Issue 1
October 2014
ThePartnership
Post
Welcome to the first edition of The Partnership Post – an electronic bulletin designed to keep the 600 plus staff across the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership upto-date with the latest news and events from across the ATLP. It’s been a busy time for our seven schools, five children’s centres, teaching school and 4,200 students. As we head towards half term, we hope that our new staff have enjoyed their first half term and are looking forward to a successful future with our Partnership.
Sir Chris advises The Government Sir Christopher Stone, CEO of the ATLP, has been using his expertise to help create a national network of outstanding head teachers. Chris was one of three National Leaders in Education (NLEs) to be chosen by the National College to advise on how to help improve performance in struggling schools across the country. As a result of the NLE’s recommendations, the Government is launching a ‘Talented Leaders’ scheme which aims to recruit 100 exceptional heads to the most challenging schools over the next two years. Chris said: “The role of system leaders in closing the gaps in attainment for those in disadvantaged backgrounds with their peers has never been more important. Our move towards a self-improving system, coupled with the Arthur Terry Teaching Alliance, is bringing about improvement in all our schools.”
On track for success: Stockland Green moves into top gear for Open Evening
ATLP opens its doors to success Primary and secondary schools across the Partnership have been opening their doors to hundreds of students and parents from across the region. These key open day events have been showcasing the best of our schools and giving visitors the opportunity to meet heads, staff and current students. Families also had the chance to take part in a variety of hands-on educational activities. Highlights included cookery demonstrations, experiments and and even an appearance by HRH Henry VIII. Arthur Terry’s joint head teacher, Richard Gill, said: “There was a vibrant atmosphere around school; parents were so very positive and our students, as ever, were an absolute delight with happy, smiling faces that didn't go unnoticed by our visitors.”
Make a difference by becoming a governor Have you, or somebody you know, got what it takes to help one of our schools become outstanding? We’re looking to appoint up to three governors to our local governing bodies and make a difference. These motivated people will bring leadership expertise, possibly with some experience as a governor, trustee or non-executive director. Whatever their background, governors will share our commitment to sustaining high performance. They will be passionate about the role we play in improving life chances and committed to bringing their strategic skills to bear in a challenging, but fulfilling, role. For details please contact Mark Hughes on 0121 323 2221.
1
Issue 1
October 2014
Head (and staff) in the Cloud All staff can now work on shared documents collaboratively, benefit from more email storage and gain free access to the Microsoft Office suite in a browser from home – thanks to new changes by the IT Support Team.
Year 10 ATS students appear in new National College Teaching & Learning video
Teaching school is selected for national campaign Now in its third successful year of being an initial teacher training provider, the Arthur Terry National Teaching School has been selected by the National College of Teaching and Learning to help provide web content for the newly launched Get into Teaching campaign. Trainees and students were filmed giving a real life account of all sides of teaching in a bid to encourage more people to become teachers.
The IT Team is migrating all ATLP staff over to a Microsoft Cloud service called Office 365. Email users will not see any real change in the service, but will have an enhanced feature list from Microsoft, which include:
•
50GB of space to store email
•
Exchange 2013 Services including calendar, tasks, contact details
•
1TB of online personal Cloud storage
•
Office Apps Online
•
Uses your existing school email address and password. No need to remember any new credentials
•
Lync instant messages/and video conference features
The IT Support Team is completing its final testing, and feedback is positive. Staff will be notified when their mailbox has moved.
Katy Hopton, of digital agency Redweb, which created the video, said: “It’s important that people considering a career in teaching get to hear from real teachers about their passion and enthusiasm for the job and to see the difference that a great teacher can make to a student’s future.” Want to teach? Anyone interested in a career in teaching can attend an open evening on Monday 10 November at 6.15pm at Arthur Terry. Please visit www.atnts.com for details.
Brand new logo
ATLP in the news
The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the new Partnership branding appearing around school. Over the coming months we hope the logo will be rolled out across all schools and partners and appear on relevant printed, digital and signage materials.
The ATLP is enjoying continued media coverage, with more than 100 appearances this year! Recent highlights include stories on Sir Chris Stone’s work, our links with Aston Villa and Moor Hall and fundraising initiatives by our students. Please keep the stories coming! If you have a story please email anewson@arthurterry.bham.sch
Spotlight on CPD: Helen secures deputy headship Helen Hastilow has been embracing her new role as deputy head teacher at Mere Green. Helen has worked at the school for five years, after first joining the school as a year six leader. Since then, she has successfully worked in a number of senior positions and has developed her career opportunities through the ATLP. Helen said: “Mere Green Primary is like a little family – it really is the best job in the world. This is a great opportunity, and I’m looking forward to an exciting and challenging year ahead.” 2