Author: Simon Spry

It’s February half term…. and we are half way through the school year! Well done everyone! You have made it to the half way point in this school year. Thank you for everything you continue to do for the children of the LAT and please make sure you take a break this week and recharge those batteries. Hopefully […]

This week I had the pleasure of visiting the always inspiring Mount Wise. As a school that serves one of most disadvantaged communities in the city, it is always a real privilege to see the school’s amazing work first hand. On this visit I was struck by just how many children with different needs were being superbly supported […]

Congratulations to High View and Prince Rock Primary It’s always nice to get a positive and celebratory letter into your inbox. This week, two of our LAT schools received a communication from Bridget Phillipson, the Secretary of State for Education. As you can see from the extract above, the letter refers to the excellent outcomes of disadvantaged pupils […]

Ofsted at Knowle! Ofsted have been back in the LAT and undertaken their first inspection under the new framework. As well as being our first inspection in the LAT, it’s the first in the city and one of the first in the country. Knowle got the call on Monday and the visit on Tuesday and Wednesday. While I […]

This week I had the pleasure of spending a wonderful afternoon at Mount Street Primary. The school looked and felt absolutely fantastic. A real oasis of calm learning in the middle of Plymouth’s city centre. Walking through the school with its senior leaders, I met some wonderful children, I saw some great teaching and learning and some fabulous […]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome back to the spring term of 2026. I hope you have all enjoyed a fantastic festive break and that your first week back has gone well. Although it may already feel like a long time ago, I am really hoping you found Monday’s LAT wide INSET day both useful and informative. Following on from […]

We gave it a good go, we got shortlisted and made it to the final…but we didn’t come away with the trophy. Even though we didn’t win it, I was very proud to be representing the LAT, alongside our ex chair / current vice chair, John Butcher at last Friday’s ‘Education Today’ awards ceremony. Maybe next time? And […]

A life changing LAT visit to London! This week, I had the pleasure of joining staff and children from three of our LAT schools on a visit to the Houses of Parliament in London. Children and staff from Knowle, Shakespeare and Prince Rock schools travelled by train to London on Thursday. The first day was spent visiting the […]

What’s happening nationally? – There are no school updates from me today, as I have spent much of the last week attending two national CEO events. Whilst things undoubtedly vary across the country, the issues we are currently facing within education in our schools and our city are definitely mirrored nationally. SEND / Inclusion, attendance, lack of funding, […]

A wonderful visit to Pomphlett – Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting Pomphlett Primary School and touring the school with Mrs Makelis, the headteacher and for part of the visit, Alex Marinou, the EYFS / KS 1 lead. It was brilliant to see the children in reception and KS 1 as well as our pre […]