Hornchurch Annual Report 2020/21

Hornchurch Academy Trust Annual Report

2020/21

“We are a family of schools that collaborate together as one team” HEAD OF SCHOOL

Best Quality Education for All

Welcom from the CEO Chris Hobson Welcome to the first Hornchurch Academy Trust Annual Report to Parents/Carers.

We are very proud of our schools, our communities and the offer we provide to children who attend our family of schools. We are also proud that as individual schools and as a collective, we have continued to go from strength to strength. As such, the annual report is designed to consolidate our work and collective successes during the academic year 2020/21.

2020/21 has been a challenging yet hugely developmental year for all schools within the Hornchurch Academy Trust.

Mr C W Hobson CEO

We are very proud of the way in which we have been able to respond and collaborate during the period of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst continuing to provide high quality learning experiences for children.

“ We are also proud that as individual schools and as a collective family of schools, we have continued to go from strength to strength..”

The pandemic has however also presented opportunities to succeed and thrive. It has prompted us to innovate and develop in order to address new challenges. For example, in February 2020, we did not have Google Classroom, remote learning, Virtual Parents Evenings or virtual school tours. Staff have managed to enact change at pace and continue to meet the needs of learners in ways that we could not have previously imagined.

Moving forward, we continue to be committed to delivering excellent outcomes for every child in every school, every day.

In doing so, we aim to give children the best start in life and prepare them for the next stages of their education.

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me

from the Chair of Trustees Gillian Thumpston I am extremely pleased to welcome you to our first annual report. We are very proud of the incredible achievements of our family of schools during this most unusual year.

The Board of Trustees job is to create a clear vision to help set the ethos and strategic direction of the Trust and to challenge and hold to account leaders in terms of educational and financial performance.

Ms G Thumpston Chair of Trustees

I am very proud to lead a team of exceptionally skilled Trustees and Governors, as well as to work with the outstanding leaders at every level in all our schools.

The combination of their talents ensures consistently high outcomes for our pupils.

“ I am very proud to lead a team of exceptionally skilled Trustees and Governors, as well as to work with the outstanding leaders a every level in all our schools.”

Staff and Governance have risen to the challenges the pandemic has raised developing innovative ways of meeting the needs of leaners many of which will remain to improve the offer to learners and families. Our ethos of partnership working within our schools improves progress and outcomes across the Trust and I believe demonstrates best practice.

I look forward to another successful year for the Trust community.

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Trust Governance explained …

As a Multi-Academy Trust, we are a charity, a business and an educational establishment.

This means that the Trust is regulated through charity law, business law and educational law.

Our Trust governance objective is to advance education for public benefit and remain mindful of this in all that they do. The Governance of the Trust play a critical role in establishing the strategic direction of the Trust and holding leaders to account. The different tiers of governance are as follows:

Members of the Trust:

Who are t

The Members of a charity such as an academy trust are in effect its ‘guardian angels’ and ‘keepers of the flame’ in terms of the vision and moral purpose of the Trust. They have ultimate control over the charity, however Trustees are legally responsible for it. As such, the Members are not responsible for the day-to-day

Mr C W Hobson CEO

running of the Trust, remaining ‘eyes on and hands off’.

Trustees: There is one Board of Trustees, who govern all schools with the Trust. Trustees have specific responsibilities that are set out within the constitution of the Trust. Trustees collaborate to govern the charity and make decisions as a collective board. In effect,

Mrs E Lacy

the Trustees are responsible for ‘the business’ of the Trust and day-to-day running by linking with the Executive Leadership Team. Despite delegated strategic and operational responsibility to the CEO, the Board of Trustees retains overall legal responsibility and is accountable to the DfE for their actions and outcomes.

Mrs K Ridley Moy

Local Standards Group: Each school has its own Local Standards Group.

The foci include: 1

Assessing the quality of education that the school provides for the children that attend it.

2

Asking if the children attending the school get a ‘good deal’ that is in line with Trust expectations.

3

Promoting the vision and values of the Trust.

4

Progress and standards.

the wider Trust. The Local Standards Group are

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Pupils’ outcomes.

primarily focused on pupil led issues at local level.

6

An overview of the quality of teaching and learning.

7

Monitor the SEF/School Development Plan.

The Local Standards Group is local governance that are in essence ‘the eyes and ears of the Trust’, whilst the Board of Trustees retain legal responsibility of the individual school.

The Local Standards Group provide the Board of Trustees with a unique school centric view of development and progress and also a voice across

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HAT Headlines

Trust achievements this year In this unusual year, the Trust has continued to thrive.

1479

194

he Trustees?

Ms G Thumpston Chair

Mr M Pepper

Vice Chair

44 ALL

Mrs K Pitt

Mrs A Weatherly

pupils being educated by HAT

Mr R Train

Mr C Birbeck

5

staff working with the HAT different languages spoken across HAT schools with Breakfast and After School Clubs

•A fter the lockdown last March, the trust developed plans to offer all pupils remote learning through Google classroom • By the second lockdown, we were able to reach all pupils at home and to support families with computers and hardware. 98% of pupils used our online learning. One of the highest rates in the country.

• We also developed a “well-being” programme so that pupils returning from lockdowns could be supported if they had any anxieties about coming back.

8

Monitor statutory safeguarding requirements.

9

Monitor attendance data and related issues.

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Curriculum and pastoral care.

Further details regarding Trust governance can be found by visiting www.hornchurchacademy.org.uk

•W e developed a catch up programme to help pupils get back to where they would have been without the lockdowns.

•W e introduced Accelerated Reader, which gave all our pupils access to online books and reading activities throughout the lockdown.

•W e used the government COVID Premium grant to help pupils emotionally, offer tuition, purchase Chrome books and fund catch up lessons.

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What were our aims and achievements…

Whybridge Junior School

 Awards & Achievements

Our main priorities for 2020/21



That a Recovery Curriculum would accelerate progress in Reading, Writing and Maths, enabling our pupils to ‘catch up’ on any lost learning.



To launch and embed the use of Google Classroom, not only to enable us to deliver a Remote Education Plan, but to also enhance learning in the classroom.



To ensure that pupil conferencing enhances the way staff assess pupils’ knowledge and understanding, as well as providing them with their next steps in learning.



The full implementation of Accelerated Reader to boost progress and engagement in reading.



Enhance provision for supporting pupils’ emotional literacy and wellbeing.

• Officially joined the Artsmark community with our Statement of Commitment accepted.

• Healthy Schools Award 2021 • One of the top 3 schools in Havering for KS2 outcomes.

Highlights 1

A successful year for teaching and learning remotely.

2

Over 90% attendance in online lessons during remote education.

3

New secure front entrance planned for opening in September 2021.

4

Exciting, newly renovated school library.

5

Secured a grant from the National Roman Society to fund workshops for pupils.

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Community Events & Fundraising

80%

Listed in Good Schools Guide 2021

of Year 5 children achieving Level 2 Bikeability accreditation

as #111 best school nationally.

£165

£180

£1279

£170

Jeans 4 Genes

Cinema Night

Children in Need

Red Nose

£135 Sport Relief

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What were our aims and achievements…

Our main priorities for 2020/21



To develop an effective recovery curriculum whilst embedding Google Classroom, to ensure that pupils caught up on any lost learning during the lockdowns.



To fully implement Accelerated Reader to ensure that all pupils made at least good progress in Reading.



To develop the impact of leaders, so there is effective distributed leadership, at all levels.



To ensure pupils with SEND have effective support to enable them to have made good progress.

Upminster Junior School

 Awards & Achievements • 98% of pupils, on average, engaged in remote learning from January to March 2021.

• All fiction books in our library have been recategorised to the Accelerated Reader system.

• Excellent engagement in Accelerated Reader with over 25 million words read since its launch in December.

Highlights 1

Successful CIF bid for the second year running, resulting in a £500,000+ new modular kitchen / dining area for the pupils; and over £300,000 in electrical works being carried out.

2

The overwhelming majority of parents – 90% - said that the remote learning experience was effective.

3

6 members of staff have undertaken coaching training to support staff well-being and professional development.

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Community Events & Fundraising

Number

2

In Havering for achieving Greater Depth at KS2’

£317 Red Nose

Accelerated Reader

25,000,000 words read since its launch in December

£442 Children in Need

£1712

PTFA events so far this year

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What were our aims and achievements…

Our main priorities for 2020/21



To develop an effective recovery curriculum so that pupils make accelerated progress by the end of the year (including Google classroom, discussion and debate, conferencing).



To fully implement Accelerated Reader to ensure all pupils make at least good progress in Reading from their starting points.



To review and develop the impact of leaders at all levels



To ensure pupils with SEND have effective support to enable them to make good progress.

Upminster Infant School

 Awards & Achievements • Average 98.3% attendance between January and March 2021.

• 92% of parents commenting that online provision during lockdown was either good or better.

• School Travel Plan, Gold Award

Highlights 1

A successful year for CIF funding with £945,698 attained for the future development of the site.

2

New Kitchen and hall facilities, construction summer 2021 - planned for opening in Sept 2021.

3

Exciting renovation project for the school library in Summer 2021

4

Participation in Earth day April 2021.

5

Development of technologies to further enhance communication

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Community Events & Fundraising

92% Phonics pass rate

£493 Red Nose

CIF funding

£945,698 attained for the future development of the site.

£435 Children in Need

£3000

PTFA events so far this year

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What were our aims and achievements…

Our main priorities for 2020/21



To enable Blended Learning to facilitate effective home learning and create meaningful opportunities for infused use of technology



To develop feedback and assessment that creates a greater positive impact on improvement.

Scargill Junior School



 

Awards & Achievements

To increase provision for well-being for both pupils and staff to improve mental health.

To improve provision for reading and phonics.

• Successfully launched and embedded the Google Classroom Platform.

• Rigorous monitoring has ensured that the school has continued to make progress despite the limitations put in place by COVID 19.

• Successfully launched Accelerated Reader and Myon, providing an online library for the pupils to access during lockdown • Class taught successfully by teacher isolating at home using the Google Classroom platform.

Highlights 1

A successful year for teaching and learning remotely.

2

Average 96.8% attendance between January and March 2021.

3

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New reading areas for all year groups.

Community Events & Fundraising

Chromebooks were provided to

41

Families

Food vouchers totalling

£60,000 were sent to families who needed them.

£201

£220

£97

£779

£207

£213

Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day

Children in Need Superhero for the day

Breast Cancer Wear it Pink Day

NSPCC Number Day

Remembrance Day Poppies

Booktrust Pyjamarama Day

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What were our aims and achievements…

Scargill Infant School

 Awards & Achievements

Our main priorities for 2020/21



Recovery curriculum for the well-being and mental health of pupils and for teaching and learning.



Introduction and implementation of Google Classroom.

 

Review well-being strategy for staff.



Implementation of Accelerated Reader.



Accelerated implementation of conferencing to improve teacher workload.

Develop outside learning environment to improve well-being of pupils through activity and to enhance opportunities for developing the curriculum.

• CIF Funding of over £400,000 to replace our school roof.

• Attendance at 97.65%, improved for the second year running and above national average.

• Remote learning engagement – total engagement started at 76.79% and this increased to 92.71%.

Highlights 1

Raising PE Profile and the importance of staying healthy: Kidz Fit, Team Games additional PE sessions and 5 a day

2

Brand new sensory room created to enhance provision and further meet the needs of our children.

3

Enhancing the outdoor provision to improve children’s learning opportunities.

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Community Events & Fundraising

Chromebooks were provided to

41

Families

£200 Red Nose Day

£213

Children in Need and Odd Sock Day

Food vouchers CIF funding totalling

£437,217 to replace our school roof.

£265 MacMillan Coffee Morning

£146 Save the Children

£2300

Reindeer Run, supporting our local hospitals

£430 Poppy Appeal

£3500 Sport Star Visit – supporting athletes

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What

Special Educational Needs & Disabilities looks like within Hornchurch Academy Trust At Hornchurch Academy Trust, we pride ourselves in the variety of inclusive provisions and practices available to ensure we meet the needs of SEND pupils within our schools.

Through the excellent teaching and learning across the schools, it in turn ensures that pupils make sustained progress and that they successfully learn to be a part of the school community.

Through targeted and specialist support, we ensure that SEND pupils can access an adapted curriculum appropriate to individual needs. Pupils are supported with a range of specialist interventions, with staff having up to date training. These interventions support all areas of SEND. Our schools understand the importance of adapting environments in order to support a vast range of barriers to learning. Many of our schools have developed sensory rooms, sensory areas or intervention rooms where specialised interventions and equipment is used to support specific learning needs.

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HAT Training Achievements For 2020-2021 the Trust introduced its own bespoke NQT training programme.

Delivered a wide range of professional

The Trust has also developed a successful CPD

development in key areas including Maths,

programme for support staff with the delivery

English and SEND.

of Remote Learning. As a result of this, staff have grown in confidence delivering remote

We have also responded flexibly to

learning and ensured that all schools have a

feedback from NQTs to provide additional

high quality and flexible solution to delivering

sessions that meet specific requirements.

education virtually.

Great success with all 9 NQTs gaining

Collaborative CPD in safeguarding,

qualified teacher status and continuing

questioning strategies, wellbeing,

their employment within the Trust into their

conferencing marking, Accelerated Reader,

second year of teaching.

Middle Leader training, KS1 Maths.

Overview figures for the Trust for 2020-2021…

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9 NQTs successfully completed 1st year

2

6 senior leaders completing NPQH

3

3 TA apprentices

4

2 Middle Leaders with Level 1 & 2 Google Qualifications

5

2 Teachers with Level 1 Google Qualifications

6

All Teachers in the Trust have completed ‘My Ed Tech Buddy’ training

“My experience this year has been a really good one. I have felt a warm welcome from all colleagues and I have been supported along the way.”

“I have enjoyed the training sessions with the academy, and I am grateful for having the opportunity to share the sessions and experience with 8 other NQTs.”

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Financial Overview

Funding 2019/20 Most of the Trust academies’ funding is obtained from the

The Trust is in a secure position financially, ending

Education and Skills Funding

the last financial year with healthy reserve funds.

Agency in the form of recurrent

These funds are in place not only to provide

grants. During the period ending

financial sustainability but to support capital

31 August 2020 total expenditure

improvements and other educational purposes.

of £7,155K was met by this funding together with other

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2

The Trust is firmly committed to a sustainable future and currently is working together with a ‘green’ energy broker sourcing new contracts from suppliers who provide renewable energy solutions.

As Covid-19 emerged, the remote learning initiative came to the forefront of our educational provision. To ensure accessibility for as many pupils as possible the Trust responded by adding 442 laptops to its existing IT stocks.

incoming resources, such as Local Authority income, self-generated income and other grants.​

Expenditure 2019/20 The average spend per pupil across the Trust in 2019/20 was £4,934.

Headlines Second Year of Success The Trust has had a second year of success in receiving capital grants from the ESFA generating a further £946K worth of improvements. These funds are used to improve the academy buildings and infrastructure. These works not only provide for

Well-Being We take the well-being of our staff and pupils extremely seriously and offer a wide range of support.

sustainable and safe buildings for our pupils of today and the future, but also reduce our carbon footprint

To-date, 28 members of staff across the

due to reducing energy consumption.

Trust have received training to become Peer Coaches. From September,

The Trust is firmly committed to a sustainable future and

all staff will have access to coaching

currently is working together with a ‘green’ energy broker

in order for staff to support their own

sourcing new electricity contracts from suppliers who

wellbeing, as well as expanding their

provide both cost effective and renewable energy solutions.

own professional development.

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Other Income Local Authority Other DfE/ESFA Grants General Annual Grant

Support & other costs Staff costs: Teachers Staff costs: Support Staff

“We are very pleased to have just heard from the DfE that we have been successful again this year with the Condition Improvement Fund, and have secured further funding to support two major projects valued at £692K, which will provide Scargill Junior School with a new roof and boilers”

& Safeguarding All found the peer coaching course

Our team of highly-trained Family Support

extremely helpful with comments such as:

Workers work with our most vulnerable

“It has taught me how to respond with greater

families across the Trust and provide ongoing

confidence using open ended questions.

support through advice and by signposting

It is a judgement-free space that has allowed

to a variety of services. In addition, they meet

me to practise new skills.” Each school in the

and work regularly with pupils to support

Trust has appointed an FAIB accredited

them to stay emotionally healthy. Schools

‘Well-being Champion’ – members of staff

undertake an annual workload survey and

who are trained to recognise the signs and

actions are then highlighted to support staff

symptoms of poor mental health; to be an

well-being.

advocate for staff well-being; to be a ‘listening ear’ and to sign-post where appropriate.

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Keeping in touch

with our Communities

“I enjoy going onto the Chromebooks because when we use Google Classroom it’s really fun.”

New websites All 5 schools have brand new websites celebrating that the Trust has now been established for 4 years, reflecting our successes and continuing journey.

360 virtual tours & New intake videos Recognising that parents and staff were unable to visit our schools in person during the pandemic, all websites now include a virtual tour of the school and grounds. In addition to this, our infant schools also have a welcome video for prospective parents.

Virtual Parents’ Evenings Using our virtual platforms, all schools in the trust successfully held virtual parents’ evenings during the lockdown. These proved very successful and were well received.

Virtual Parents’ Forums & assemblies As well as parents’ evenings, schools across the trust have used virtual platforms to carry out other aspects of school life that would normally have been done in person.

This has ranged from a pre-recorded video explaining changes to the school day; replacing what would have been a parents’ meeting, to a parents’ forum, enabling the voice of the parents to continue to be heard despite the circumstances.

Newsletters The MAT has sent termly newsletters to all parents of pupils in the Trust, creating the opportunity for them to have a whole Trust understanding of what has been happening. In addition to this, the schools send out either weekly or fortnightly newsletters, keeping parents up to date with everything that is going on or due to happen in their child’s school.

Class Dojo Feedback from parent surveys has often referred to a wish to have more frequent and easier communication with the school, especially the class teachers. In light of this, several of the schools have started using the Class Dojo app which has proved to be an invaluable and easy messaging tool for parents.

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New online programmes used to support learning

Technology for Learning

Transition to Google for Education In March 2020, a world wide pandemic began, COVID-19. Even though it was a very uncertain time, it has given us the opportunity as a Trust to reflect on and alter the way that we teach.

1

MyMaths

2

Times Tables Rockstars

3

Spelling Shed

4

Doodle

5

MyOn

6

BusyThing

7

Bug Club

8

Mathletics

9

Active Learn

10

Spelling & Grammar Bug

11

Purple Mash

12

Discovery Education

13

LGFL

Our journey began in July 2020 where we began working with Wizkids who supported us with setting up our new domains and pupil accounts. By September 2020 all staff were all

MyOn - how many million words read online

under the schools domain and on the 23rd October 2020, Google Classroom was launched across all five schools in the Trust with usernames and passwords sent home to all pupils.

The year 2020/21 for us is about experimenting, learning, making mistakes, what worked well, evaluating our practise, engaging pupils. Crucial for us a Trust is to ensure that staff feel supported with the transition to Google for Education, building their confidence including learning from colleagues.

CPD for staff CPD has been on-going this year to embed the use of Google for Education across all five schools and Google Classroom, our Remote Learning Platform. We have worked with the Ed Tech Demonstrator Programme and WizKids.

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Curriculum achievement We aim to provide a consistent experience of high expectations.

A Recovery Curriculum We have adapted the curriculum this year, been flexible with the wider curriculum subjects, targeted and supplemented each school’s offer to meet the needs of the children, in response to COVID. Recovery and wellbeing support has mitigated the impact of isolation and lockdown and enabled children to return to learning and accessing the curriculum as soon as possible.

Curriculum adaptation and innovation Schools have innovated in delivering the curriculum and have had to implement flexible approaches and resources at pace.

MyOn has been used for our online library enabling all schools to continue with the full implementation of Accelerated Reader.

TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) enabled all pupils, especially Year 4, to continue to improve their recall and readiness for the MTC. Targeted catch up has provided children with their entitlement.

Read, Write, Perform has allowed greater emphasis on performance, giving purpose to the writing and now pupils have QR codes in their books, which open to the child’s performance of their writing process.

Things we’ve learned and will take forward into the future The changes our schools have made, to deliver an innovated curriculum which can be accessed from home and school, will not be lost as we move forward. Google Classroom has been integrated into lessons to enhance learning where opportunities arise.

Impact All children in our schools are happy, settled and engaged in learning. The curriculum in our schools is expected to be back ‘on track’ by May half term.

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You spoke, We listened!

Parents said…

Staff said…

“During lockdown what’s going on in school and how will you update us.”

‘We need support to deliver high quality remote learning .”

1

Improved and updated websites now communicate more effectively

1

HAT signed up to the DfE Ed Tech demonstrator programme

2

Verbal feedback on children’s work from teachers on Google Classroom was available using MOTE

2

High quality CPD was delivered by The Leo Trust and Shacklewell Primary

3

HAT appointed a Trust Technology for Learning lead

4

100% staff completed My Ed Tech Buddy training

5

50% staff have completed Level 1 Google Educators

3

The HAT Group SENCo contacted all SEN children’s parents/carers to discuss check in regarding remote learning

4

HAT Family Support Workers contacted families with lockdown related needs weekly to check on wellbeing and offer support

5

Infant schools published new intake digital recordings

Children said… that during lockdown “we miss seeing our friends and teachers each day.”

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2

Teachers changed their organisation to enable consistent and regular daily live session for parents and children to join daily and interact with each other.

Wellbeing sessions were added to the remote learning offer in all schools.

Trustees asked…

‘How can we support the wellbeing of staff and children .”

1

A full ‘Recovery Curriculum’ was implemented for all children in all schools

2

The Trust appointed a senior leader as Trust wide Wellbeing Lead

3

The Trust provided a confidential counselling service that has a 24 hour helpline and wellbeing support for staff

4

A cross-school wellbeing working party was established

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Contact Us Hornchurch Academy Trust, Blacksmiths Lane, Rainham, Essex RM13 7AH  01708 552870 envelope office@whybridge-jun.havering.sch.uk

www.hornchurchacademy.org.uk twitter @hornchacademy Registered Charity No: 10760863