“A year to remember” – local school trust signs off for the summer with a smile
As schools get ready to close their doors for the summer break, one Bury Multi Academy Trust is looking back over the last 12 months with an immense sense of pride.
The Keep Learning Trust, which until the start of the year was known as the Bury College Education Trust, has seen results strengthen, new schools join them, and their offer enhanced for the nearly 1500 children who are part of the Trust.
David Stephens, who leads Keep Learning, said: “At every level, our family of schools have seen progress and success.
“When I look back, we have had colleagues being invited to Parliament to recognise the impact that they have had. Our schools have also won a host of awards, and we are particularly proud of the ones that recognise our commitment to ensuring our children are happy and thriving.
“In addition, we are also part of some hugely exciting projects to help strengthen the brilliant things that already happen in our classrooms. We are, for example, partnering with another Trust to look at how we can best adopt AI into learning, and we are also working with some of the country’s leading universities to enhance other areas of what we do. We are collaborating with the University of Nottingham a pioneering project to look at how children engage with maths and the University of Manchester to support the development of new teachers.”
In addition, the Trust secured nearly half a million pounds of additional funding to improve the fabric of the school buildings – and another £50,000 to provide additional wraparound care to support families in one Keep Learning school.
David added: “To top it all off, our SATs results last week were an amazing end to the year.
“While we see the support we offer as being much broader than just academic outcomes, the fact that every one of our schools surpassed national averages for the number of children meeting the expected level in Reading, Writing and Maths is testament to the amazing things that happen in our classrooms.
“Not only have our children done us proud, but it is also right to acknowledge and celebrate our colleagues who work so tirelessly to support our pupils and our communities.”
Alongside individual achievement, the Trust has also reset its vision, values and identity to recognise that it is a growing and maturing family of schools.
Mark Granby, Chair of the Trust, said: “What makes this year such a milestone one is that we have delivered on our high expectations for our children, while still managing some important changes.
“Welcoming two new schools, Old Hall and Greenmount, to our family was a critical moment for us. It was an ideal opportunity to evolve our governance arrangements and approach – which is why, after a huge amount of consultation, we became The Keep Learning Trust.
“Such a change is more than just about what we call ourselves. We looked at every aspect of the Trust to see how we can improve what we do for our pupils, staff and communities. If the last 12 months are anything to go by, then things are definitely moving forward at some pace.
“While we are immensely proud of our history and where we have come from, but we are equally as excited by what waits for us.”
