Trust Newsletter

Easter 2024

It feels like only a few weeks ago that I was writing to wish you a happy Christmas, and now here we are at Easter!

Thank you to everybody who recently completed the Staff Opinion Survey, your thoughtful comments and feedback will – as always – shape our future plans. Please see further down the page for more details on the survey results so far. Each Headteacher will be reflecting on your feedback and identifying strengths and priorities to share with you over the coming weeks.

I am pleased to confirm that we have appointed Louise Harrison as substantive Headteacher at River Mead School, and Emma Lewis as substantive Deputy Headteacher. I am so excited for the next phase of development at the school with this fantastic leadership team in place.

Our work on the merger with EQUA MAT continues to progress since the approval from the Regional Director on 19 February 2024. Thank you for attending the TUPE meetings and for your feedback at them; the consultation remains open until 25 April 2024, so please do speak to your Headteacher before then if you have any further thoughts or questions.

I wish you all a very well-earned restful Easter break.

Lyssy
CEO, The Mead Trust

Thank you from all on the Board of Trustees

What a huge term for this fantastic Trust! We have secured the agreement to merge with Equa MAT, and much has been going on behind the scenes and at Board level to bring this to fruition. The majority of our current Trustees will be moving to the new Trust Board, and of course our Academy Advisors will remain in place as your local governors after the merger completes on 1 June.

We know that most things will stay the same for those of you based in schools and want to reassure you that we all remain here as support and friends.

Alongside the merger, many other activities have continued. Collaborative Reviews, Partnership Visits and Education Reviews have taken place in all of the schools, with wonderful practice seen in all areas. It’s evident that leaders are demonstrating courageous leadership; choices about organisation, structure, resources and priorities are made bravely. Each of you has the children at the centre of all you do and say.

Whether you are taking a break at home, travelling further afield, exploring your interests or relaxing with a book I hope you enjoy your Easter break. 

Anne Millin

Chair of Trustees, The Mead Trust

Staff Opinion Survey

Thank you to you all for completing this year’s Staff Opinion Survey. The information you give us is critical in planning our staffing for the coming year, and understanding more about what we can do to support you.

At the time of writing, 185 of you have responded – that’s a huge 87% of you.

The responses so far tell us:

  • On the question ‘Do you intend to remain in employment at The Mead Trust in September 2024?’, on a scale of 1-100 the average response was 93
  • 90% of respondents were happy to go on to answer questions about what it’s like to work in their school / Trust
  • 93% of respondents said they Agree or Strongly Agree that children enjoy coming to school, and 97% Agree or Strongly Agree that children are safe at school
  • 80% of respondents said that they Agree or Strongly Agree that there are good opportunities for professional development
  • 96% of respondents Agree or Strongly Agree that they are proud to be a member of staff at their school, and the same number Agree or Strongly Agree that they are proud to be a member of staff at the Trust

Each Headteacher has received an analysis of the responses for their school, and will be talking to you about the responses and what it means for the future after the Easter break.

 

New starters

Welcome to all of our new members of staff who have joined us since Christmas. We hope you are settling in well and enjoying your new role!

Castle Mead
Rita Braziuniene (RB TA)
Justyna Haladyn (TA)

River Mead
Abby Tucker (Cleaner)
Ella-Mary Turnnidge (Cleaner)

The Mead
Hannah Myatt (TA)
Lene Van Den Heever (TA)
Sarah Gray (TA)
Elly Stacey (TA)

Vacancies

We continue to recruit for new Academy Advisors to join our governance community. We are interested in hearing from anyone who is local to one of our schools and committed to supporting them. Academy Advisors do not need experience of working in a school, and don’t need to have been a governor before – they just need to be dedicated to helping the leadership team deliver inspirational learning for all children.

All of our vacancies are published on the Join Us page of our website. If you know someone who would like to work for us, but there isn’t a vacancy available currently that suits them, they can register for our talent pool – we then have their details on file and can notify them when an appropriate vacancy becomes available.

 

New classrooms at Castle Mead School

We are delighted that the new classrooms at Castle Mead have been completed, and are now in use by Year 6. The space has provided a fantastic learning environment for the oldest children in the school, and it already feels like an integral part of the school. 

Thank you to Emily and Alex, the Year 6 class teachers, for working so hard to move the children so successfully, and make the new classrooms feel like a purposeful, special learning environment for the children.