Trust Update

Dear Parents & Carers,

Welcome back to the Spring Term!  The New Year is often a time for reflection and change which is why we have decided to revamp Horizons and proudly present our new look Trust Update that will be sent to parents and carers each term, keeping you informed of news within the Trust.  

The Trust has welcomed OFSTED inspectors to a number of schools during the autumn term including Southwold Primary in October, that moved from Requires Improvement to GOOD.  Henley Primary also in October that secured GOOD and Outstanding judgements.  St Edmunds Primary in November retained its GOOD and Warren School secured GOOD in all areas following its transfer to Consortium after being placed in Special Measures with a previous MAT.

We ended the term with Glebeland Primary having an inspection in the last week before Christmas, I am very proud of Glebeland and am certain that will be reflected in the report once published.

The whole Trust has worked very hard to further improve the provision for all our pupils and it is great to see that Ofsted have recognised those improvements.  All reports can be found on the Ofsted website here:  Find an Ofsted inspection report or on the individual school websites.

Severe Weather Protocol

We encourage children to embrace the changing seasons while being mindful to take care and keep safe. The following link takes you to our updated severe weather protocol www.consortiumtrust.org

The Burrow

 Work is currently underway to develop an EYFS/KS1 SLD outreach class (of the Warren School) at Glebeland Primary School.  We are expanding specialist places offer via Warren by a further ten pupils in collaboration with Suffolk Local Authority.   Some minor building work is about to start and recruitment for additional staff will be advertised soon.  We aim to be welcoming new pupils after February half term break.

Nurseries across the Trust

I am pleased to introduce Lucy Ruskin who is the Nursery Manager at the Consortium Trust - Kirkley Nursery and Centre of Excellence in Lowestoft.  Lucy has a wealth of knowledge and experience with the 0–4-year-olds.  In addition to leading our hugely popular and successful private nursery Lucy has taken on the role of Head of Service - Nursery, offering support and guidance to our schools that have nursery age pupils.

I was also delighted to visit recently our newest nursery provision that has opened at Glebeland Primary school on the 1st of September, the nursery has a high staff to child ratio and has excellent facilities and resources where the youngest children have opportunity to flourish.

As many parents will be aware as part of the governments mission and there are numerous changes on the horizons relating to nursery access, provision and funding.  As a Trust we are monitoring these proposals and will consult with parents in due course on any changes that may be required to our practice.

The Broads

Is a brand-new specialist resource unit located at Barnby & North Cove Primary, that offers a limited number of places to pupils that require additional specialist teaching.  The £1million pound capital investment, not only created two additional classes, breakout spaces and toilets for the Unit.  It also enhanced the facilities for the whole school community with the expansion of the school main hall, creation of new storage spaces, office, staff room, new canopy and developing outdoor area for the EYFS class and a resurfaced playground space.

The new staff and children based in the unit also play an important part in the whole school community, bringing new expertise and a vibrancy to the school.  It was great to attend the KS2 Christmas performance in December that included everyone.

Winterton SEMH specialist unit takes a step forward

The development of an 8 place SEMH specialist unit based at Winterton Primary School has taken a step forward with indicative artist impression (above) of the new building being released.  The Trust working in partnership with Norfolk County Council are planning to open the new unit in 2025/2026.  This will add a further strand of diverse provision to the Trust, providing specialist support in our communities. 

Supporting our communities

Consortium Trust has become the official sponsor of the Freethorpe youth football team.  Freethorpe is the neighbouring village to Reedham and several of the players at Freethorpe FC are Reedham primary pupils.  The sponsorship is funded through our publicity and promotion fund and also meets our community engagement commitments.