CEO's Blog - 24th March 2023 Our Organisation... The weeks are flying by and we're nearly at the end of the Spring term, so here's a snapshot of life at every one of our schools and settings. We're growing all the time, but our offer remains the best in special...
Gallery
Our gallery shows a selection of photographs from across our Academy.
CEO’s Blog – 17th March 2023 – ‘Thank You!’
CEO's Blog - 17th March 2023 'Thank You!' Well, if you've been following the updates on social media this week, you might just have noticed that almost 100 of our young people have been lucky enough to travel to Disneyland Paris. A trip that started on Monday...
CEO’s Blog (10th March 2023)
CEO's Blog (10th March 2023) It was International Women's Day this week, and it was great to see our schools and settings marking the occasion with their activities and learning opportunities. Of course, we shouldn't only celebrate our women and girls for just...
We are looking for our next CEO…
We are looking for our next CEO... It's probably been the worst kept secret for a while, but I'm writing my blog this week to let everyone know that we are actively looking for the next CEO of the New Bridge Multi Academy Group and MAT. After many years working as...
CEO’s Blog – Student Voice (24th February 2023)
CEO's Blog - Student Voice (24th February 2023) A few weeks ago, before the half term break, I said I would be reporting on how we listen to the Student Voice across our MAT and wider Group. Well, this week, I'm able to do just that, as some of our schools and...
Today, for this evening, it states in my diary – fly to Antalya! How all our plans have changed! I guess the least of our worries, at this time, is missing a holiday to Turkey.
So, where are we up to?
As of today, we have got around 18 children attending our hub schools in Oldham and Tameside. They are almost all children of families who are critical workers. Can I thank all our school based teams for their amazing support. You guys are making such a difference for all our communities. We are planning to keep the school hubs open next week and the week after. Our Tameside hub is closing for Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday and our Oldham hub is closing for just Bank Holiday Monday. This is subject to change and if we do need to alter arrangements, I will inform you all as soon as is possible. The staff teams will keep you up to date.
The staff who are managing the virtual learning offer are also providing the vast majority of our children with at least a degree of stability. I know it’s not the same as being in school but, believe me, our offer is one hundred times better than most including my own 14 year old who in Spanish, has been asked to draw an Easter Egg????? Please check out our school blogs this week as some of the children’s work is quite inspiring.
I’m sorry to say that Horizons is staying closed until further notice.
For those children who are entitled to free school meals, today we have sent out vouchers for the next 4 weeks. Our trustees unanimously agreed that we should extend the free school meals offer over the Easter vacation period. This (holiday payment) is without any precedent and we will review it the next time the children are due a holiday. For now, please use the vouchers to ensure you’ve enough food in the house. If any household is struggling, please mention it in your “check ins” with the school teams and we will signpost you to the most appropriate support.
I’m still working as part of a reference group trying to influence government decisions. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m continuing to try and lobby for Personal Protective Equipment for our front line workers (albeit accepting that our NHS critical workers need any available equipment first). At the minute we’ve got aprons, gloves and hand sanitiser, but would benefit from more specialist equipment. Secondly, and as importantly, I am ensuring that our whole staff team can be part of the “testing” that the Secretary of State keeps mentioning. If we can accelerate this strategy it will allow us to better understand which of our staff are asymptomatic and therefore we may be in a position to extend our school based offer.
Thank you all for your continued messages of encouragement and support. They mean a lot. Together, we’ve got through anther week. If we deal with this challenge hour by, day by day, week by week, we will get to a degree of normality. One thing for certain is when we get back to being fully operational our school events will be better than ever.
Stay safe,
Graham
You can find all Graham’s previous updates and blog entries here
Location
New Bridge Multi Academy Trust
Roman Road
Hollinwood
Oldham
OL8 3PH
School Hours
Weekends: Closed
Phone & Email
0161 870 9386
info@newbridgegroup.org