‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go’ is presently playing on the radio in the Hollinwood Academy hub. It certainly has been a wonderful week – can I encourage you all to look at our individual schools’ blogs over the coming days to see this week’s festivities.

From a personal perspective, I would like to thank you all for your cards, gifts and kind words as we end another year. What an eventful year it’s been! We have been successful in applying to open a new school, the Springboard Project. We have welcomed Spring Brook into our Multi Academy Trust. We have opened a new post 19 building, Medtia. We have joined First Choice Homes in developing our new Atrium Café. We have become a Teaching School. All of these wonderful developments would not have been possible without the support of our most amazing team.

I often blog about the many visitors we show around. One of the things we repeatedly hear is how incredibly impressed our visitors are with the collective enthusiasm and optimism we have for our work. It was only this morning that I heard the news that we believe one of our former students has been offered a university place. It’s this shared ambition to push our children and young people beyond society’s boundaries that makes our Group unique. We will never settle for second best. We will always look for the next ‘Bridging the Gap’, the next free school, the next Atrium Café, the next pathway, the next ‘lump’ of money. We unashamedly want the very best for all our children and young people. It’s been brilliant to spend time this week at Spring Brook and share our collective ambitions with the teams. I know they are enthusiastic and looking forward to being part of our shared journey.

Our schools have been on this journey for a number of years. This has made it even harder this year to lose so many valued members of our school communities, both staff and young people. I know that this time of year will be really difficult for their families. I hope they can take heart in knowing that we are thinking about each of them and the unique contributions they all made. They will always stay part of our New Bridge family.

On behalf of all the Trustees, Governors and staff can I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year,

Graham