The spirit of the Olympics

As we approach the end of another school term, I want to take a ​moment to reflect on the dedication and hard work each of you ​has demonstrated throughout the year. Your commitment to ​educating and inspiring our students is truly the foundation of their ​success.

This year, as we prepare for the summer and look forward to the ​Olympic Games, I am reminded of the many parallels between the ​work we do and the spirit of the Olympics.

Striving for Excellence

Just as Olympians dedicate years developing their skills and ​striving for excellence, you have continually sought to provide the ​best education possible. Your innovative lessons, creative ​approaches, and unwavering support have helped our students ​reach new heights.

Teamwork and Collaboration

The Olympics showcase the power of teamwork, whether in relay ​races or synchronised events. Similarly, our achievements this ​year have been a collective effort. By working together, sharing ​resources, and supporting one another, we have created a ​nurturing environment where both students and our colleagues ​can thrive.

Perseverance and Resilience

Every athlete faces challenges and setbacks on their journey to ​the Olympics, and I am sure that at various points during the year ​events have tested our resilience. Despite these challenges, you ​have shown remarkable perseverance, adapting to new teaching ​methods and overcoming obstacles to ensure our students ​continue to learn and grow.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Olympians inspire us with their stories of determination and ​triumph. As educators, you inspire our students every day, helping ​them discover their potential and encouraging them to pursue ​their dreams. Your influence extends far beyond the classroom, ​shaping the future leaders, thinkers, and innovators of our world.

Looking Ahead

As we look forward to the summer break and the upcoming ​Olympics, let us carry forward the values of excellence, teamwork, ​and resilience. Take pride in the positive impact you have made ​this term. Your hard work, dedication, and passion are what make ​our school a place where students can achieve their best.

Thank you for all that you do. Enjoy a well-deserved break when it ​arrives, and let’s return refreshed and ready to continue our ​important work, inspired by the Olympic spirit.

Andrew Roach,Director of Education ​Learning Partners Academy Trust

Supporting schools: how ​government can do a better job

Institute for Fiscal Studies:

The state of education:what awaits the next government?

United Learning has just published a think ​piece from Sir Jon Coles. A wide ranging ​paper which draws upon Sir Jon’s ​experience of his senior role in the civil ​service and as CEO of United Learning. It ​explores three key principles for ​government

• decentralise decision-making
  
• renew a sense of purpose in the system ​as a whole
• get behind schools

Key findings:

• England is one of the best-performing countries in terms of school-age attainment
• The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced performance – reversing a decade of progress in reading
• There are significant inequalities at all stages of education
• There has been virtually no change in the gap between children from more and less disadvantaged backgrounds in GCSE attainment over the past 20 years.
• The number of children on an Education, Health and Care plan – the highest tier of support for special educational needs – has risen by 60% since 2016.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, absenteeism has increased by almost two-thirds and 37% of disadvantaged pupils are now recorded as ‘persistently absent’.
• The COVID-19 pandemic also drove a substantial worsening in girls’ mental health: in 2022–23, 30% of girls aged 10–15 met the threshold for abnormally high emotional and behavioural difficulties, up 5 percentage points since 2019–20.

Special Education Needs in England

Data was published on 20 June showing ​the number of pupils with special education ​needs in England.

Highlights:

• 434,354 pupils in schools in England ​have EHC plans. Up by 11.6% from ​2023. 4.8% of pupils have an EHC plan, ​which is up from 4.3% in 2023.
  
• 1,238,851 pupils have SEN ​support/SEN without an EHC plan. This ​is up by 4.7% from 2023. This group ​now makes up 13.6% of pupils in 2023, ​up from 13% in 2023.
  
• An increase of 101,000 from 2023. This ​includes the number of pupils with an ​education, health and care (EHC) plan ​and the number of pupils with SEN ​support, both of which continue a trend ​of increases since 2016
  

Bromcom coming soon!

This training is broken down into short, easy ​to digest training videos, often just a few ​minutes long. They also provide additional ​webinars around key dates in the school ​calendar. For example, at census time ​Bromcom put on additional webinars to help ​staff manage the census process. An ​excellent plus is that training is at no ​additional charge, so everyone can attend ​as and when they need or want to.

The Learning Partners MIS Project Team ​have spent the last 6 months performing an ​in-depth review for the right Management ​Information System for our schools. This ​team was made up of 21 staff from across ​our schools, all bringing to the process their ​knowledge and expertise.

The procurement process begun by ​reviewing 7 potential MIS systems. We ​analysed them from both Primary and ​Secondary perspectives, and from a wide ​range of roles within our schools.

After a thorough review, MIS Panel agreed ​that Bromcom is the best product for our ​schools due to its “One-Stop-Shop” ​capability and features. Bromcom reduces ​the amount of third party systems we use, ​works on any device with staff/student & ​parent apps, enhances communications ​with parents by using parent app ​notifications or SMS, Homework ​Management, Behaviour Workflows and ​more.

IT Helpdesk Update

In the last month the Network Team have ​received 1027 new tickets to our helpdesk ​with a total of 888 tickets being closed so ​far. With the summer break fast ​approaching the team are currently ​planning out their project work for each ​school including but not limited to ​upgrading classroom audio/visual ​equipment, computer & server audits ​around the schools, CCTV and Wi-Fi ​upgrades. Please remember if there is any ​work you would like done over summer, ​request it via our helpdesk and we will do ​our best to schedule this in for you.

The following ticket categories were the ​most submitted to the helpdesk:

• SharePoint: With the increased usage ​of SharePoint across our schools there ​have been more tickets logged to do ​with permissions and access to folders ​and files.
  
• Staff PC – Laptops: Staff devices are a ​key aspect to ensuring a lesson can ​run smoothly and we always prioritise ​classroom devices over other tickets.
  

We thank you for your support and as ​always, we please ask that you log any ​issues or queries on the helpdesk by ​emailing: ​networkhelpdesk@learningpartners.org

Regards

Ben Sayers

Learning Partners IT Director

Click here to watch a ​quick overview of ​Bromcom

As you can see the list of features is ​extensive, and the project team will be ​having a “Kick-Off” meeting with every ​school’s SLT to define roles, timescales, ​training and support. This will commence ​with our two pilot schools next week.

One of the main areas we felt that ​Bromcom was the right system for the ​schools within our trust was the excellent ​training they provide. They offer an ​extensive training website, where staff can ​learn how to use the different aspects of ​Bromcom or brush-up at any time.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT continued

Surrey Maths School Events

Women in Stem - Summer School

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

University of Surrey

Meet the Headteachers

25 June, 17:00 - 17:45

Online

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!

Please click here to download the flyer and for further information

on the day

The Royal Institution at Guildford Grove!

Guildford Grove welcomed The Royal Institution (www.rigb.org) into school to provide ​two science shows to the children, a staff CPD session and a community science show. ​The whole school was wowed by ignited gummy bears, the size of the small intestine, ​and how flour can be set alight.

Over 70 families attended the community show to share in the wonders of rocket ​science, including setting bubbles of gas on fire and propelling rockets across the hall. It ​was an inspirational day for everyone and demonstrates the school’s ongoing ​commitment to providing STEM enrichment opportunities for all pupils.

A wonderful way to increase the science capital at your school. Please contact Elaine ​Thompson at Guildford Grove for further information on how to coordinate such a day. ​Elainethompson@guildfordgrove.surrey.sch.uk

1:1 Director of Education (AKR)

Governance conference update

Head of Finance interviews

1:1 Sara McClure DfE

Staffing Review

Head of HR

1:1 KCG Principal

Saint Cecilias Leadership Away Day

Reference Group - EHCP Timeliness

Matilda at Kings College

1:1 Headteacher at Pond Meadow

KCG review feedback

LPCAT

25 Years Service Cream Tea

Governance Conference

Termly visit to Shalford

1:1 Director of Education (AKR)

School visit to Tillingbourne

School visit to Burpham

2:1 COO and Director of Education (KK)

MIS system and standardisation

Southborough HT and governors

Schools Forum

IIWG Subgroup leads meeting

1:1 COO

Exit interview

Onslow Infant School

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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

Octopus Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Supporting the UK government’s push towards an electric vehicle revolution, we are operating the Learning Partners Academy Trust Electric Car Scheme, in partnership with Octopus Electric Vehicles (OEV).

You can drive a brand-new electric car* using part of your gross salary, making savings on income tax and national insurance. You will pay some company car tax (Benefit in Kind) but the rates for electric cars are extremely low until 2025.

*Subject to eligibility and you signing the Learning Partners Academy Trust Driver Handbook.

You can save up to 40% on driving a brand-new electric car with maintenance, tyres and more included, plus insurance. There are some added extras too, including a home charger, funded with a standard installation, and 4,000 miles of free home charge or 4,000 miles public charge on the Electroverse + £50 home credit, if you switch to Octopus Energy at home. T&Cs can be found here.

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.

Click here for further information

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)
  

Employee Assistance Programme

The EAP is a confidential employee benefit designed to help you deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing. The helpline is available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Click here for further information

Click here to sign up for discounted membership

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.
  

Octopus Referral Scheme

Octopus have also just launched a referral scheme where staff who sign up for an electric vehicle receive a referral code which they can pass on to any colleague(s) ordering car. When the car arrives both parties receive £50 credit to their account. There is no limit to how many times someone can share their code.

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.

Click here for further information

Octopus EV

Salary sacrifice and pension impact

01483 682662

While salary sacrifice schemes can be really beneficial and help you save money, it's important to understand the potential impact they can have on your pension, especially if you’re part of a defined benefit pension scheme like the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) or Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

sales@surreysportspark.co.uk

www.surreysportspark.co.uk

Sports Massage and Injury Rehabilitation at Kings

Click here to find out how

an EV salary sacrifice

can affect your pension

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