We’ve had a really productive week.

On Monday I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Horizons group who are based at the Learning Centre. Jeanette, Hayley, Lisa, Amy and their team have created a wonderful learning environment there. The young people themselves seem very settled and happy, and as a result are making wonderful progress. It was brilliant to see Cameron’s video application to be my next PA, he really has some very impressive skills on the keyboard! We are equally delighted with the very positive feedback from Continuing Health Care who help fund some of these places. Well done everyone, the move to the Learning Centre appears to have been a great success.

Our Future Finders have had an equally successful week on their placements. Many are now working at the new leisure centre in the centre of town and they have had a brilliant start there. Oldham Community Leisure’s HR manager had a conversation with Daniel to thank him and say how happy they are to be one of our host employers. What a fantastic opportunity for our young people and the ‘Get Oldham Working’ initiative!

I am hopeful that Medtia Square will finally become a reality in a couple of weeks – it’s certainly taken a while!!

The staff at Hollinwood Academy have been working through the numerous requests for places we have received, and Cath appears to be showing families around on a daily basis. It doesn’t come as a surprise that many families want places here for their children, we have a brilliant offer delivered by expert staff. Sarah and the team will be busy recruiting new staff in the next few months.

A number of New Bridge School and Learning Centre staff have been busy working on our new assessment model, provisionally called the New Bridge Dashboard. In this ‘new world’ of life without levels and end of year expectations we have been trying, over the last few months, to develop an assessment and reporting system that is more appropriate for our learners. We are acutely aware that our reporting to you, and for our young people, could be improved. The new system will hopefully harness technology and ensure we are all better appraised of the actual abilities of our children.

I’ve noticed that the proper Manchester derby (Oldham v. Bury) is next weekend. We will have to wait and see whether it will be Josh (our greatest Latics’ fan at the Learning Centre) or me who will be coming in with a smile on our face..

Have a great weekend,

Graham