Ofsted – Last week HMIs around the country started to inspect an early wave of ‘volunteer’ schools under the new Ofsted framework. In preparation for this we have begun our internal LAT training in earnest. Cameron Lancaster, one of our Directors of Education who inspects part time for Ofsted, has now been trained in the new framework and […]

Welcome back to the second half of the autumn term. I sincerely hope that you all managed to enjoy your half term week off and you are all fully refreshed and ready for the second half of this first term. The clocks have now gone back, autumn has definitely arrived and as we approach Remembrance Sunday and wear […]

Thank you – I’d like to open my final weekly update of the first half term by extending my sincere thanks to you all for getting through this overly long first half term. Thank you for everything you have already done this year for the children in your care. It’s now really important to take some well deserved […]

Visiting High View – This week I had the pleasure of visiting the wonderful High View School and spending some time there with the new headteacher, Tessa Saunders. Although not exactly a new headteacher (Tessa was previously the head at Woodfield Primary) Tessa is new to High View this term and even though she hasn’t got a newly […]

Is the LAT the 2025 MAT of the year? – I am delighted to be able to let you all know that last week we received confirmation that the LAT have made the final 8 in the ‘Education Today’ awards ‘Outstanding MAT of the year’ category. We have been shortlisted alongside 7 other MATs of different sizes and […]

A fabulous morning at Plaistow Hill – This week I had the pleasure of spending some time with Sharon Burnett, the headteacher at Plaistow Hill. During my visit to the school, I met and spoke to a wide range of fabulous staff and I also saw some excellent, focused learning going on in classrooms. It was also great […]

The wonderful world of Widewell! – This week I had the pleasure of visiting Widewell Primary school and spending some time with Vicky Broughton, the school’s headteacher. It is the northernmost school in our LAT family, with quite possibly the biggest school grounds in the world and these were looking absolutely fantastic on a sunny and crisp autumn […]

Fabulous test data in the LAT – As the summer begins to slowly fade into autumn and the days grow shorter, colder and wetter, I thought I would open this week’s update with some really positive news on our children’s academic performance in the LAT last year. Although as yet unconfirmed and not yet formally published, I would […]

Dear colleagues, Welcome – I’d like to begin my weekly updates by extending a warm welcome to the staff who joined us in the LAT for the first time this week. It was a genuine pleasure to meet a number of you face to face in the PTSA training room at LAT HQ during our two ‘Welcome to […]