It’s been a brilliant week. We’ve been able to celebrate the best of what we do right across our organisation.

Earlier in the week I was asked to attend an interview at the Department for Education with a number of colleagues. The DfE wanted to hear more about our plans to offer the present Spring Brook young people an alternative curriculum offer.

I think we take for granted the curriculum opportunities that all our young people can access. We have been running our 14-19 pathways for a number of years now and, without doubt, they have contributed to a significant shift in our thinking. All our schools work incredibly hard to ensure we personalise the curriculum offer to your child. We hope to extend these offers even more when Spring Brook join our Group.

We have some incredibly exciting developments in the pipeline that relate to reporting progress and achievement. We are hopeful that we will in a position to consult on these at the beginning of the next academic year.

At all the wonderful events I have attended this week – the Shrek performances, the Sports Awards, the Spring Brook interview – I have been struck by the same thing; all our young people’s achievements are inextricably intertwined. It has been fantastic to witness first-hand how:

• they all, regardless of their individual needs, support each other
• they all recognise each other’s abilities
• they all celebrate each other’s achievements

We had an incredible moment at our Sports Awards last night when Luke Flanagan, one of our New Bridge alumni, confidently addressed the packed theatre and told the audience to ‘always be proud to say that you are part of the New Bridge family’. Statements like this mean more to our staff than any ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgement!

Our schools, Learning Centre, Horizons and Future Finders share a vision that is about more than just transforming education – we strive to improve the life opportunities for every one of our children and young people. It has been brilliant to see that transformation in action, as our previously nervous reception children from Hollinwood Academy danced along with Shrek! The joy on their faces was clearly evident and it was matched by the joy of our other young people. Their shared experiences are priceless.

Next week we have Record of Achievement events, our Bridging the Gap graduation ceremony and the Prom to look forward to; more opportunities to join our young people in celebrating their fantastic achievements.

Have a great weekend – best of luck, Wales!!

Graham