CEO Blog - Destinations Champions I can't quite believe that we've made it to December already, but here we are, and the countdown to Christmas is well and truly underway! This week, I would like to point you all in the direction of our newest New Bridge...
Gallery
Our gallery shows a selection of photographs from across our Academy.
CEO Blog – 24.11.23
CEO Blog - 24.11.23 Happy Friday, everyone. I'm keeping it brief this week, but I wanted to give you an update on what's been going on behind the scenes at New Bridge... I met with the Directors at New Bridge Horizons, talking about the exciting partnerships we build...
CEO Blog – 17.11.23
CEO Blog - 17.11.23 This week has been another busy week for all of us at New Bridge, and I'm proud of our staff teams for pulling together and continuing to offer our students and young people the very best, even when it's already dark by the time most of them are...
CEO Blog – 10.11.23
CEO Blog - 10.11.23 This week, it has been good to see each of our sites commemorating Remembrance Day in their own way. The creativity and thought that our staff have put into these 'Remembrance' themed activities is brilliant, and testament to their ingenuity. It...
CEO Blog (3.11.23) – Welcome Back
CEO Blog (3.11.23) - Welcome Back To everyone who has just had half term, I want to say, 'welcome back', and that I hope you had the opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family over the break. This first term is usually the toughest, and the October...
There have been a few changes in and around the Trust this week.
We are in the really fortunate position of having a wealth of excellent “up and coming” leaders in and around our schools and organisations. As such, keeping them supporting with our children and ensuring that we place them in the right positions, with the right young staff, is absolutely essential.
The start of this “domino” was Daniel Wood. Dan has worked within the Trust, on and off, for the last 15 years. He started in our Creative Arts department, moved into PR and Marketing, led on our supported work placements and most recently took on board the head of site at Medtia role. Dan has always had a real eye for being “entrepreneurial” and finding unique opportunities. As such, he has been successful in taking up the role of Assistant CEO with a key responsibility for new developments and marketing. He is still going to lead our work in relation to careers and apprenticeships.
We also strengthen our executive team with the appointment of Phil Arnold. Phil is working alongside our heads at Spring Brook and the Springboard Project. Phil brings with him a wealth of experience from working within the social justice sector. He will help guide us in our strategy with young people who may need alternative offers. Phil also has lots of experience of setting up social enterprises. Phil and Daniel working alongside each other will be a formidable force. I, for one, can’t wait to see where it takes us in the next few months.
I remember when I was in America last year, I saw a quote from Steve Jobs who basically said all he did as CEO of Apple was surround himself with people who were more knowledgeable and better informed that he was. I’m in that really fortunate position with our central teams and leaders in schools. They are all our experts.
Jaina Walton will take on Dan’s role at Medtia with our Pathway learners and our youngsters moving into our community. Jaina doesn’t need a lot of introduction. She has taken Hollinwood through its first few years. She has overseen the growth from 50 children in its first year to well over 200 today. Last year Jaina also was the head when the school received an “outstanding” accolade from Ofsted. Jaina was keen to extend her skill set with a different group of learners. Again, I am certain that Jaina will strategically offer a fresh view and different perspective that builds upon our successes and drives our ambitions even higher.
On Friday the Governors and Trustees held interviews for the head at Hollinwood Academy and I’m delighted to be able to inform you that Laura Millard was successful. Many of you will be aware that Laura was Jaina’s deputy. She has been with the Trust for around 5 years and in that time has shown herself to be one of our shining stars. She’s hard working, knowledgeable, diligent and has a real passion for continuous improvement. Just our sort of leader.
As well as all that moving around, we’ve also had a really productive week “tweaking” our dashboard. After writing last week’s blog I reflected that our destination outcomes weren’t fit for purpose. Don’t get me wrong, they are great for our older learners in our schools but they have little relevance for our 5, 6 and 7 year olds. So, I asked a couple of key colleagues, Rachel from Hawthorns and Jenny from the central team, to reflect on the destination outcomes and make them relevant to all our children. Hopefully we can consult on their work in the next couple of weeks.
So that’s another week over. Have a great weekend,
Graham
You can find all Graham’s previous blog entries here
Location
New Bridge Multi Academy Trust
Roman Road
Hollinwood
Oldham
OL8 3PH
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Weekends: Closed
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info@newbridgegroup.org