Gallery

Our gallery shows a selection of photographs from across our Academy.

CEO Blog – Destinations Champions

CEO Blog – Destinations Champions

  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...

CEO Blog – 24.11.23

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

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

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

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...

Graham

Under the circumstances it’s been quite a good week.

Many of our schools have had their Governing Body meetings. Obviously we have had to revert to a virtual meeting, through Microsoft teams.

The content of the meetings varies widely but a number of agenda items are consistent. They always start with a review of the minutes from the previous meeting and ensure any matters arising have been actioned. Obviously most of the discussions here revolved around risk assessments and COVID.

However, one interesting area that has kept arising was how, collectively, we are going to learn from the pandemic. There has been a constant discussion.

What appears to have become apparent, and was mentioned at all the meetings was the need, in the future, to explore how the children and young people could benefit from a new and improved delivery model.

The opportunity to extend our curriculum for all children has never been as exciting. Clearly we need frontline staff supporting and building relationships. However, it’s essential to use our learning over the last few months to further explore (to name but a few):

  • virtual teaching of minority subjects
  • music, art, movement (etc.) therapy on line
  • practical and vocational subject extension
  • looking at more appropriate online courses and accreditation
  • cross site virtual teaching
  • delivering subjects at different times of the day depending on the needs of the child and family
  • extending the specialist school offer to support children in mainstream schools
  • empowering children and young people to use assistive access to take more control over their surroundings

I could go on and on.

Obviously with our close relationship with Apple, and our ambition for our Trust to be the first Apple Distinguished MAT in the country, we are well placed to lead on this work. It will happen.

The second consistent area that was discussed was that of “Wellbeing”. We have tinkered around the edges of wellbeing for too long. We now need to “take the bull by the horns” and co-construct a robust and secure policy. We will make working with our children and young people, within our organisations, the most attractive job in the region. We will be bold and ambitious. We will attract, retain and reward the very best staff to work with our families and partners. It’s going to be a huge undertaking and is likely to take years not months – but we have to start some time. Why not in the New Year?

I really hope that this last week of the term passes without disruption. I know we’ve some “socially distanced” parties planned, alongside nativities and other performances. We’ve also Christmas markets complete with hand gel and restricted movements! There’s still lots going on and I know the organisations will do their best to keep you in the loop. Please be aware we have decided NOT to close on Friday for an extra training day (as widely reported in the media). Business as usual.

As always thank you for your continued support and can I also thank all our Governors for their continued guidance. We’ve certainly needed it over the last year or so.

Take care and 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

M-F: 8am – 4pm
Weekends: Closed

Phone & Email

0161 870 9386

info@newbridgegroup.org