MLP Newsletter No. 34
Welcome back to Term 5 and I hope that you and your families enjoyed a good Easter break. There is
plenty to read about from the schools and college in this edition of the newsletter and as you can see,
children and young people have been involved in a wide range of activities.
We are always happy to welcome guests to our academies, whether they are parents choosing a new
school, professionals coming to work with our staff or visitors supporting our work with pupils and
students. We are also keen to secure outside views of the quality of our work with children and young
people; because of this we are members of an organisation called Challenge Partners, through which
senior education leaders from across the country review schools and colleges to give us a view of
what we do well and what we could do even better. A number of our academies have received
Challenge Partners’ Reviews over the last term or so, including Bemerton St John, Pembroke Park,
Amesbury Archer, The Trafalgar School and S6C. Others have visits planned before the end of the
year. The outcome of these reviews will be shared with you through school and college newsletters;
there is much to celebrate in every report.
Also well worth celebrating is Sarum Academy’s Ofsted report which will be published at the start of
term after an inspection that took place in February.
We also congratulate two new Headteachers, appointed last term. They are Mrs Claire Pearce who
was appointed as permanent Headteacher for Bemerton St John Primary School last month and takes
up her post this week, having been Acting Headteacher since September. A former pupil, Mrs Pearce’s
5-year-old self didn’t foresee that one day she would lead the school! We will also offer a warm
welcome to a Headteacher joining us from the Hamwic Education Trust in Southampton. Mrs Sarah
Barwell was also appointed last month and will join Old Sarum Primary School as Headteacher at the
start of Term 6.
You may have read that I will be retiring from my role as CEO at the end of August and my successor
has now been appointed. He is Mr Ian Tucker, currently Executive Principal at St John’s School in
Marlborough. He has already visited most of the Trust academies and he and I will be working closely
to ensure a smooth handover for September.
Finally, Term 5 has a clear focus on external tests and examinations. To our pupils and students in
Years 6, 11 and 13, the very best of luck. With your good preparation and the close support from your
teachers, as well as your parents, you should achieve really well.
Sarah Busby
Chief Executive Officer