Trinity Hall Science Teachers Conference

Jenny and I were privileged as two historians to be invited to participate in the special Trinity Hall Science Conference set up by the College for Heads of Science and other science teachers from UCST and ULT as part of the College’s programme to widen access. The idea had emerged through contact with Dr Andrew Murray, Admissions Tutor there.

We had a full day of presentations of scientists at the cutting edge of research given as if we were undergraduates. They were thrilling and stimulating as they veered from using origami and folding techniques in assisting space technology to researching the causes of Alzheimer’s disease by using fruit flies with their minute human shaped brains. Thoughts of evolution were never far away as we peered at bones relating to moles in a very specific area of the Cape in South Africa.

Holly Murray, Undergraduate at Trinity Hall and former Stockport Academy Student, speaking at Stockport Academy's Opening on 12th January 2011

After lunch we were taken back to the climate issues of 250 million years ago; we were absolutely enthralled and inspired to encourage our students to aspire to reach top universities and grasp the opportunities they would find there.

Our thanks to all those who gave us such a thrilling time, laced as it was with warm hospitality and friendship. I was really proud of my Alma Mater.

Sheffield Park Academy

As we prepare to leave Church Schools and United Learning Trust many of the happiest moments have been with children around the schools.  We made a whistle stop tour to Barnsley and Sheffield.  We were thrilled to meet students on the schools councils or as ambassadors for their academy who were full of purpose.  They displayed a self confidence which did not exist in the predecessor schools and yet they were exactly the same children from the same communities.  It really is stunning to see what a change an academy can make. 

Sheffield Springs Academy

It comes down to expectations and the courage to require young people to behave in a purposeful way and accept a disciplined approach to their lives.  But both purpose and discipline are encouraged by more exciting teaching and a good range of extra curricular activities: these we constantly address – and need to! 

Barnsley Academy’s Foundation Day, 2006

Barnsley has moved from 7% 5A*-C, excluding English and Maths to over 50% including them both.  This is due in large measure to the outstanding leadership of the Principal, Dave Berry, who himself found it a difficult transition to make – but my goodness how well he’s done it.  Our photos show Jenny and me with Art students.

We also met an excellent range of teachers, underlining how many high calibre graduates are now entering the profession, prepared to join some of the most challenging schools. 

The changes started a decade ago with the introduction of academies.  I was privileged to be in at the start and owe much to the encouragement and vision of Tony Blair and Andrew Adonis.  Even then it had cross party support and I am thrilled that the Coalition is putting its own vigour into the academy movement.  I am impressed by my meetings with Michael Gove, Jonathan Hill and Nick Gibb.  Education is having the energy and respect which every civilised society has to give it.  The joy is that it is happening in a continuous way and not the pull to the right, pull to the left of some of the worst days of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80s.  Our politicians are giving real leadership.

On the second evening Steve Rastall led his faithful team of helpers and students to prepare one of his very special suppers so that Jenny and I could be feted as a farewell.  It was a wonderful occasion full of sentiment and not without a little emotion.  All three Senior Leadership Teams of the Yorkshire Academies were with us and we felt all the warmth for which Yorkshire is famous.

In Sheffield both of our academies are now out of a category.  This has been a  tough and difficult time which we have all had to face up to.  It has been achieved within the timeframe expected and which we presented to the then Secretary of State, Ed Balls. 

Thanks for this go to our Senior Team, Kathy August and Antony Edkins, supported by each person in the two academies. 

Sheffield Springs Foundation Day, Sep 2006

We had to achieve change quickly while at the same time pushing ahead with exam results.  Last summer both academies moved out of National Challenge and stand every chance of doing so again even though the bar is higher this summer. This shows just how determined our students are. 

At Sheffield Springs I was given a pottery model representing the new building with beautifully drawn scrolls of flowers inside – what an original and perceptive gift to a gardener who loves buildings.

The Academy Movement

At my final United Church Schools Trust Board meeting last Tuesday, we reflected on the major strides which we had taken over the past 20 years.  3,200 children in 7 schools had moved to 8,000 in 10 similar all age schools plus 1 Prep School.  Standards in almost everything have been raised immeasurably.  UCST has had some outstanding success stories, such as the leading position Guildford High School takes year after year in exam results, a cohort of music students leaving for different top conservatoire’s from Lincoln Minster School, the all round strengths of our largest school, Surbiton High School;

Surbiton's gymnasts who entered Britain's got talent

we have just heard the exciting news that the British Gymnastics Association have committed to an annual scholarship at Surbiton High School, which is to be awarded to a GB gymnast who would benefit from the academic education and gymnastics coaching that Surbiton High School can provide. Surbiton High School is the first school to receive such an award. Also, Year 9 girls have been involved in a Dragons Den activity today where they have been asked to come up with an innovative product based on the Olympic and Paralympic values and it is highly likely that some of these products will be adopted at the 2012 games. Surbiton High School has two Olympic gymnastic hopefuls and a member of the GB Olympic Ski Team.

Bombay Team Challenge - Jubilee Home

The story goes on but above all every child is encouraged and challenged to find talents and have the courage to develop them: to feel that education has no boundaries. The compassionate side of each school is demonstrated by the way in which overseas schools and other less fortunate are helped through visits and fund raising. 

During this time we have invested £150 million in UCST for new school buildings, some as a result of the 10 mergers we have completed and all of this without going to the parents for appeals.  We have charged modest fees and have used our money wisely enough to create surpluses to sustain this programme and its associated controlled borrowings.  It is a serious achievement. 

Then, as the millennium approached, we challenged ourselves to consider what our founders would have done if they had still been alive.  The result has been the formation of the United Learning Trust with its 17 City Academies and 4 more joining us from the Emmanuel Schools Foundation.  Our network extends from Shoreham in the South to Blyth in the North.  Its been an extraordinary story of people helping and supporting each other to find deeper meaning in life through serving children, building for the future and based without exception on a deep love of children. 

Charlotte Rendle-Short at Swindon Academy's Foundation Day, 2007

None of this would have happened at such pace or so convincingly without the help and friendship of Charlotte Rendle-Short.  She joined us to lead Sunderland High School into its new co-educational life before joining me as Deputy Chief Executive.  This story is as much hers as mine. 

Outstanding Colleagues

All of this was reflected in the evening farewell dinner held in the Guard Room at Lambeth Palace.  The Guard Room, with its walls lined wit the portraits of each Archbishop of Canterbury since Cranmer, is steeped in history – a medieval roof raised by the Victorians to give a greater sense of space – the scene of Disraeli and his cabinet being the last Prime Minister to dine formerly with an Archbishop until Margaret Thatcher did: Jenny and I were fortunate enough to have been guests with them, hearing her speak so supportively of Robert Runcie – the media would not have believed it!

The Archbishop,  Rowan Williams, spoke warmly and said grace while our Chairman, his predecessor George Carey, proposed Jenny’s and my health.  We were flabbergasted when we were presented with one of the late David Cox Watercolours which are at the very heart of English romantic painting, and a joy to behold.  It was an extraordinarily generous gift and one which touched us very deeply, as did the friendship and love which surrounded us that evening. 

As if that wasn’t enough, Gill had scouted out one of London’s very best curry houses for a farewell occasion for our Heads, Principals and Senior Staff. 

We had a ball which finished with champagne at The Athenaeum for the survivors who didn’t have to catch trains.  Charlotte Rendle-Short spoke and presented us with a book with photographs and quotations which stretched truth to the limit!  There were also some wonderfully amusing anecdotes as well.  It is something we will treasure.

Mike Buchanan, the Head of Ashford School, then presented us with a King James Bible specially inscribed for the occasion.  At least the truth in that wasn’t stretched!  Peter Hullah said grace for us in his own inimitable style. 

There was to be no let up as Manchester wanted to ensure that Lancashire had the final say.  The North Western Academies held a dinner at William Hume Grammar School where once again we were feted and overcome by the affection and generosity of spirit of everybody there.  Jane Delfino spoke with warmth and verve reminding us of experiences which had meant the most to her.  Antony Edkins then presented me with a magnificent decanter engraved with all of the academy names and addressed to the “Founding Father”  I just didn’t know where to put myself. 

I can recommend Manchester for a Saturday off. Jenny and I made a beeline for the City Art Gallery and were not disappointed.  There was a huge range of things to look at without getting tired and certainly not getting bored.  Some of the photographs of Greater Manchester in the 1960s and 70s were distressing in the conditions which applied to the housing, and certainly to children.  I photographed two photographs of children who will be of the same generation as the parents of our academy students in Salford and Moss Side and realised what a tough upbringing many of them had experienced.  It shook us to our roots when we thought how well they were supporting their children’s progress, eager to make sure that they would get on.  Pilkington Glassware, paintings of Manchester in its pomp, and a wonderful collection of Pre-Raphaelites, a magnificent Turner seascape and intimate pictures by Gwen John and others in her circle.  We never reached the Renaissance galleries so there is much to look forward to on a return visit.

The children had the last say and Manchester Academy put on an amazing performance of Moss High Musical.  It was a portrayal  of the transformation of Ducie High School into Manchester Academy full of quips and telling moments which made it an outstanding occasion.  The music was vibrant, the acting lively and the rendering of Bridge over Trouble Water moved both Kathy and me to tears.  At the end there was a slide show of each student saying what they wanted to do when they left school.  One had that wonderful feeling that each one had seized the opportunity of achieving it.  It was so different from the student who first took me round Ducie High School.  When I asked her what she wished to do she said she wanted to be a Doctor and I wondered how a school that had only achieved between 3 & 13% GCSE 5 A* – C, not even including English and Maths, would ever be able to do so.  It was her hope, so likely to be let down, that said loudly to me that as no other sponsor was prepared to take on Ducie High School we would have to do so.  No child should ever have to be so wishful again. 

The confidence of those children was a huge tribute to all the staff at Manchester Academy, Kathy August who has led them so brilliantly and to Jenny Langley who wrote and produced it for us. 

Never Letting the Grass Grow Under Your Feet…

Sunday was back to Earth cutting the grass but with much to contemplate.

Together with Mighty Creative’s, Year 4 students at Kettering Buccleuch Academy did a wonderfully imaginative film of A Trip to Mars – it all looked most realistic which in fact was filmed in the school library.  The children had obviously enjoyed it enormously and it was a great credit to everyone involved.

KBA Year 4 Trip to Mars

Out of the Original Sacred Tongues – the Bible and Translation, The Great Hall, Lambeth Palace

King James Bible

Jenny and I have been to two fascinating exhibitions in London.  The first was in Lambeth Palace Library where there is an outstanding show of early books and documents leading up to the publication of the King James Bible in 1611.  The text of the Bible is not a new translation as is sometimes thought but was very much based on the Tindall translation made some 60 years earlier, with nearly 83% of Tiindall’s work being reproduced in it.   Its purpose was to enable the Bible to be read out loud so that people could hear it in their own language.  In 1611 most people were still illiterate.

At a lecture at Hampton Court, Melvyn Bragg drew attention to the fact that both the King James Bible and Shakespeare’s work, probably the high point of English literature, often used monosyllabic English.  Shakespeare would have heard Tindall through the Geneva Bible which would have been read out in his Church.  Here are two examples:

“To be or not to be, that is the question” – Hamlet

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” – St John’s Gospel

I had never realised this before and feel it is a guide to all of us in writing English today.

Treasures of Heaven, British Museum

Treasures of Heaven, British Museum

The second exhibition is Treasures of Heaven at the British Museum.  It brings together the tradition of Relics and reliquaries, how they merged as an important symbolism within the early and medieval Christian church.  The exhibition has been mounted very sensitively, enabling the visitor to feel the veneration in which these objects were held by pilgrims, realising that they still had deep meaning for many people today.  The visitor therefore sees a range of outstanding craftsmanship and senses that it is all directed towards the Glory of God.  The quality of the objects is stunning and covers loans from the Vatican and across Europe and the United States.  They come from a range of museums, private collections, churches and chapels. 

Jenny and I were both entranced and moved by both these exhibitions and would commend them to our friends. 

Lincoln and Northampton Universities

Mary Stewart Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln

Two very different university occasions have happened during the last week.  On Saturday I attended the inaugural meeting  of The Court of Lincoln University. 

The Vice Chancellor, Mary Stewart, had made contact through our Lincoln Minster School and our wish to engage that school with one or more academies in or around Lincoln.  She and I found that we held the same vision for both University and UCST to engage with academies and to seek to raise standards, enabling more local children to gain entry into higher education. 

Presentation of the Coat of Arms at the University of Lincoln

We had the pomp of the Bluemantle Pursuivant from the Royal College of Arms bringing the newly awarded Coat of Arms to the University.  It was a seminal moment in recognition that the University was fully fledged to give not only its degrees but to conduct research and grow into becoming a major institution.  It is making remarkable progress and has a very high student satisfaction response.  Discussion covered the nature of University direction and life with Douglas Hogg reminding us all that students, now paying considerable fees, would be more critical about the courses they undertook and would wish to make sure that they helped to further their careers.  Lincoln already exceeds the national average for graduates entering graduate quality employment within six months of leaving and therefore has its eye firmly on this area.  Nonetheless it made me reflect that the most creative part of my university career had been attending lectures not needed for my degree, but catching my imagination, given by some of the great figures of that generation such as Niklaus Pevsner and Dom David Knowles. 

It reminds me that David Knowles came to Trinity Hall to speak to the Hesperides Society of which I was undergraduate secretary.  It was my job to entertain him before he went into dinner at the high table, prior to speaking to us.  When I offered him a sherry he replied that he didn’t drink (something I never even considered before at Cambridge!). I was nonplussed but we sat down and looked at each other in my rather meagre rooms.  He as a monk was used to silence, but I was profoundly embarrassed by it, feeling that I was failing in keeping him interested or amused.  I tried various openings but received the most economic replies and I became rather desperate. But I eventually asked him about his own research into the Monastic Orders of Medieval Europe and from that moment conversation bubbled. That experience gave me a lifelong lesson – always try to get people onto their home territory before opening up a conversation in other areas!

Graduate Fashion Show, University of Northampton

The second was a very different experience but just as relevant.  At Northampton University, where Jenny is on The Court, and I am a member of the Chancellor’s Advisory Group, we attended the Graduate Fashion Show.  It was the complete works – The Derngate Theatre had been turned into a catwalk and the most remarkable range of clothes and shoes was demonstrated to us.  We were allowed to cheer and applaud and it was exciting that all of this creativity and skill resided there in the University.  The School of Design, supported by the Leathersellers Company from the City of London, has a national reputation which is beginning to grow internationally as well – just what a young university needs for building its self confidence and reputation.  The new Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, recently arrived from Bournemouth University, brings a verve which is just what is needed in leading a young institution during these very difficult times for universities.  Tighter funding and the introduction of fees are creating a new world and one which will no doubt lead to closures and mergers during the next decade.  I would back both these universities to be survivors and to survive with distinction. 

50th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs

It was in Northampton that we attended the 50^th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs.  I have had the honour and pleasure of being engaged with it for 35 years and greatly value my role as a Vice Patron.  The current Director, John Whittaker, whose father Harry had established the association in a very humble way with the support of a local landowner, Sir Hereward Wake, was able to reflect on the joy of now having an association with well over 200 clubs. 

50th anniversary celebrations of the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs

NAYC has had a strong Christian vision throughout its life and has opened remarkable youth centres on the Welsh coast near Harlech, in the West Midlands and the Outer Hebrides, as well as Northamptonshire.  It was a celebration of dance and song, hymns and praise, with the Bishop of Peterborough giving an excellent address which showed his great affinity with young people. 

Education lunch hosted by the Lord Mayor of London, Guildhall

Yesterday I was a guest at the education lunch hosted by the Lord Mayor of London in the Guildhall.  Michael Gove was the speaker and it was interesting that he listed three great strengths of British education as being our universities, our independent public schools and growingly our independent academies.  He mentioned the work at Dulwich School and Wellington College who are both sponsoring academies. 

Lambeth Academy's Foundation Ceremony

We were the pioneers, to quote Antony Seldon, Master of Wellington, in a recent letter, and are delighted others are building so successfully on our lead.  When the United Church Schools Trust first agreed to sponsor Lambeth Academy in 2002, we were alone amongst the independent schools in taking that step.  A number of people felt we were deserting the independent sector by supporting a Labour Government.  We felt that we were clearly taking actions within the charitable objects of our founders and that therefore it was absolutely right for us to make this move. 

We now have twenty city academies and one city technology college, Emmanuel College in Gateshead, as part of the Group, as well as ten independent public schools, and one independent prep school.  We believe deeply that education can both provoke social division, and also be a source of healing it.  Our vision is for a united society where the usual divisions of class, ethnicity and creed do not matter but where the whole focus is on children, no matter in which bed they were born.  It is that focus which gives us our unity, which is helping us bind the different parts of our Group together, with integrity and a generosity of spirit. 

We now employ over 6,000 people and educate 8,000 children whose parents pay fees, and 22,000 children, mainly in inner cities.  Many people don’t realise this significant side of our work but we are always looking for more people to engage with us and to help us in different ways. 

Jonathan and Caroline Allen

If you feel you can help us with offering work experience or sitting with children helping them to read, please make contact with Jonathan Allen who runs our marketing – jonathan.allen@church-schools.com.  

Jonathan recently got married to Caroline, the daughter of one of our trustees, David Barnes, and our photo shows them at their wedding last summer.  We are all delighted that they are now expecting their first child before Christmas.

Harper Music School and Sports Hall - Opening Ceremony

It was a great honour to be asked to open the new Harper Music and Sports Centre at Lincoln Minster School.  I had had enormous fun in helping to work out how best to use an important piece of land so that we obtain maximum benefit to the school.  We wanted to create a full sporting and quality sports hall with additional run up area to satisfy test and county cricket hall training and requirements.  At the same time the tremendous growth in music in the school, due in part to our special relationship with Lincoln Cathedral, meant that there was a lot of complicated design work. 

Harper Music School and Sports Hall - Opening Ceremony

We dug out a great deal of rock which we gave to the Cathedral as a reserve pool for future restoration work and buried the sports hall by nearly 5 metres.  This was a major piece of construction work but has enabled us to have a new music schools or art school or possibly a 6^th form centre above while keeping the profile of the building to two and half storeys high.  Alongside, separated by a spacious atrium, is a 200 seater hall which is as near perfect acoustically as we could achieve for solo and orchestral performances.  The opening day on Saturday 14^th June was led by our Chairman, Lord Carey and we were sumptuously entertained by a galaxy of young musicians.

The occasion was supported by many people from across the country and included the Lady Mayoress of Lincoln.  There was a great sense of it being a community hall with facilities which will be enjoyed by many people beyond the school community.

As my time at the Group draws to a close my wife, Jenny and I have found that the quiet lunches and dinners which we had planned with groups of Heads and Senior Leadership Teams have been both moving and enlightening.  In a small group we can speak very frankly about the way the Group works and how we can improve.  Above all we have found a growing sense of belonging, people who might only have been in a school or academy for a year or two speak with conviction about why being part of our Group matters to them.  They are drawn by all that sits behind our strap line, The Best in Everyone, it is the uncompromising commitment to going only to the best and making sure that anything we have and do is available for everyone.  I am constantly reminded that our approach to education with its expectation of a deep love of children irrespective of which bed they are born in is at the heart of their vision and commitment.   We come away from these occasions feeling very proud of the people leading our schools and academies.

Stained glass window in Salford City Academy's Faith Room

The Diocese of Manchester made a very generous donation to our Salford Academy’s new stained glass window in its faith room. The design centred on the Parable of the Sower with a metaphor of the old Salford as seen by its great local painter, Lowry  and then the new academy building suggesting the growth of new learning and education.  Students read the lessons and participated in the Service which was led by the Bishop of Manchester, Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch. 

Dedication of stained glass window

We were also delighted that the artist designer of the window-Michael Birch, from Cheshire Stained Glass joined us and spoke about the creation of the composition.  It was one of those special days and well worth a special trip from London.  We are most grateful to the Diocese and the Bishop for their generosity as joint sponsors of the Academy.

It was a special treat being invited by our son and daughter in law to attend the watercolour exhibition at the Tate Britain Museum.  We have always loved the subtlety and translucency of watercolour and here we were able at one exhibition to look at the early genius Turner leading a group of outstanding cotemporaries Cotman, Girtin, Couzens, Palmer and Cox and then to look at modern interpretations was a real joy.  I could have stayed there much longer!  It is an exhibition well worth going out of your way to attend. 

Reception and dinner at Chelsea Physic Gardens

There was a well kept secret to arrange a farewell celebration dinner for Jenny and me at the Chelsea Physic Garden on 2^ndJune.  The location had been specially chosen so that we would be in a garden and we could not have been more fortunate with the beautiful evening we had for walking round it.  Our guests included many of those who had joined in making the last twenty years so creative.  Many of these had supported us financially in sponsoring academies and had therefore been at the heart of enabling us to engage with that programme.  Linking academies with independent public schools was a first in the UK when we started it and we now have more academies attached to our Group than the whole of the independent schools sector put together.  As part of that we do have direct support from Marlborough College, Winchester College and Epsom College.  All of these are linking with specific academies and helping to raise standards, widen experience and support University entrance.  It is an example of the partnerships that  a group of real friends have helped us make.  It was a pleasure to be able to pay tribute. 

Dinner at Chelsea Physic Gardens

Andrew Adonis was the principle speaker and he reminded me of our first meeting in a lift at Downing St. Having been cornered there we agreed to sponsor our first academy at Lambeth.  Ducie High School in Moss Side would then become Manchester Academy, and the building of a Group was underway.  It has been a momentous time and one which has created partnerships and friendships which have become some of the most treasured across our lives.  We were grateful that our family was invited too. .  The greatest surprise was that all our guests had been invited to make a gift to the Bombay Teen street children’s charity in Mumbai, India.  All of you who saw Slumdog Millionaire will have sampled the problems that exist behind the scenes in Mumbai.  The wonderful creator of this project, Deveraj was sadly unwell and unable to be with us in Chelsea, but our photo shows George Carey telling me that nearly £10,000 had been raised for that work.  We were very touched indeed by this generosity and I was able to speak to Deveraj in his hospital bed, learning that he was getting better and giving him the good news. 

Last Monday saw us at St Michael’s Chester Square for the twentieth anniversary service of The Lambeth Partnership.  This is a body of people committed to support the work of Archbishops of Canterbury through prayer, offering their professional skills and committing a regular sum of money.  Since the foundation of the parent body, The Lambeth Fund, we as trustees have led the fundraising of £10 million supporting initiatives under Archbishops George Carey and Rowan Williams.  It has been a huge privilege to be involved in this and it is fascinating how the interaction between Lambeth and the work in our schools has constantly been fruitful, stimulating new ideas and reminding us of the spiritual values we try to maintain.  Rowan Williams conducted the Eucharist service and George Carey gave the address.  There were some 400 people present and we all found it moving and a privilege to be there.  I was given the honour of leading the first lesson, Philippians 1, v3-11, St Paul in prison remembering with gratitude all those who supported him. 

It’s always exciting when the work of members of our team is acknowledged and celebrated externally.  It was very appropriate that the newly wedded Claire Maith was appointed, North East Region Finance Director of the Year this week.  She has been a great supporter of Sir Peter Vardy’s Emmanuel Foundation and is seen in our picture with their CEO, David Wootton.

We were blessed with a fine day for cutting the turf of the new Kettering Buccleuch Academy.  Our President, the Duke of Buccleuch came specially from London to conduct the ceremony. He was assisted by  the Head Boy , Winner Lawal and Head Girl, Emma Plummer. A number of other distinguished guests cut the turf aided by the students.  It was a genuine day of celebration when the whole community came together to welcome the construction of a brand new school building. 

It will bring together the three components of the school and has been designed to support flexible, modern education.  The soil has already been excavated and we are looking forward to the building being completed in 18 months.

One excitement was the burial of a time capsule with all sorts of current information about the school and life in Kettering society.

We have buried these in almost all of our Academies and it is fascinating to imagine future what future generations of students will make of a selection of today’s ephemera when they dig it up.

This sort of occasion brings the best out of everybody and we were able to thank the county and borough councils for the very original land swop they had undertaken to enable the school to have an unencumbered site.  It was good to see many friends from the Councils who have helped achieve this along with the Mayor of Kettering, the Vice Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff with us, together with local primary heads and other well wishers.

The appointment of heads is the single most important task that we undertake.  It involves members of the Board and all of us in the senior executive team.  Gauging the position of the school or academy, the style of leadership it needs at that level and what is required for a long term building of success are all challenging.  There is no perfect person to fill our specification, just as we are not perfect.  It is therefore a matter of trying to assess how best a person will suit the job and the job suit the person.  A major part of the job is human relations.  Relationships with all the pupils; the staff; parents and the wider school community.  An HR Director of a top FTSE company once said to me that the person specification for the head of a school was more difficult to fill than that for most Board positions of major companies.  That is the scale of the challenge.

It was particularly good news that three internal candidates, trained in the attitudes and ethos of United Learning Trust came through to take positions at Northampton, Kettering Buccleuch and Accrington Academies. 

Anne Hill is currently Deputy Principal of Northampton and Dawn Cotter and Andy O’Brien are Vice Principal of Kettering and Accrington Academies respectively.  My photo shows the warm reception the news received at Northampton. 

This term has got off with a bang.  We all loved the royal wedding, the dress, the young couple so clearly in love and all the ceremony which accompanies a British royal occasion.  At home we watched it all!

Celebrations are important for any organisation and a 75^th birthday deserved the wonderful service in Guildford Cathedral which was arranged to celebrate that anniversary for Rowan School.  Rowan is our most recent member of the Group and we were all delighted to play a part in celebrating the important role it has played in educating young girls preparing for secondary education.  Lord Carey gave the address and the girls themselves contributed to readings, singing and dance.  It was a day to be savoured and remembered.

In Church Schools we are preparing for our next major phase of buildings. My latest trips were to Hampshire Collegiate School and Bournemouth Collegiate School.

At both schools we are looking at boarding accommodation and at Bournemouth an immediate plan for renovating classrooms, with a longer term one for additional space as the school continues to grow. There has been a remarkable turnaround at the school when one reflects that we bought it from the receivers barely two years ago.

The leadership under the Headmaster, Stephen Duckitt has been outstanding and we are greatly encouraged by how many parents and students are responding to it. If you live in the Bournemouth area it is well worth a visit.

The investment between now and September will require a further £2 million with the longer term classroom blocks, refectory remodelling and further boarding that figure several times over. We are really serious about building a successful school in Bournemouth.

One of the strengths of Church Schools is that we have long term relationships with a group of dedicated and very capable architects and surveyors who have built up a design team of whom we are justly proud. Each of these is part of a different business and not employed directly by us but they give us a loyalty and experience which we greatly value.

I am very blessed that my life is filled with variety. Recently Lord Carey and I met the composer Howard Goodall. Our discussion centred on a proposed Oratorio using passages of the King James Bible, composed in a way that would make it particularly suitable for school choirs. We agreed that the Oratorio would pursue a theme of love and loyalty. Our meeting inspired all sorts of exciting thoughts and we much look forward to our next discussions in May. The Oratorio will be ready for rehearsal from September this year and we are looking for a premiere in November – watch this space for what promises to be an important new commission with young people in mind! As one of a group of people involved with the 400 year celebrations of the King James Bible we were privileged to be invited to a reception at Clarence House. Prince Charles was in cracking form and we enjoyed a number of happy moments with him.

We were fortunate to have a fine day at the turf cutting ceremony at Midhurst Rother College. We were relieved and delighted that our new building got through last summer’s review. It will be an outstanding new school and it was good to have so many people who had helped the project go forward present at our ceremony. As Chairman of the County Council, Mark Dunn was there. When the academy was first mooted he had been Cabinet Member for Education so for him and me this was a particularly memorable day. We had developed the project from the start having taken it as an exciting possibility for engagement with Winchester College to the then Minister for Schools, Andrew Adonis. As students helped us with the turf cutting coming from a number of the primary schools feeding the academy as well as academy members themselves, it was an important day which involved burying a time capsule and celebrating what is a major new development for education throughout Midhurst and the Rother Valley. One of the really good aspects of this project is the way it has brought the community together. A number of people were hostile to the idea of an academy but those days have passed and we had a great sense of unity which was drawn together by the Archdeacon of Horsham, The Venerable Roger Coombes, when he dedicated the work with a prayer and blessing.

Mothering Sunday is always special. Jenny and I (Jenny more than me!) make up posies for each child in church to take to mothers and grandmothers. My photograph shows Jenny receiving her posy which was not coals to Newcastle!

During a visit to Pearson Education I stood on the balcony which Churchill had used when watching the air raids during the war. As I looked up the river I realised that the height of buildings had not really changed since then – an interesting reflection on planning control in this part of London.

We were fortunate to have the support of Andy Hodge, Olympic gold medallist in the coxless fours in Beijing when we held an open evening for our neighbours in Hinchley Wood. We were presenting to them our proposals for new sporting facilities to be used by some 1600 students. The neighbours were very supportive of our intention which Andy was able to put into the context of national and international performance. Within our Surbiton High School we have national and international gymnasts and are hoping for representation at London 2012. Like so many new developments the primary concern centres on traffic and we are doing all we can to abate that and control it as much as possible. This is not easy but requires a school to be disciplined in its use of transport. We will be submitting a planning application for what will become a very major sporting investment of over £9 million.

We were honoured to have the Secretary of state for Education, Michael Gove, as the principal guest of a small informal dinner last week. Twice a year we gather a group of distinguished academics, business people, and those involved in public affairs to consider aspects of education. He spoke incisively about current Government policy and inaugurated a valuable debate. We are greatly heartened and encouraged by the range of people who help us by attending these functions.

Wednesday saw me in Sheffield visiting our Springs and Park academies.

My photograph shows my senior colleague, Kathy August, working hard in the train as we travel.

The students in Year 8 at Sheffield Springs put me through their BBC interview and asked some searching questions about my job and responsibilities. They assured me they had thought up the questions themselves which was a great credit to them.

At Sheffield Park I had lunch with a group of ambassadors who had been particularly helpful in meeting inspectors when the academy shed its Special Measures judgement. We were delighted that this happened at the first possible opportunity. It showed the strength of United Learning Trust, that when we hit trouble as we did in Sheffield the Group has the strength and resources to overcome the problems and put the academy back on the right track. My meal was prepared by students under the expert eye of Steve Rastall who runs a very popular BTech Award Home Cooking Skills programme. Their lamb tagine was to die for!

Thursday saw us in the Development stage of Kettering Buccleuch Academy participating in an Easter celebration. The celebration contained an imaginative mixture between the full Easter story in hymns and talk as well as Easter Bonnets and a competition for the best Easter Bonnet.

My photograph shows the students parading in them and the display which Jenny and I were asked to judge – an impossible task.

We were awe struck by the imagination and hard work which had gone into making them and only sorry that everybody could not be a winner.

Like everybody else we enjoyed a really sunny weekend. For Jenny and me it involved spending time in our garden, mowing, edging and pruning! Fun for us but no doubt poison for many others! I hope others were able to enjoy such restorative weather.

John Sunley’s legacy

The early development of the United Learning Trust (ULT) was heavily dependent on the invaluable support of a number of dedicated individuals who shared our vision for bringing those with experience of independent education into the inner cities and the Academies Programme to transform education for thousands of young people.

One of those people was John Sunley, who, as Chairman of the Bernard Sunley Foundation, became the first person to back us substantially at our Northampton Academy. The Sunley family had been involved in Northamptonshire over the years but John was decisive as Chairman of the Foundation in ensuring that the academy became a reality.

He had been a friend to many of us and so it was a great shock to learn of his sudden death from a stroke following significant surgery. Jenny and I joined a large number of friends and family at his funeral in Kent. It was a wonderful service which paid tribute to him and the many ways in which his life had touched those of others through business and philanthropy.

Our hearts go to his widow Fiona, and all the family, including his sister Joan and nephew Richard who has been an outstanding first Chairman of Governors at the academy itself.

John is somebody whom we will greatly miss. We will remain forever grateful for his generosity of spirit and his lasting legacy in providing life-changing educational opportunities for children in Northampton.

St Mary’s and Lincoln Minster Prep join forces

On Monday the Governors of St Mary’s Preparatory School and UCST announced that the school would be joining the group by creating an outstanding prep school in the city of Lincoln with our Lincoln Minster Prep, building on the excellence and proud traditions of both schools.

Important discussions are occurring with parents and staff to ensure that this great opportunity is used for the benefit of every child in both the schools. The convergence of schools in this way is one of the most important areas of work in which we become involved. It underlines our long-term strategic approach to education and shows how local people can determine the best options for their children with UCST being a supporting and enabling umbrella.

Projects and art at Ashford and Arnold

Prior to my leaving UCST at the end of June this year, I am eager to ensure that our capital development programme is well thought through and in place for a strong future. To secure this I am visiting the different schools where major programmes are in progress.

Last Monday I was in Ashford looking at how best to settle the site for the sports hall and additional classrooms for Ashford School.  We made good progress and should have a programme ready for a planning application within the next couple of months.

Staying with family and granddaughter Scarlett (seen here with a favourite book) at Whitstable over the weekend enabled Jenny and me to visit one of the up and coming gastropubs in the area, The Sportsman, which had featured the superb art of Ashford School as its current exhibition.

I was impressed with the quality of the artwork and the fact that Ashford staff, led by Bay Lees, Head of Art and her husband John, were there late afternoon on a Sunday to take it down and to transport it carefully back to school. They fully deserved the glass of wine we enjoyed together.

Tuesday saw me following the sun and arriving at Arnold School, Blackpool on a perfect day. Our programme here was to look at how we could create the quality of classrooms the school needs, linking that to an improved learning resource centre.  There is an ambitious programme to be put to the UCSF Board with early work on the refectory to be completed by September.

While at Arnold I had the pleasure of spending time with a very talented Year 7 art group who were very eager to have their photo taken for my blog – so here they are!

British Museum exhibition on Afghanistan

I hope as many people as possible will visit the British Museum for the stunning exhibition on Afghanistan. It focuses on the period of nearly 2,000 years ago when it was the crossroads for what in the day would have been world trade between China, India, the Middle East and Europe, including the Roman Empire.

It was fascinating to see how artefacts from all these civilisations were part of the heritage of Afghanistan and how the nomadic peoples carried their wealth sewn onto their clothes or in easily collapsible form. The spectacular tiara, which is being used as the symbol of the exhibition, had rods securing the five sections designed to represent trees, just like a modern equivalent.

It is a wonderful exhibition which illustrates what an ancient civilisation is represented within Afghanistan. I had the privilege of meeting the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs, Omar S Sultan, who spoke eloquently about that and about how culture was potentially the most powerful unifying force in modern Afghanistan.

Theological Colleges

As Trustees (of which I am one) of the Maurice & Hilda Laing Charitable Trust, we receive regular approaches from Theological Colleges from different denominations of the Christian Church for support.  We meet some outstanding people who are leading these colleges but realise that they are under significant financial pressure.

With the changes in theological training covering both residential and non-residential courses, the Church of England has a great need to think out its strategy so that investment is made in those colleges which can reasonably expect a long term future.

The lack of a clear strategy makes the job of a Trust such as ours much more difficult to execute.  It is arguable that Theological Colleges are in a similar position to that of many smaller independent schools which is why our policy of helping schools to merge to gain added strength, is such a sound strategic proposition.  It makes for happier institutions and ones in which the Principal and staff can concentrate on the true objects of the education they are offering, rather than being worried about whether they will survive financially – so CofE!

Titchmarsh Church

The photo shows our Trust Director with Revd Jim Mynors in Titchmarsh, where the Trust has helped our restoration programme. It is remodelling the interior to enable us to hold community events as well as church services. The photo shows the new areas of stone being laid for chairs rather than our dangerous old pews, famously described as “Victorian tat” by our Bishop!  It is exciting to see the progress.

We must never forget the importance of building upon the past as we look towards the future – valuing our traditions and history whilst always looking forward with excitement to the future and innovation.

Paddington Academy plays host to Sotheby’s, the DfE and The Times

Whilst visiting Paddington, it became readily apparent to me that the academy really is buzzing and fostering a learning environment in which students are encouraged and enabled to flourish. You can sense the energy of students and staff and the fact that the academy is making rapid and real progress in enabling its students to stretch further than they have ever done before.

We are thrilled that Mohammed Said Noor has been offered a place to read Medicine at Cambridge. Mohammed started his life in Iraq, spent a number of years in Germany and has now spent three in England.

During a coaching session before he went to Cambridge, we wondered together whether he would invite the Tutor to select the language in which to interview him – Arabic, English or German. I think he would have been at least two languages ahead!

Emmeline Hallmark paid Paddington a visit from Sotheby’s where she is head of British Paintings and a lot else besides. She has generously agreed to mentor one of our students and to speak to them about aspects of her career.  We have a common interest in watercolours and it is always exciting when a friend is prepared to engage with one of our academies.

The DfE is facing many changes as it responds to the challenges in policy being introduced by the Coalition Government.  We were pleased to have Andrew McCully, Director of the Academies Delivery Group, at Paddington to show him what one of our academies looks like and to discuss with him the issues of running our group of ULT academies alongside our group of UCST independent schools. The previous day had seen us with members of his team considering future projects.

We are all caught up in the changes required in things like the English Baccalaureate and it is so important that major players like ourselves have a sense of partnership with the Department and the Government of the day. It is good to feel that we have this quality of contact, which is so important for students and staff alike across our family of academies.

I don’t often find myself giving the press interviews but I liked the way I was questioned and tested by Greg Hurst of The Times when we met recently to discuss a number of educational issues. Absolute standards, context and the thrust of the curriculum embracing both vocational and academic areas are very properly the subject of national debate. We have made a full submission to the Government on the recent White Paper and it is important that people like us become engaged in influencing policy wherever that is possible.

Blue Skies: looking to the future of our family of schools and academies

Any organisation growing as rapidly as we have done needs from time to time to review its Governance Structures. A very able team of trustees including Dr Ralph Townsend, Headmaster of Winchester College; Sir Frank Lowe, himself the sponsor of his own academy; Mr Jerry Wooding, Chairman of Arnold School; and Mr Stephen Brandon QC, who chaired the meeting.

They came up with radical suggestions which were welcomed by our Executive Board last week. These are now progressing further through the organisation. We are all grateful for the outstanding quality of the work which has been done and which has been finally put together by the UCST Deputy Chairman, Sir Michael Graydon, formerly Chief of Air Staff, Royal Air Force.

We are truly fortunate to be served by people of such distinction who bring immeasurably valuable insights into the future growth of our organisation and the ways in which our family of schools and academies can continue to transform education.

Sunderland High School: the roots of UCST

Sunderland High School is the furthest north of our original Church Schools foundations, dating back to our foundation year of 1883. Among the traditions is the Distinctions Book in which each recipient of one writes the entry themselves. There are interesting changes in the styles of writing with those of 40 years ago, well before computers, clearer and more artistic than those of today.

In 1956, 1957, 1958 and 1959 there are entries by Kate (then known as Kathryn) Adie who returned to open Langham Tower in 2006.

The highlights of my visit were being interviewed for the newsletter by Sebastian Ward and Alex Embley, having discussions with members of the two student councils and planting a dessert apple in the junior school as part of their green scheme. We were fortunate that the weather was favourable, too, with blue skies and brilliant sunshine.

Independent schools in the North are finding the going tough as the cutbacks hit parents, but despite this difficult climate, the school is growing this term as people realise how important a challenging and well-rounded education is in the long term for their children. Dr Angela Slater, our senior Head, is seeing her sixth form growing stronger each year which is no mean achievement.

Hull Collegiate School: achieving high standards

The next day saw us in Hull and Lincoln. The Hull Collegiate School student council was alert to what might be done with a school in Uganda: the possibilities of real time contact using digital technology and enabling students there to benefit from it. There are exciting possibilities to explore before the next school trip there.

This school now has a real identity of its own following the two school merger of five and a half years ago and a great sense of purpose to achieving very high standards. The wonderful new buildings, creating a college courtyard effect, looked comfortably worn in and homely as well as dynamic and purposeful. The pupils knew what they were up to!

We were again impressed by the confidence of the Head, Rob Haworth, and his team in the face of hard times in the Hull business community.

Lincoln Minster School: flourishing plans for the future

We are very pleased with the newly purchased and renovated boys boarding at Eastgate House in Lincoln. Set in attractive grounds it is part of our expansion plans for Lincoln Minster School, which has grown successfully from the merger of three small schools in 1996. None was strong enough, starting with a mere 284 pupils but now the school is nudging 800 and creating waves in the world of music, based on holding both the boys and girls cathedral choirs in the school.

We had a period of quiet reflection during choral evensong before supper with Clive and Debbie Rickart, who lead the school with calm and distinction.

Early Eucharist in one of the historic side chapels was followed by Beth Jerem, recent recipient of a scholarship to the Scottish Conservatoire in Glasgow, playing to us in the new 200 seater music recital hall.

Her performance was magnificent. Debussy’s Reflets  dans l’eau was followed by the passionate Rhapsody in C Major by Dohmanyi. She concluded with Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu to send us on our way, full of admiration for her skills and hard work. This demonstrates the school’s ability to bring out the best in its pupils and to enable them to fulfil their remarkable potential.