passion queen’s bi rthday honour for ceo of bfet

We were absolutely delightedto hear that Dana had been awarded a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the BritishEmpire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this June.Dana has dedicated over thirty years to the teaching profession and most recently isone of the founding membersof Bright Futures EducationalTrust.

Dana said, “I am both delighted and humbled to begiven this prestigious honour.It is a privilege working withcolleagues, governors andthe Directors of Bright Futures Educational Trust inthe development of an outstanding educationaloffer to our pupils and students across the Trust.”

H A R D W O R K • I N T E G R I T Y • P A S S I O N Issue 04 | Summer Term | 2013

Bright Futures Educational TrustMessagefrom the CEODear Colleagues,

As our first year as a Trustcomes to an end, I should like tothank you most sincerely foryour integrity, passion and hardwork towards making true theaims of our organisation and inmaking Bright Futures Educational Trust a model trust.The challenges we set for ourselves for the year were, attimes, daunting but your commitment to address themhas been quite inspirational. Together with our Directors, wehave shaped an organisationwhere other more establishedmulti-academy sponsors as wellas aspiring sponsors come to usfor our views and opinions.Many of you continue to bringmuch wealth of knowledge, educational and organisationalinsight into our schools throughyour engagements with othernational and international organisations such as ChallengePartners, PTI, Teaching Leaders,Future Leaders, British Council, Teaching School and a host ofother organisations. Your commitment to our pupils, ourcolleagues, our schools and ourTrust is greatly appreciated.

I should also like to thank ourhard-working and supportive Directors, led by an outstandingChair in Barrie Bernstein. Our Directors have given an inordinate amount of their timeand expertise in supporting ourschools. I am overwhelmed withtheir dedication and generosityin supporting us. If I may citejust two examples: Stephen Lindemann who has managedbuilding projects amounting tohundreds of millions of poundsduring his career has, through-out this year, been our lead onthe building projects at Connell,Stanley Grove and GortonMount. He has virtually workedfull time in securing the bestdeals and keeping the projectson line. Barrie Bernstein hasbeen actively going to variousorganisations securing bestvalue and sponsorship to bringresources and monies to ourschools. I could cite this for eachof our Directors, but I fear thisbulletin would then become atome!

Our Chair, Directors and I wishyou and your families a wonderful summer and we lookforward to continuing our worktogether in September.

Dana Ross-WarwzynskiChief Executive Officer,Bright Futures Educational Trust

Queen’s Birthday Honourfor CEO of BFET

Award for Melland Governorand BFET Director

B R I G H T F U T U R E S E D U C A T I O N A L T R U S T

Gary Copitch, Chief Execu-tive of People’s Voice Mediaand Director of the Bright Futures Educational Trust,has won an internationalaward for ‘giving a voice to disenfranchisedcommunities’.

Gary was awarded theLeonardo European CorporateLearning Award 2013 “Crossing Borders”, havingbeen recognised for his workas Chief Executive of People’s Voice media (PVM), a not-for-profit community development organisationbased in Salford. He wasawarded notably for “taking citizens learning to new heightsin the work he initiated and pioneered”.

Previous winners of the award include Jimmy Wales ofWikipedia and Professor DrJacques Delors.

PVM works in deprived areasacross the UK and aims to empower local communities

through the use of social media technology, working inpartnership with the BBC, Further and Higher Educationinstitutions, the third sectorand public sector to develop a network of community reporters and social mediacentres.

Gary adds: “My work with People’s Voice Media has enabled me to use my expertise in working withyoung people to help drive thevision for BFET, whose ethos isvery close to that of our organisations.”

Gary comments: “I am delighted to have been giventhis award, which is a testament to all our fantasticmembers of staff who are dedicated to helping to empower communities acrossthe UK.”

Gary is a Governor at MellandHigh School, part of the Bright Futures Educational Trust,since 2004, taking over asChair of Governors in April2012.

Teaching School continues to gofrom strength to strength withmany exciting developments ineach of the core strands.

Initial Teacher Training

Our wide variety of professionaldevelopment programmes offerstaff an opportunity to focus on leadership, teaching and learn-ing, subject knowledge, coach-ing/mentoring and well-being andcontinue to be very popular. In par-ticular this term, the cohort ofteachers on the Teaching GCSEMaths and Teaching A Level Mathswill be completing their course.

Being a Teach First partici-pant at Cedar Mount has

given me a unique opportunity toobserve lessons across the Academy and the Trust. I was fortunate enough to spend sometime on a contrasting placement atAGGS where I viewed lessonsacross the key stages in English. Itwas particularly exciting to seeteaching at Key Stage 5 level and

the students’ in depth and perceptive responses to poetryand language development. It wasalso interesting to understand theprovision for gifted and talentedstudents and the ways in whichteaching and learning at the schoolchallenges pupils. I would reallylike to thank the staff, and particularly the English team atAGGS for the warm welcome andvaluable insights into their practice.” - Sophie Richards

Research and development

The preparationsfor the launch of the ResearchUK Schools/Uni-versities Partner-ship Initiative are

well under way. Kate Ash has beenappointed by the University ofManchester on a permanent basisto co-ordinate the project from theUniversity perspective and HilaryLangmead-Jones (pictured), co-ordinating on behalf of the schools,comments:

Earlier this year, the Univer-sity of Manchester was

successful in its bid to become oneof 12 centres responsible for thedelivery of the Research CouncilUK School/University PartnershipInitiative (SUPI), a three year, nationwide programme which aimsto bring cutting edge research outof the university and into our classrooms. AGGS will act as thelead school for this project in theNorth West and I am delighted tohave been nominated as the schools’ Project Co-ordinator.Last year I was involved in the organisation of a Science and Sustainability project at AGGSwhich involved groups of girls researching issues of sustainabilityin collaboration with experts fromlocal businesses and the university.We were all hugely impressed withthe quality of research that the girlsdelivered and there was no question that they developed highlevel analytical and critical thinkingskills along the way. The RCUKSUPI project promises many similar projects across all disciplines, for all of our secondary

schools pupils. Schools will be invited to sign up for the six flagship projects which will be offered by the university from October this year. There will be the Research One Stop Shop; a searchable database of researchers willing to collaboratewith teachers on projects thatcomplement a particular area of the curriculum. A networkingevening for teachers and researchers to discuss their ideaswill be held at the university in October and I will be attending theNational Launch of the project inLondon. More details of this and allthe other exciting opportunities forour pupils will be sent out in duecourse.”

The PE Department held theirthird Annual Sports Dinner before Easter to celebrate thesporting achievements of thesenior girls in Years 11, 12 and 13at the Mercure Bowdon Hotel.

We were honoured to welcome ourGuest Speaker for the evening,Sylvia Gore MBE. Sylvia was anEngland international football midfielder and coach of the WalesInternational Team. She scored theEngland women’s national footballteam’s first ever goal in the first official match! After her international career ended, Sylvia

coached young girls in and aroundthe North West, seeing many of herplayers rise to success. She haswon a special achievement awardat the inaugural FA Women’s Football Awards and an MBE forher services and achievements.

We were all intrigued by her inspirational speech which talkedof dedication, commitment andhard work in order to reach yourgoals in life. Picture shows Sylviawith the PE Department, her MBEand her first ever England cap!

Sports dinner

On 28 March our Anti-bullyingAmbassadors from Years 9 and 10 were visited by thesinger/songwriter Tich who iscurrently touring with Olly Murs.She spoke to the girls about thework they have been doing to promote the anti-bullying messageand at lunchtime she gave a performance in the hall. AlexHolmes, from the Diana Award,was also in school to make a film

showcasing the work of the Ambassadors. The film is beingviewed at an event in London on 24June and AGGS is one of ten

schools from across the UKchosen to participate in recognitionfor their work done on anti-bullying.

Anti-bullyingAmbassadors


2Issue 04 | Summer Term | 2013

Whizz-kidFurther news on Amy Mather inYear 9. Amy is proving to be apopular choice as a young ambassador to promote STEM.

In June Amy was a speaker atthe Digital Futures Conferenceon skills, curriculum and creativity and she has alsobeen asked to speak at theRoyal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and CommerceConference in London at theirFuture Maker Day. Both ofthese are very exciting opportunities for Amy.

ALTRINCHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS HEADTEACHER: MARY SPEAKMAN

TEACHING SCHOOL HEADING OF TEACHING SCHOOL: SARAH BOYSE

Our BFET mindfulness journeystarted at AGGS where the longerterm aim is to be a mindfulschool. On 27 March, AGGSmoved a little closer to this goalwhen Alice and Maryam, two Year13 students presented at the Mindfulness in Schools Conferencein London. Along with myself, theyaddressed a packed auditorium ofover 700 delegates.

Alice said: “Overall the whole experience of Mindfulness has contributed to our becomingcalmer and more patient in oureveryday lives. We use it without realising and it has become part ofour lives.”

Maryam said: “Mindfulness hasprovided us with skills that will staywith us into adulthood and we thinkit is an excellent opportunity foreveryone to at least try.”

At the same time, over in MediaCity in Salford, Mrs Speakman(Headteacher, AGGS) appeared onthe Today programme on Radio 4.She was able to influence JohnHumphreys and listeners with regard to the benefits of Mindfulness to students.

Mrs Speakman commented:“Mindfulness is a really importantpart of our school life. All pupils andstaff have been introduced to thebenefits it brings and we are nowincorporating it into our curriculum.

The girls who were in the pilotgroups reported significant benefitssuch as improved concentrationand a balanced approach to dealing with the challenges ofeveryday life.

All of our staff, both teaching andassociate, have the opportunity toparticipate in Mindfulness training,helping us to achieve our ambitionof being a Mindful school.”

These events have generated a great deal of interest in Mindfulness. I have recently presented at the annual NursingConference at Salford NHS Trust, toWinstanley Sixth Form College staff

in Wigan and at the Challenge Partners Conference in London on9 July, attended by representativesfrom over 250 schools.

Across BFET we now have trainedMindfulness teachers for our students in both AGGS and Melland. Three BFET staff will nowbe attending further training withthe University of Bangor in 2014 to enable them to teach adult Mindfulness courses as part of our Teaching School offer.

We hope to teach Mindfulness tostudents in all BFET schools nextyear and currently a group of over20 staff from Stanley Grove andCedar Mount are being introducedto Mindfulness through an eightweek course. “Mindfulness teachesus how to make the best use of ourminds to improve concentration,creativity, manage stressful situations and help us to see lifemore clearly through learning howto respond, rather than react in anygiven situation. Mindfulness is already benefitting some of ourpupils and staff and, given thestrong results of our research, wewill be giving everyone across theBright Futures Educational Trust theopportunity to try Mindfulness forthemselves.”

You can find out more about Mindfulness at:http://mindfulnessinschools.orghttp://oxfordmindfulness.orghttp://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness

MELLAND HIGHSCHOOLPRINCIPAL: JUDITH O’KANE, OBE

Support across BFETOur recent Ofsted report highlighted the work that Melland was doing with theother schools across theTrust. The school is designateda National Support School, a National Specialist SEN College and cognition andlearning is commissioned byManchester Local Authority toprovide SEND support to otherhigh schools.

More recently, partner acade-mies within the Trust with a significantly high percentage ofSEND pupils have now eachappointed an SLT member to aposition of strategic lead inSEND. In each academy theirfull SLT and SENCo have partnered Team Melland in undertaking a rigorous SEN Diagnostic Review which, following a detailed report identifying strengths and areasfor development, culminates inMelland supporting them withSEND school improvement priorities and accompanyingaction plans setting out clear,precise objectives. These havebeen most positively received.

MINDFULNESS ACROSS BFET BFET ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL: AMANDA BAILEY



Cedar Mount is celebrating thesuccess of Year 10 studentKelsey Thompson who hasdanced her way to winning theopportunity to perform with

Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity. Kelsey entered the competition by submitting a videoof herself performing a routinethat Ashley Banjo, founder and

choreography for Diversity, had developed. Kelsey also added herown special moves to the piecewhich helped her clinch the once-in-a-lifetime prize.

Kelsey performed with Diversity at Disneyland Paris on 4 May aspart of the theme park’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, her performance will be broadcast onSky 1 later this year.

Dana said: “Kelsey’s determina-tion and commitment to achievingher life’s dream is admirable. Not only is Kelsey an outstandingperformer, she is also doing wellacademically. She is a real all-rounder and a credit to theBright Futures Educational Trust”while Sam has said “the whole of Cedar Mount is so proud of Kelsey, this is a fantasticachievement”.

Dancing withDiversity!

CEDAR MOUNT ACADEMY PRINCIPAL: SAM SWEENEY

Challenge theGap recognitionThe marks of Academic MentorsJenny Trelfa and Christine Wyatt,two of Cedar Mount’s associatestaff, on the Challenge the Gapprogramme has been recog-nised by Challenge Partners as emerging good practice. A casestudy detailing the work Jenny andChristine have done with a group ofYear 8 students, focusing on improving literacy and numeracyand raising self-esteem, is to bepublished in the Challenge the Gap handbook for next year’s participants.

They worked closely with a groupof underachieving white Britishboys and girls and the programmeincluded ‘Today not Tomorrow’days to help the cohort understandhow what is achieved at school willimpact on their future success.Jenny and Christine have been

invited to showcase their work andrepresent Cedar Mount and BFETat the Challenge Partners AnnualConference in London on 9 July.

“Before we started, our cohort sawschool as somewhere they had tocome, something that was done tothem. They couldn’t see a reasonfor it. But now, by showing them

how to build their future on firmfoundations, it makes sense andthey are far more motivated.” - Jenny Trelfa and Christine Wyatt

The BIG Tidy UpYear 11 students took part in“The BIG Tidy Up” litter pick onMonday 22 and Wednesday 24April around Nico’s Ditch, Wembley Road and the Age Concern Centre on Mount Road.The students did a fantastic joband removed a lot of rubbish.

The staff at the Age Concern Centre were very grateful andhappy that the students took thetime to help them improve their environment and commented “thestaff and clients really appreciateall the effort the students put intoclearing the litter. It gave our olderladies and gentlemen a real boost

to know that a group of young people cared enough to do something like this for them”.

BikeRight! cycling weekFrom Tuesday 30 April - Friday 3May a selection of Year 7, 8 and 9 students completed their cycling proficiency coursesthrough BikeRight!

Over 80 students have been putthrough their paces during an eight hour training course that covers basic bike maintenance,confidence and street awareness.The course is designed to buildupon knowledge and skills alreadygained at primary school and to encourage ‘new’ riders up to Level2 proficiency.

The BikeRight! team has also assisted two students to actuallylearn how to ride a bike. It is hopedthat students will now be able toparticipate in an after school bike

club. The idea is to promote funwhen cycling, but more importantlykeeping safe when on the streets.

CEDAR MOUNT ACADEMY PRINCIPAL: SAM SWEENEY University visitsOn Thursday 9 May, twelve Aristotle students had the fantastic opportunity to visitManchester University. Theaim of the visit was to developour learners knowledge andunderstanding of the University’s teaching andlearning environment and become more aware of what itis like to be a student. Currentundergraduates introducedthem to the University via acampus tour and hands-onactivities which encouragedour students to work withlearners from three otherschools. They had to work together to test their existingknowledge and solve problems in relation to Geography, Speech Therapy,Physics, Biology, Marketingand Psychology. The chocolate tasting workshopwent down particularly well!Another popular challengewas creating a flyer out ofplastic cups to investigate thephysics of flight, the undergraduates related thetask to “Bend it like Beckham”! As expected ourstudents were effective participators in all the activities and were a credit tothemselves and Cedar Mount.

Comments from the studentsinclude:

“The visit has made me determined to go to university.”

“Now I will try to work harderto gain higher levels to succeed more and go to university.”

“I found out that the universitydoes not put pressure on you.It’s about you and the choicesyou make.”

Following on from this visit,ten Year 9 students weretaken to Manchester University on 20 May for anevent to help them understandthe importance of options anddifferent career paths. Thestudents were given talks fromguest speakers who did a variety of jobs, took part in acareer planning workshop andwere given a campus tour. The students were fantasticrepresentatives of the schoolin terms of their behaviour andengagement in the day.




Targeted andSpecialist Support TeamIn September, BFET will be welcoming the Targeted andSpecialist Support Team (TaSS).This team will sit within the heart ofthe Trust with the intention of providing support to SEND pupilsand to aid the development andsustainability of outstanding SENprovision and practice acrossBFET.

The team will be led by myself and will comprise of a number ofdifferent professionals. We are delighted that George Thomasand Katherine Winward will bejoining our team. Both are trainee Child and Educational Psychologists studying at the University of Manchester for theirdoctorate. Both bring with them a large range of interests and experiences.

George was previously a teacher of psychology and is especially interested in pupils with SEBDneeds and system work in secondary schools and further education providers and the impact this can have on pupils andstudents.

Katherine was previously a behaviour support co-ordinatorand her interests relate to looked

after children, attachment and nurturing and severe learning disability. George and Katherinewill be looking to visit all the Trustschools in September to meet relevant staff. Other forthcomingappointments to the TaSS team arelikely to be a social worker and aspeech and language therapist.

Drop Ins

The CEP Drop Ins remain popularamong staff and a range of different topics have been discussed. If you wish to book aslot, or require further information,please speak with your SENCo.

Katherine Winward George Thomas

CHILD & EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGYSENIOR CHILD AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST: JUDE JOUGHIN

BFET and themedia

BFET haveengaged the services of amedia com-pany based inManchestercalled MC2 to

support the management of allour marketing, press and publicity. Amanda Bailey(Associate Principal, BFET)has responsibility for the management of this account.

Over the past six months tothe end of May, we have beensuccessful in submitting 23Press Releases across all ourschools with 18 of those releases achieving coverage inlocal press or specific education publications. Wehave had coverage in Manchester Evening News,SecEd, Sale & AltrinchamMessenger and the Manchester Gazette. All ofthese stories help us keep ourprofile high and showcase allthe great work colleagues aredoing to support our youngpeople and the wider communities within each ofour locations.

MC2 have also supported usin issues management, designing the BFET logo,building the new BFET website and some brandingwork which is currently beingreleased. The branding workwill be in the form of PowerPoint templates, worddocuments, email signatures,business cards and other stationery items for eachschool.

In addition, we are in theprocess of designing andbuilding new websites forStanley Grove and GortonMount Primary Academieswith iFlourish.

Amanda Bailey said: “Workingwith MC2 is enabling us togain a consistent media presence and ensures wepresent a consistent and professional image. They areeasy to work with and arebuilding good relationshipswithin each school.”

BFET is always looking fornews stories so please dosend through details to me [email protected]. I amhappy to receive notes andhave a media proforma available which is designed tomake the submission processeasy.


OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS OUR TRUST

Hear from a member of staff whohas taken advantage of careeropportunities across BFET

I was attracted to the opportunity of a second-

ment at Cedar Mount Academyby the challenge of a new experience and the chance towork in a very different type ofschool from AGGS. The additionalincentive was the promotional element of being a Head of Department and to gain experiencein that role.

In the first few weeks, I definitelyhad to hit the ground running: trying to get to know new classesand what methods would engagethe pupils in lessons; meeting thedepartment; learning the differentschool procedures etc. and, at thesame time, analyse Year 11 mockresults and plan a strategy for how to improve upon these in the summer exams. It was all a challenge but enjoyable at the same time. My initial misconceptions were that theteaching element of the role wouldbe very different due to the diverseintake at Cedar Mount. However,once I got to know the pupils, I realised that they learn in exactlythe same way as pupils at AGGS.

I did have to consider carefullywhether to apply for the role permanently as I really enjoyedteaching at AGGS and wasn’t sureabout giving up my A Level

teaching, but after the first half-term I already felt part ofCedar Mount and wanted to bepart of its continued improvement.The excitement and challenges involved in moving the departmentforward far outweighed the reluctance to leave AGGS. I amvery grateful for the secondment asI don’t think I would have appliedfor the role without the chance totry it out first!

In terms of future plans, even in theshort time I have been at CedarMount I can see how the pupilsflourish when they receive consistently good teaching and arepushed to have high aspirations.

This vision is embedded across theschool and I want all pupils to leavewith the best Maths results possible, but also having enjoyedtheir Maths lessons and feelingconfident in their abilities. I alsowant to continue the collaborativework between the schools in theTrust so that all Maths teachers areworking together to share ideasand experiences for the benefit ofall pupils.”

Sarah Mears Head of Maths, Cedar Mount Academy

Hallé SHINEon Manchester

A few months ago, led bySam Sweeney and CedarMount, the Trust put in a bidwith the Hallé SHINE onManchester programme forpupils from Stanley Groveand Gorton Mount to takepart.

The programme provides 125hours a year of alternative andcreative learning which is underpinned by music. Theproject runs on Saturdays forfive hours and for 25 weeks ofthe year and will take place atCedar Mount.

Working together, a curriculumis developed emphasising excitement, enrichment andactivity based learning whichis all centred on a differentmusic theme each term whichis chosen by the Hallé. Thiscurriculum is supported by investigative learning in Literacy, Maths, Science andTechnology: the pupils benefitfrom professional musiciansfrom the world famous HalléOrchestra and outside tripsare also included.

The programme seeks to overcome barriers to achievement by providing alearning experience that is distinctive but complementaryto the school week anddemonstrate an absolute commitment to raising expectations, attaining highstandards and demonstratingimproved performance.

We are delighted to say thatthe bid was accepted and thisprogramme will start in thenew academic year. Watchthis bulletin for further updates on how the programme is getting on.

Bright Futures Educational Trust | The Lodge | Cavendish Road | Bowdon | Altrincham | WA14 2NJTelephone: 0161 941 5681 | Email: [email protected] | Chief Executive Officer: Dana Ross-Warwzynski

www.bfet.co.uk



It is messages like this, when times get difficult, that give encouragement to all of us working on this project.

Recruitment

Once again, Connell is indebted tocolleagues from across the Trust inhelping this new College to develop in the way that it is. Colleagues at Cedar Mount havebeen particularly helpful with thepreparation of job descriptions forthe staff we have been recruitingduring May. AGGS has been sosupportive with enabling me towork with their staff on the organisation of the recruitmenttimetable and during the interviewsand observations. The result of allthis very hard work has been that

Connell has been able to appointsixteen excellent members of staffto deliver A Level courses and thewider curriculum. This recruitmenthas brought with it remarkable stories. As the DfE kept reducingthe funding for staff, we have hadto appoint many part-time staff.Some of those have made remarkable sacrifices to be part ofthe College. Two such staff havegiven up full-time jobs to take 0.2jobs at the college and they havearranged to supplement their income through giving lecturesaround Manchester, working in arestaurant and taking on maternitycover with a different college.

Associate staff recruitment hasstarted and, once again, we arebeing creative with roles. I was delighted when Gorton Mount andStanley Grove agreed to offer apart-time role within their schoolsto whoever is appointed as theNetwork Manager for the college.

Building

The building is progressing, but notwithout its challenges. The buildersshould have ‘broken ground’ bynow but this appears to be delayedand the interior is being redesignedfor what must be the tenth or twentieth time! However, wecontinue to be incredibly lucky withthe support we have from our TrustDirectors who are able to bring awealth of expertise and experienceto dealing with any such problemswe have faced.

Readiness for Opening

On the week beginning 10 June,we had both an Ofsted and a“Readiness for Opening” meeting,two very important milestones.Sam Sweeney, who has beenthrough all this with Cedar Mount,was tremendously supportive inhelping with the preparation forthese meetings. I am pleased toannounce that Ofsted have givenus the go ahead to proceed and the “Readiness for Opening”meeting went well with overallamber/green rating.

Student Applications

To-date we have received 172 applications. I have seen all of theapplicants and made offers to themajority of them and I am pleasedto report that we have now hit our target of 120 acceptances. Applications are still coming inwhich is good as not all of the 120 acceptances will start in September so we need to keepgoing and also keep those students who have accepted engaged with the college.

CONNELL SIXTH FORM COLLEGE PRINCIPAL DESIGNATE: GILLIAN WINTER

Connell for me, as a student, is becomingmore of an excellent opportunity to experience and be partof something new whichcould turn out to be oneof the best colleges inManchester, it is justsuch an amazingchance. I can say formany students at CedarMount that they alsoshare similar views onConnell.”

passion queen’s bi rthday honour for ceo of bfet

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