surrey Sports Park, continued

• Member Journey
• An initial appointment to find out about your goals and what you're looking to achieve
  
• The fitness team will then provide you with a 3-day programme and go through this with you
  
• Your next meeting they will go through day 2 of the programme
  
• After 4 weeks, you will be booked in again to find out how you're finding your membership and make any adjustments to your programme
  
• This is repeated once more after
  
• They will then check in with you after 4, 8 and 12 weeks to see how you're progressing and here you'll be offered programme reviews.
  

If you are interested in this membership option or are just looking to have a tour around the amazing facilities, then please visit the sales team between 10am and 5pm Monday – Friday. You just need to provide proof of your workplace.

01483 682662

sales@surreysportspark.co.uk

www.surreysportspark.co.uk

Sports Massage and Injury Rehabilitation at Kings

A sports therapist who rents a room at Kings College is offering all Learning Partners staff a discount for various services including:

• Sports massage
  
• Injury assessment and rehab
• Postural correction
• Corrective exercise

Click here for further information