TrustEd Issue 3

TrustEd

Issue 3 Spring 2019

The staff magazine of The Cam Academy Trust

Top examples of our principles in action

Welcome to our newest edition of TrustEd which has examples of how colleagues across The Cam Academy Trust are working together to strengthen their skills, teaching and outcomes for students.

We are delighted that our Trust is now officially cross-phase with significant numbers of both primary and secondary schools in the Trust.

We will seek to make the most of these new opportunities and increase cross-phase working, collaborative working and sharing of best practice for our staff within the Trust.

We now look forward to working closely with Offord Primary School in the coming months and, we hope, to welcoming this Huntingdonshire school into our Trust in the near future.

We are also pleased that our IT systems and facilities are continuing to develop. IT has the ability to strengthen teaching and learning across all of our schools and it is great to see new initiatives taking place across every school, involving both students and staff. We hope to see our IT continue to develop in the coming year to establish more benefits for our community. Fundamental to this is to ensure that staff feel confident and capable in their use of IT and we are strongly committed to providing the training they need.

We have decided to theme this magazine around our five core principles. Each double page will focus on one of our excellence, comprehensive, community, partnership and international principles. We hope you enjoy reading examples of how our schools are taking these principles to

Initiatives based around The Cam Academy Trust’s five core principles are benefitting students, staff and the community.

heart and doing fantastic work as a result.

If you have an idea for an article that could be used in a future issue of TrustEd then please do get in touch by emailing publicity@catrust.co.uk.

What’s inside the latest edition l Page 1 — From the CEO. l Page 2 — Focus on The Excellence Principle: Imagining new ways to implement ideas; Record numbers receive Oxbridge offers. l Page 3 — Focus on The Excellence Principle: Pupils encouraged to be super heroes; A passion for creating staff opportunities. l Page 4 — Focus on The Comprehensive Principle: Seal of approval from Education Minister; Exploring the challenges of a disability. l Page 5 — Focus on The Comprehensive Principle: Making sure education is right from the start; A commitment to inclusion. l Page 6 — Focus on The Community Principle: New primary set to join Trust; Students share ways to stay safe online; Making school accessible to all.

Stephen Munday CEO

l Page 7 — Focus on The Community Principle: Journey to a full primary at a new home; Gamlingay rated ‘good’. l Page 8 — Focus on The Partnership Principle: Hub promotes maths excellence; Helping everybody work together. l Page 9 — Focus on The Partnership Principle: Encouraging students to have their say; Research partnership to raise attainment. l Page 10 — Focus on The International Principle: New approach bucks downward trend; Japanese partnership is strengthened. l Page 11 — Focus on The International Principle: Adolsecent well-being strategies shared; Peruvian link expands. l Page 12 — New chair for Trust; IT strategy latest; key campaigns, useful dates and contacts.

The Cam Academy Trust cat-info@catrust.co.uk (01223) 262503 www.catrust.co.uk

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Imagining new ways to implement ideas The Excellence Principle

It was great to see so many staff from across our schools attend the Schools, Student and Teachers Network (SSAT) conference, Pure Imagination, in Birmingham last term.

The conference was focused on what it means to be an imaginative school leader.

Through a series of workshops, seminars and lectures, teachers explored how to turn their ideas into reality and considered how schools are responding to the big questions of today and tomorrow.

It was a brilliant opportunity for our staff to continue to build on the excellent educational experience they provide to our students.

Our teachers also heard from inspirational speakers who challenged them to think differently about their approach to education.

Trust staff at the SSAT conference.

The speakers included Amanda Spielman, HMCI, Ofsted; Charlotte Church, Educational Researcher; Will Gompertz, Arts Editor at the BBC; Priya Lakhani OBE, Founder, CENTURY Tech; and Rt Hon David Lammy MP. Of particular interest for our Trust was that our Primary Heads, along with our Primary Executive Leader, Chris Jukes, attended as part of a pilot Primary Leadership programme which is being constructed by the SSAT. They were participating in a new programme, focused on developing leadership in primary schools. Part of the programme included attending the SSAT national conference together, as well as taking part in a wider programme of leadership development. It has proved to be a very postive experience for all our Primary Heads.

The two-day conference was centred around five themes: l Being an imaginative leader — The qualities needed for imaginative but practical leadership l Imaginative leadership in action — Embedding a culture of imagination across school l Imagine if… it didn’t matter where you come from — Addressing economic, regional and other educational inequalities l Imagine if… robots ran our schools — The potential for enhanced technology and AI to transform learning l Imagine if… education wasn’t restrained by accountability — Doing the right thing for the children in your school

Record numbers receive Oxbridge offers Overall, our staff had a fantastic time and look forward to implementing some of the ideas from the conference.

We would like to congratulate the Year 13 students at Comberton Sixth Form who have successfully secured Oxbridge offers.

This is an amazing achievement. We are particularly pleased to report that our highest number of students to date have successfully negotiated the demanding Oxbridge selection process and attained offers to study at these elite institutions.

This truly reflects not only the high quality of teaching, but also the hard work and dedication of the students.

We were delighted to confirm that all of our students who were invited to interview at the University of Oxford received offers of a place: Joe Cary has received an offer to study Physics and Philosophy at Brasenose College, Imogen Lewis an offer to study Spanish and French at Exeter College, Fay Hawkins an offer to study Spanish and Linguistics at Somerville College, and Abbey Couchman and Ruby Barnard have offers to study Experimental Psychology at Pembroke College, and Somerville College, respectively.

The Comberton Sixth Formers who have received offers from Oxford.

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In addition, Amy Dimaline has received an offer to study English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where she hopes to join one of last year’s Year 13 students, Joe Wills, as he embarks on the second year of his English degree.

Pupils encouraged to be super heroes

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Ask any teacher ‘what makes a good learner?’ and there will be commonalities among the answers – perseverance, the ability to work with others, being a problem solver, seeking challenge, being actively engaged and reflective to name but a few. Hartford Infant School believes these are the main characteristics of effective learning and aim to explicitly name, teach and promote these learning behaviours through their Hartford Hero characters.

l Team Work Tiger – Working together to get the job done. l Problem Solver Snake – There are many ways to solve a problem… l Aim High Hippo – Reach for the stars. l Perseverance Parrot – Keep on trying! l Involved Iguana – Look, listen and get involved in your learning! l Reflective Rex – Think about your learning and how you can improve!

Children are introduced to each character as they begin their journey in EYFS. They are displayed in classrooms, along the main corridor, support staff use mini versions of them and they are even hidden among the continuous provision in EYFS. Throughout lessons, all staff will help to exemplify the

characteristics of these heroes through their feedback to learners. They even have a customised Aim High Hippo stamp that celebrates a child’s achievement as part of the marking and feedback policy.

Children are encouraged and motivated through reference to the heroes and can identify when they have demonstrated ‘Team Work Tiger’ or an ‘Aim High Hippo.’

Each week, the school celebrates the children who have shown good learning behaviours through a Hartford Heroes assembly.

Parents are invited to watch their children receive a certificate and class teachers share examples of why their chosen pupil has been awarded a certificate that week.

Kayleigh Reid, Assistant Head Teacher and EYFS lead, said: “As you can imagine, this is hugely exciting for our infant children, and parents are always proud to see their children’s achievements being recognised, regardless of their academic attainment.

“We love our Hartford Heroes, and I often imagine Perseverance Parrot on my shoulder come Friday afternoon at the end of a long week…”

A passion for creating staff opportunities Aim High Hippo

Involved Iguana

Perseverence Parrot

This year, St Peter’s School has been focusing on developing its continued professional development opportunities for staff.

The school is passionate about creating opportunities for staff and providing support to enable them to achieve excellence in their teaching and progress into senior positions.

St Peter’s has pledged to work with trainee teachers from all routes into teaching. The school has already supported 63 SEP candidates in having their first experience of secondary schools from a teacher’s perspective.

Teachers in the early stages of their careers have also been given the opportunity to participate in substantial professional development, such as the Trust’s DET (Developing Effective Teaching) and the NPQML (National Professional Qualification Middle Leadership).

As teachers develop, they have the opportunity to undertake the DOT (Developing Outstanding Teaching) course and have access to the Teaching and Learning Team.

This team is essential to the future development of students’ learning experiences at St Peter’s School. They arrange and run bespoke CPD events for all staff.

Problem-Solving Snake

Reflective Rex

Teamwork Tiger

These include TRIAD (Teacher Researching, Innovating and Developing) courses, where staff focus on developing a common area of their practices through peer planning and observations; breakfast CPD services which are open to all staff on particular themes; and bespoke support for staff who actively seek support to develop their teaching practices. The school has already seen a positive impact from staff who have been involved in these training opportunities.

Christopher Bennet, Head at St Peter’s, said: “Developing school leaders of the future is important to ensure that our students are both cared for and academically challenged whilst supporting our staff. We, therefore, appreciate the value of CPD and actively encourage our staff to participate in various qualifications.

“During these programmes, our staff have led their own research projects. The projects that have been particularly effective, have been embraced into our whole school practice and one has even resulted in the employment of an associate member of staff in a new job role.

“Overall, I have been really impressed with the quality of the written submissions and the outcomes of the research projects. I am looking forward to continuing to work with my colleagues as we develop our CPD offering even further.”

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THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Seal of approval from Education Minister The Comprehensive Principle

Lord Agnew, the Education Minister, visited Comberton Village College in March.

During his visit to the college, he met representatives from Trusts across the region to share ideas and hear feedback.

Comberton Village College was asked to host the event by the Regional Schools Commissioner’s Office as a wellknown school in the region with a strong track record of high pupil achievement.

Lord Agnew commented that he was very impressed with The Cabin which is Comberton’s provision for students with Asperger’s and high-functioning autism.

He was very interested to hear how this provision has now developed across other schools in the Trust and considered this to be a very positive example of an effective Trust of schools in action.

The Cabin is a safe space for the students which allows them to engage in their interests in a positive and stressfree environment.

The college provides varying degrees of support for students, from help in mainstream lessons to small groups or even individual support. This helps the students to develop their independence and life skills while remaining in mainstream education.

Trust CEO Stephen Munday said: “It was very good to be able to host an event involving an Education Minister, Lord Agnew, together with Trusts across the Eastern Region at Comberton Village College. There was helpful discussion about the issues and opportunities facing Trusts in our region and suggestions of ways forward.

“On a tour of the school, Lord Agnew was especially interested in The Cabin provision. He recognised this as an excellent example of inclusive education that was increasingly based across a whole Trust rather than solely in one school, something of national interest.

“He was also interested to learn of the Village College model of schooling, something also clearly embedded in the community principle of our Trust.”

Exploring the challenges of a disability Education Minister Lord Agnew (left) met representatives from Trusts across the region at Comberton Village College.

Peter Allcock (centre), Head of The Cabin, and Trust CEO Stephen Munday show Lord Agnew the provision.

Pupils from Everton Heath were visited by Sky Badger, a superhero designed to support disabled children and their families.

The Sky Badger character was originally created by a seven-year-old boy with special needs to allow him to win any battles he faced.

A group of mums who had children with special needs decided to take on Sky Badger and build a charity to support children and their families.

Representatives from the Sky Badger charity held a variety of activities at Everton Heath, including learning Braille and lip-reading.

It encouraged the pupils to think about other people in their community who might face challenges due to a disability.

Headteacher Aileen Russell said: “Our morning that we spent completing Sky Badger activities across the school was so enjoyable and a complete learning experience for everyone.

“The lesson plans produced from Sky Badger covered a range of thought-provoking activities that highlighted a range of disabilities that our children began to think about in terms of their own learning and daily school activities.

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Learning about Sky Badger encouraged pupils to think about coping with a range of disabilities.

“They were presented in a fun and exciting way that inspired creative participation.”

If you would like to find out more about the charity, you can visit: www.skybadger.co.uk

Making sure education is right from start

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

A Specialist Leader in Education (SLE) has a specific area of expertise and fosters school improvements in the region by supporting and advising schools on their specialism.

vital insight into the work that goes on before a child reaches Year 1.

Millie’s Headteacher, Sue Wright, encouraged her to apply because of her in-depth understanding of Early Years. Millie also wanted to make a difference, saying: “I feel passionate about the importance of Early Years teaching. It is a crucial stage in a child’s life and I want to do all I can to help them have the best start to their education.

Millie added: “Being an SLE has also been great for my personal development. Often when supporting schools, I might visit them and I am always inspired by the new ideas and practices that I see. I am lucky that I have the opportunity to bring those ideas back to my school and implement them to improve practice that is never standing still. Being an SLE is truly a great experience.”

Millie Chapman, Assistant Headteacher and Key Stage 1 Leader at Jeavons Wood Primary School, became an SLE by applying to the Cambridge Teaching School Network.

Millie is now the first primary SLE in the Trust and specialises in Early Years and Phonics. Our own teaching school alliance, CATSA, currently has 20 SLEs, half of whom are teachers in the Trust.

Millie said: “My highlight of the role so far is when other schools come to Jeavons Wood, see the great work we do here and think ‘Wow, that is not how we are doing things at the moment, but it works so well’. We can then discuss how elements could be used at other settings to best suit their specific needs. To be able to share my experience and facilitate the sharing of best practice with other schools is so rewarding.”

“I want to ensure that the holistic and comprehensive approach to a child’s development is maintained. It is essential that the whole child is developed to ensure they are happy and independent learners when they transition into primary education. Becoming an SLE felt like the right role for me to be able to do this.”

The next application window to become an SLE is this May. For more details please visit: http://www.camteach.org.uk/97/how-do-you-become-an-sle or contact Paul Lawrence, Director of Education plawrence@catrust.co.uk.

Millie provides schools with advice on monitoring and tracking progress, ideas to further staff practice and practical solutions to everyday problems, acting as a support network to the schools and staff.

Millie is also chair of the CB23 cluster group and a moderator for the Early Years provision under the umbrella of the Cambridgeshire Local Authority. She also delivers the Developing Effective Teaching and Developing Outstanding Teaching courses for the Trust. Therefore, Millie has a real insight into Early Years provisions in the region that has allowed her to develop her specialism.

Jeavons Wood has close links with the Faculty of Education at Homerton College, Cambridge, and when PGCSE and SKITT students are placed at the school, Millie is keen to expose them to Early Years teaching, providing them with

A commitment to inclusion for everyone On 27 March 2019, Comberton Village College received the Rainbow Flag Award, becoming the first Trust school to do so.

The Rainbow Flag Award is a national framework for all schools and colleges, focusing on LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, plus other related identities) inclusion and visibility run jointly between the Proud Trust, Allsorts Youth Project, The Kite Trust and DISC.

As part of this process, Comberton had to produce evidence in the following categories to prove that they were meeting the needs of the LGBT+ community at the college: skilled teacher, supportive parents and governors, effective policies, inclusive curriculum, pastoral support, and pupil voice.

They were keen to pursue this award as they felt that they were already exercising excellent practice in these areas, particularly that of pupil voice, and because they believe that school should be a safe place for all students, regardless of their identity.

Millie Chapman is passionate about Early Years teaching.

Comberton has had an active Equality and Diversity group in the school for the last five years where students can share their experiences with other like-minded pupils.

This group has also taken a role in creating assemblies to deliver to all year groups, helping to update and make more relevant some of the PSHE curriculum, and activities such as the Hope Not Hate Ambassador programme.

In fact, due to the fantastic work of the E&D group, Comberton received a rating of ‘outstanding’ in the area of pupil voice.

Additionally, the work of pastoral and leadership teams around LGBT+ issues and support also allowed Comberton to receive ‘outstanding’ ratings in the areas of pastoral support and school policies.

Comberton is very proud to have received this award as they feel that it reflects its commitment to all students, and to ensuring that every student who receives an education at Comberton is treated with respect and dignity.

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THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Another school is set to join Trust The Community Principle

The Trust is set to have another school join its community in the relatively near future.

As always with such potential developments, there is much process that is required before the move takes place.

However, the intention is that Offord Primary School should join and this has been agreed by the Headteacher Board of the Regional Schools Commissioner’s Office.

Offord is a relatively small primary school located near Huntingdon and fits within our Trust’s clearly stated aim of being local and enabling close collaboration between our schools.

There are already several primary phase Trust schools in the area, as well as St Peter’s Secondary School, and Offord will further strengthen the close working already in existence around Huntingdon as well as across the Trust.

Students share ways to stay safe online St Peter’s School has trained its first set of Digital Leaders.

Congratulations to the eight Year 10 pupils who will be taking on this role.

Digital Leaders are student representatives who support staff on leading all things digital. They hold assemblies on internet safety and support and liaise with teachers about

Offord Primary School is set to become the 11th to convert to Academy status and join the Trust.

implementing new IT systems.

One of their main roles is to visit local primary schools within their community to educate and support younger students on using the internet and social media safely.

The Digital Leaders have already met to plan the work they would like to do at St Peter’s and in the wider community.

They recently attended a digital event in Ely and one of the leaders, Joseph, won the Star Award for his contributions to the event, which is a fantastic achievement.

The Digital Leaders also met Lorin, from The Breck Foundation, which raises awareness of online dangers and promotes responsible internet use.

The students were inspired by her talk and are passionate about helping their fellow students to use the internet as safely as possible.

Making school accessible to all

Digital leaders at St Peter’s are working with staff and their local primary schools on all things digital, especially safety.

Well done to all the Digital Leaders. Keep up the good work.

Hartford Junior School has set up the Inclusion Base. This initiative is allowing students with complex learning needs to access tailored support, while remaining in the school community.

These students generally find the classroom overstimulating and confusing. They may also find the curriculum challenging. This results in them becoming increasingly demoralised, anxious and isolated from their community.

Now through the Inclusion Base, they can access individual support for some subjects and remain in whole class teaching for others. This enables them to both meet their learning objectives and reduce their anxiety about school.

Importantly, the Base ensures students and families remain part of the wider school community. Students join their year group peers for as many domain subjects as possible and for all wellbeing subjects. They also take part in school

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Inclusion Base pupils can access individual support or stay in the whole class for some lessons.

plays, trips and celebration events as well as break and lunchtimes, providing them with exciting experiences.

Thanks goes to the great team who help run the Base — Charlotte Deaves (SENCo), Suzanne Gunstone, Jenny Crabb, Jenny Fitzjohn, Jo Graves and Deran Beattie.

Journey to a full primary at a new home

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Gamlingay Village Academy has been on an incredible journey over the last few years.

The school originally joined the Trust in April 2016 as Gamlingay First School. At the time they were the first primary-phase school to join The Cam Academy Trust.

Then in September 2018, the school converted to full primary status and extended their age range of students to 4 to 11 years old. They also changed their name to Gamlingay Village Primary.

The new name created the chance for a new school logo, which was launched last year.

In January this year the school moved from the cramped First School building to great facilities for pupils, staff and the community at newly refurbished, redesigned and extended buildings that formerly housed Gamlingay Village College, a middle school which closed in July 2018.

Over this period of change, the local community were divided on what they felt was the best educational provision for the children of Gamlingay; Bedfordshire three-tier or Cambridgeshire two-tier. The school navigated this time of turbulence successfully and has almost doubled its role.

This is a very exciting time for the school and we congratulate them on their achievements!

Gamlingay rated ‘good’ by Ofsted Schooling in Gamlingay has been on quite a journey to reach the current position.

Gamlingay Village Primary has been praised by Ofsted for continuing to secure a good level of education for its pupils.

The school retained its good judgement following a short inspection, its first as a 4-11 primary school and after joining the Trust. Overall, the inspector said: “Gamlingay is a happy school, where pupils feel safe and make good progress”.

The inspector praised the leadership team, along with their governors, for maintaining a good quality of education at the school and regularly checking that improvement plans are effective. The report also commended the quality of teaching and teachers’ ability to question students effectively to consolidate their knowledge.

The report went on to applaud safeguarding, saying: “the leadership team has created a strong culture of safeguarding”, adding: “pupils say that they feel safe in school and that their teachers care about them.” The behaviour of the pupils was also praised with the inspector saying they have a positive attitude towards learning.

relocate to the site of the now-closed Gamlingay Village College, where the buildings have been extended, redesigned and newly refurbished to provide fantastic spacious facilities for the students and the local community.

A full formal celebration will take place on June 21st but in January an ‘unofficial’ opening took place. The great, great, great grandson of the First School’s original headmaster Mr Fowler, led the ribbon-cutting party, which also included the current school’s youngest and oldest pupils as well as Kevin Knibbs, a current member of the support staff who was in the first cohort of pupils educated on the Village College site.

Shelley Desborough said: “We are delighted with our new school building. The facilities are brilliant and are providing our students and wider community with lots of opportunities. Thank you to everyone who supported the move and made this possible.”

The progress pupils made at the school was also praised.

The improvements made to Year 6 mathematics progress was regarded to be working well and the inspector felt that, overall, pupils make good progress in reading and writing.

Headteacher Shelley Desborough said: “I am thrilled with the results of our latest inspection. Everyone at the school and Trust is committed to providing the best education possible for our students and to see our hard work acknowledged is so rewarding. Our student numbers have almost doubled since our last inspection so it is great to know that the inspector feels this period of time has been managed well and that we have put our pupils first in every respect.”

The inspection followed the move to new premises at the start of last term. They left the cramped First School site to

Gamlingay Village Primary has been rated good by Ofsted in their first inspection as a full primary school.

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THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Hub promotes maths excellence for all The Partnership Principle

Can you remember your maths teacher? Most adults seem to have stories of their maths teachers and have strong memories of their maths lessons.

Whatever the memory, for some reason it seems to be significant for many people. It is a crucial subject for students as young people look for opportunities beyond school.

It is essential that maths is taught well if students want to enjoy and gain a deeper understanding of the subject and if young people are to be properly prepared for adult life.

Cambridge Maths Hub works with more than 300 schools in the county seeking to improve the teaching and learning of maths.

The Hub is based at Cambourne Village College. We are part of a network of 35 Maths Hubs covering EYFS to post16.

Its main role is to provide professional development for the thousands of primary teachers and hundreds of secondary teachers who teach maths across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

All the leaders are themselves teachers and run work groups to share and explore best practice with teachers from other schools.

They look at topics as broad as Teaching for Mastery and Mathematical Thinking to subject specific topics like fractions or multiplicative reasoning. All their professional development is free to schools (funded through the DfE).

The Maths Hub works with more than 300 schools in Cambridgeshire improving maths teaching and learning.

gain a bigger picture of mathematics through our termly Local Leaders of Maths Education meetings. They gain an opportunity to think through aspects of maths across the age range and to reflect on good practice.

One Primary Maths Lead said: "It is not often that teachers are given the time and space to spend reflecting on and developing their own practice. The participants … have been able to do just that with regard to developing their own understanding, subject knowledge and confidence with planning and delivering quality maths lessons."

Helping everybody work together A corollary of the work is that they are building maths leadership capacity across the county. The work group leads receive internal and NCETM external training. They

Twelve months ago, the Trust launched a major project which would transform the ways in which we store and share resources.

A year on, the CATalogue has been born, and work is well under way to remove the constraints of ‘traditional’ servers and bring an exciting modern experience to teaching and learning.

This means staff and students can access what they need at any time and on any device.

Students at Cambourne Village College are already seeing the benefits of having their resources logically organised in one place, accessing it on their phones, tablets or computers whenever they need it.

Our vision is to bring the Trust closer together by sharing across our schools, allowing staff to search and view resources from colleagues elsewhere, providing inspiration, ideas and opportunities for collaboration.

Our work between subjects, schools and cross-phase will be made simpler by eliminating the current constraints of geography and technology and allowing everyone a single system where everything is presented.

As well as sharing online, the classroom can also have a digital aspect by using Microsoft Team. This is a

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More info can be found on the Hub’s website at www.cambridgemathshub.org or you can follow them on Twitter @CamMathsHub

conversation-based experience which continues the learning journey beyond the physical classroom.

Staff and students at St Peter’s School are experiencing the benefits that Teams offers, accessing it using the free Teams app on their devices.

A Year 13 student at St Peter’s School said: “Teams is a very useful online learning platform which encourages continuous learning as resources shared between teachers and students are available in class as well as after school hours. It allows both parties to communicate and share information when needed instantly.

“I personally find Teams very beneficial as it enables me to get ahead of classwork and assignments and therefore increase productivity.”

A Year 10 student said: “I find Teams really helpful as I can revise and go over lessons easily and catch up if I missed something. It also means I can go over lessons again so I understand the topic.”

Work continues in the coming months as we continue with our Digital Transformation.

For more information or training, contact Jonathan Bowers at jbowers@catrust.co.uk

Encouraging students to have their say

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Laura Clash, at Cambourne Village College, has taken part in the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador scheme, which helps teachers better understand the processes at Westminster and convey these to students.

Laura applied for the scheme because of her strong desire to encourage her students to be more politically aware and engaged. Laura said: “We are living in tumultuous times and it has perhaps never been more important for every young person to know what is going on in their country and understand how they can have a say in its future.”

As part of the scheme, Laura spent three days at the Houses of Parliament. She toured the site and learnt about the history of the building. She also learnt about the processes of petitions and had the opportunity to meet MP Chris Elmore MP and Baroness Garden of Frognal, Deputy

Speaker for the House of Lords.

Laura’s highlight was watching the debate about Theresa May’s latest alteration to her Brexit deal. She said: “This was an incredible moment: sitting right at the heart of the political storm, watching the two sides discuss and argue, really showed me the power of Parliament – and I was amazed to learn that this was completely free and that anyone is able to do this whenever they want!”

Commenting on her experience, Laura said: “I left Westminster with a renewed passion for politics and with some ideas for how to pass this on to the students of CamVC. In the coming months, I plan to work with the Head of PSHE to adapt our current scheme of work on an Introduction to Politics, emphasising the core message of the course that this is our Parliament, a place we should all be familiar with and know how to use to ensure our voices get heard.”

Laura has also booked for a peer to visit Cambourne to discuss the role of the House of Lords and plans to book a Skype session with Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. Laura wants to deliver regular assemblies to all year groups to give students a current affairs bulletin, helping them to understand the politics of the day.

On her experience as an Ambassador, Laura commented: “I’m very keen to see this as a marathon, and not a sprint. I want to use this course to encourage all staff to help our students understand current affairs in more detail, developing pupils’ curiosity and opinions. By creating a more politically aware student body, we are planning for the future – for our country, and indeed world, will soon be in their hands.”

Research partnership to raise attainment

Laura Clash is keen to make her students more politically aware and active.

Marielle Burgess is helping to raise boys’ attainment across the Trust as part of her National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL).

Her aim is to identify when and where any gaps have arisen between boys and girls throughout their time in secondary education, using students at Comberton as her case study. She has detected three subject areas where more prominent gaps have formed: English, Modern Foreign Languages and History.

Marielle’s project is importantly creating opportunities to collaborate with other colleagues and schools in the Trust.

A few colleagues in the Trust are working on similar projects to Marielle and they have been able to work in partnership on their research. They have been on three Trust days together which have included learning walks, scrutinising books, hosting pupil panels and talking to colleagues at schools across the Trust.

The pupil panels were attended by staff from Cambourne Village College, Melbourn Village College and St Peter’s School. This has given Marielle a broader understanding of the issues facing boys’ attainment, not only at Comberton but across the Trust.

Marielle said: “At the moment, it is all about working in partnership as we gather evidence of what we are working on, seeing what works, finding common themes and sharing the good practice that is already happening across

Pupil panels have allowed Trust staff to work together on ways to raise boys’ attainment.

all schools.”

Commenting on her experience of the project, Marielle said: “I really appreciate the opportunity to do my NPQSL and I am really enjoying the research for my project. It is essential that as a Trust, we are doing everything we can to ensure we are closing the gap between boys’ and girls’ attainment. The findings so far have been really interesting and I look forward to continuing my research in the coming months before sharing my findings with everyone.”

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New approach bucks downward trend The International Principle

Principal Simon Holmes explains Melbourn Village College’s imaginative approach to reviving pupils’ interest in languages.

Language education in schools across the country is facing many challenges. There is no single reason for this, although many will cite the (real or perceived) relative difficulty of language GCSEs, pointing to national subject residuals (statistical differences in performance between subjects) over a number of years.

This situation has been exacerbated by the increased demands of the new GCSEs, where it seems a potential opportunity for parity has been sadly missed. Add to this ongoing challenges in staff recruitment and the attitude of many English adults towards learning languages, and schools have a real issue.

At Melbourn Village College (MVC) we feel that language learning is not just about learning words. Good language teaching has a vital role to play in widening pupils’ horizons and in giving them an understanding of other cultures.

The Trust has international education as one of its five core principles. Arguably, with the world continuing to shrink, the need for a positive attitude towards learning a range of foreign languages has never been greater. We want our pupils to embrace the idea of travelling to or working in a foreign country, not be daunted by it.

Our language lessons are backed up by exchanges and other visits, many of which lay the foundations for ongoing friendships. Despite that, alongside many other schools, we watched the number of students studying French and German decline sharply over the past decade. However, since 2016 we have seen an increase in not only the uptake of GCSE languages but in the profile of language learning across the school.

This has not been a result of compulsion – languages are not mandatory at Key Stage 4. Instead, we have listened and reacted to the preferences of our students.

Traditionally, MVC students studied French in Year 7 with the majority adding German in Year 8. At KS4 they had the option of taking French, German or Spanish. As the popularity of Spanish increased, it became the logical decision to put Spanish into KS3 in place of German.

Students studying Mandarin at Melbourn speak highly of the experience.

Additionally, we undertook a full curriculum review. We consulted research on the future need for languages and began a lengthy process that resulted in the introduction of Mandarin Chinese alongside Spanish in September 2016.

We now offer a European and Asian language to students in Year 7. This has involved research (we visited lessons at other schools), close work with other agencies (in our case the Institute of Education at UCL) and, most importantly, hinged on us finding an excellent member of staff.

Our first cohort of Chinese classes are now in Year 9 and speak highly of their experience. This has been aided by our first Chinese exchange, jointly run with Comberton VIllage College, and by participation in the government’s Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP), which has provided additional funding and opportunities for our pupils.

Part of the advantage of doing two such different languages is the way the differences in style appeal to different children; mathematical pupils enjoy the ‘code-breaking’ nature of the Chinese characters, for example.

Our approach to languages has been rewarded with increased uptake and some excellent results. FFT Aspire showed our MFL progress in 2018 to be in the top 12% in the country, and indications are that we will have an increased number of pupils choosing to study languages at KS4 from September.

(First published on the SSAT website)

Japanese partnership is strengthened The Head and students from the Kobe University School with Stephen Munday after signing a memorandum of understanding with Comberton.

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One of Comberton Village College’s new partnerships, with top Japanese state school, Kobe University Secondary School, has been cemented by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

This will strengthen the relationship between the schools which started with the first Anglo-Japanese exchange in 2017.

Since then, students from both schools have had the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the culture and language of each other’s country. During these exchanges, students had the chance to experience school life and live with a host family.

The next CVC exchange to Japan is planned for October 2019. The trip’s theme will be climate change where students will collaborate, discuss and present possible technological solutions and policies to help mitigate the current issues civilization is facing.

THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

Schools are all engaged in promoting the Trust’s International Principle with a range of trips, visits, exchange programmes, cross-curricular work and other activities to enhance students’ learning and experiences in an increasingly globalised world.

Additionally all our schools are encouraged to work towards and apply for the British Council International Awards, which have to be re-accredited every three years. On these pages we are delighted to share some examples of the International Principle in action.

Staff at Comberton hosted a group of 20 headteachers from the Hubei Province of China, exploring how the college manages well-being and students who are experiencing mental health issues.

and can be managed in a school setting.

Adolescent well-being strategies shared

The teachers were on a three-week programme at Anglia Ruskin University focused on developing understanding of adolescent well-being and mental health and how to support pupils and manage the issues that arise.

The day spent at Comberton enabled them to understand how the ideas and issues discussed manifest themselves

Across the day they had sessions about the role of The Hub in supporting students and developing staff awareness, the role of the curriculum in developing pupil awareness and understanding, how Comberton engages with external providers and how staff support the well-being and mental health of students with SEND. They also had a school tour led by two Year 10 students, who had their first experience of working with an interpreter.

The teachers all engaged enthusiastically with the sessions and asked a wide range of questions as well as describing their own experiences of these issues in their own schools (all through an interpreter).

At the end of the day course leader Dr Nicola Walshe, who is on The Cam Academy Trust’s Board of Trustees, thanked the school for the programme, saying “I just wanted to thank you for hosting such a wonderful event for our Chinese delegates today.

“The programme you produced was impressive, and the delegates (and I) came away with a really good understanding of your very holistic, personalised and effective approach to supporting children's wellbeing and mental health.”

Peruvian link expands to other schools Heateachers from China learned about adolescent mental health and well-being provision at one of the Trust schools.

January saw Comberton host their sixth delegation of Peruvian students.

experience the obligatory punting!

This year our exchange with the Colegio Lord Byron in Arequipa extended its reach to another school in The Trust, Gamlingay Village Primary, as well as both campuses of Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School, whose pupils feed into Comberton and Cambourne Village Colleges.

A group of Comberton students will make a return visit to stay with their exchange partners in July this year. While there, they will work and play in our three partner orphanages, spend time teaching and learning in Lord Byron, and spend a week visiting Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.

Twenty students and two teachers spent two weeks at the college, staying with families, and taking part in a varied programme of curricular projects and extra-curricular visits.

The students had a day in each of the primaries, spending time with every child, leading the learning about Peruvian music and instruments, geography, wildlife, and dancing.

They also spent time in lessons with their partners, and completed an inspiring art project. A highlight was the Noche Peruana, when host families are treated to a costumed, choreographed, musical introduction to Peru.

One primary teacher commented: “I was totally blown away by the Peruvian students... young adults who are talented, tenacious and true role models. It was truly heartening to share their experiences today and see how delighted our own children were to interact.”

Some classes received letters from primary pupils in Lord Byron, and wrote replies, which the Peruvian delegation delivered.

Preparations are now ongoing to develop the relationship between the primary schools.

As well as their primary visits, our Peruvian exchange went to London, Ely and Cambridge, braving the winter cold to

The Peruvians, in full costume, gave a musical introduction to their country.

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THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST

New chair takes over at Trust helm Trust News

The Cam Academy Trust has a new Chair of the Board.

Sue Williamson has taken over as Chair of the Trust. Sue was already a trustee and is Chair of the Local Governing Body at Melbourn Village College.

She has been the Chief Executive of The Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT) for a number of years and lives locally.

Given her work with the SSAT, Sue is extremely well placed to help to guide our Trust in the next phase of its development. She has excellent knowledge and understanding of the school system and has visited very many schools across the country (and indeed overseas).

We are very pleased to be able to benefit from Sue’s leadership of our Trust moving forward from here.

Dr Gordon Johnson was the original Chair of the Trust from when it started in February 2011 until he stepped down.

Everyone involved in all our schools owe Gordon a great

Sue Williamson has succeeded original Trust Chair Gordon Johnson.

IT roll-out ready to get under way The Trust’s IT strategy continues to develop. The acting Director of IT Strategy, Sean Sumner, has been appointed as the Trust’s full-time Director of IT Strategy from

debt of gratitude for all of his great, pioneering work that has enabled the Trust to get to where it is today.

September.

This will enable us to press ahead with our intention to use IT in various ways to strengthen the educational experience for pupils in all our schools, enable our schools to work more efficiently and effectively and for our staff to have more access to on-line training and development.

The first group of pupils, Year 8 at Cambourne Village College, is set to start receiving personal IT devices during next term and to use them as part of their learning. From there, other groups across the Trust’s schools will have the opportunity to do this. Ultimately, we hope that this approach will be available as appropriate to all students.

At the same time, mechanisms are being developed to allow staff from all Trust schools to share resources to have the best possible learning resources available to all.

Key National Campaigns 2019

Melbourn Year 7s were the latest group to trial iPads last term.

l National Share a Story Month — May l Mental Health Awareness Week — 13th-19th May l Walk to School Week — 21st-25th May l Child Safety Week — 3rd-9th June

l National School Sports Week — 24th-28th June l National Teaching Assistants’ Day — 16th Sept l European Day of Languages — 26th Sept l National Poetry Day — 4th October

Get involved with TrustEd. Please help us make this a magazine for staff by staff. We will continue to focus on the people and the schools involved as well as specific subjects. If you have ideas for articles for inclusion in future editions, please contact either Trust Publicity and Communications Manager Judy Czylok on jczylok@catrust.co.uk or Ryan Hyman at our marketing partners, Athene Communications, on ryan@athenecommunications.co.uk

l iPad project — Sean Sumner: ssumner@cambournevc.org l Cover Supervisor Programme — Anne Marquess: amarquess@combertonvc.org l CTSN — Lindsay Kerrison: lkerrison@combertonvc.org l Gender Pay Gap Report — Tania Tull: ttull@catrust.co.uk l GDPR — Carolyn Ducket: cducket@catrust.co.uk

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