Dear Parents and Carers
It has been another busy and eventful year, with much to celebrate across MNSP Trust. Several schools have been inspected by Ofsted and I am delighted that we have not had a single category in any inspection that has not reached at least ‘Expected Standard’ (a higher bar than the previous ‘Good’ judgement). Indeed, many schools have seen a lot of areas graded ‘Strong Standard’ – the next grade up from ‘Expected’. A fantastic achievement, so well done to St Mark’s Secondary in Bath, Ansford Secondary in Castle Cary, Midsomer Norton Primary and Notton House Academy in Wiltshire. If you are interested in reading the new style reports, these can be found on the Ofsted web site – they really are lovely to read.
Over the course of the year I try to visit all of the schools in the Trust. Recently I have spent time at Soundwell Academy in Bristol, St Matthias in both Bath and Bristol, Beechen Cliff in Bath, St Mary’s in Timsbury, Oakfield and Critchill, both in Frome. As always, I was so pleased to see high quality learning taking place across these schools. I was particularly impressed at Beechen Cliff, as my visit coincided with one of the hottest days of the year. Pupils continued to work well with teachers and support staff, despite some rooms reaching very high temperatures. I would like to thank colleagues and pupils for working through these hot temperatures – no doubt in the Autumn Term we will all be fed up with the rain and cold!
Academic Outcomes
I am delighted that our primary and first schools have once again supported children exceptionally well in national tests in Reception, the Year 1 phonics test and in the on-line DFE Year 4 times-table test.
In reception, over 80% of children achieved a Good Level of Development compared to a national average of 68%.
In phonics, an incredible 92% of children passed the screening test – smashing all records and the national average by 10%.
In times-tables, the average score across the Trust was 23.2 out of 25. Again, comfortably above national averages.
These results from some of our youngest children are simply amazing. Well done to the children and staff of these schools and of course parents, who help by reading with their children and practicing maths, as well as all the other fun things that come with being a parent!
The link between early successes in reading and maths and later achievement at GCSE for example, are very clear. This year, our youngest pupils have excelled and this means they are well prepared for the next steps in their educational journey.
As you will know, results for Year 6 SATs have been delayed nationally. This is very disappointing for children and schools, but we hope to have these from the Department for Education on the 16th July. Fingers well and truly crossed!
Looking forward, we are expecting excellent GCSE and A level results in the Summer and wish all our leavers lots of success with their next steps.
Staffing Updates
There are a number of changes to leadership of schools in the Trust for September:
Mrs Cowgill becomes the substantive Headteacher at Clutton Primary
Mrs Waterhouse becomes the substantive Headteacher at Norton Hill Primary
Mr Powell becomes the substantive Headteacher at Writhlington School
Mr Lyle has been appointed as Headteacher at Welton Primary
Mrs Brain has been appointed as Headteacher of Longvernal Primary
Mr Jeffries has been appointed as the Hub Lead for Frome Schools in MNSP
Mr Lawrence has been appointed as the Hub Lead for MNSP schools in South Somerset
This means there have been some colleagues who have moved into new roles as the Trust expands to support schools in West Somerset.
Mr Howard is moving from Writhlington School to support Norton Hill Secondary as the school grows and because we are saying goodbye to Mrs Gibbs, Deputy Headteacher. We will all be sad to see Mrs Gibbs leave, but wish her well in her new Headteacher role.
Mr Snell is stepping up to support Farrington Gurney Primary and schools in West Somerset.
Mr Turull is stepping up to support schools in West Somerset and assist with regional work for the Department for Education. He will also continue as the substantive Headteacher of Leigh-on-Mendip Primary.
Mrs West-Gaul is stepping up to work with other primary schools in MNSP, whilst remaining as substantive Headteacher at St John’s Primary.
Mrs Courtier-Hird has been appointed as primary English Lead and is retiring from Headship.
All in all lots of change, but all positive. I think it is only fair to recognise publicly the hard work and dedication of Mrs Courtier-Hird who has led Longvernal school for many years and seen the school grow to be over-subscribed and high performing. This was not always the case and I am delighted that she is staying on to support the development of English across our first, primary and middle schools.
Estates Upgrades
Over the Summer we have approximately £2.5 million of works taking place across schools including decorating, new kitchens, new classrooms and nursery buildings, refurbishment of toilets and of course the more mundane things like new roofs and boilers. We have also set aside some funds to develop our strategy for keeping schools cool. We recognise that we are having more hot weather and the need to keep children and staff safe. Therefore, we have identified in our schools some key areas that would benefit from air conditioning, or other passive cooling measures.
Mobile Phones and devices
No doubt if you have a child in a middle, upper or secondary school in MNSP, the phone pouch initiative is likely to have come up in conversation. Some schools have started using these to test systems and I know most schools have now shown them to children in assemblies. We are aiming to keep this a simple process summed up by – if you’re bringing a mobile device to school, it should be switched off and in a pouch all day – hopefully this will mean there is no confusion about expectations.
New Schools joining MNSP
We are excited about 6 schools and a nursery in the West Somerset area joining MNSP Trust in September 2026. We have been supporting the Minehead and Williton based schools this year and have seen significant improvements already in the standard of education received by children. This means the Trust will have 45 schools in September and there are a further 5 hoping to join over the course of 2027. As each school joins, the Trust becomes stronger and better able to help schools improve, as well as sustain high standards in existing schools.
I hope everyone has a lovely Summer and thank you as always for your support as we manage the usual planning for a new academic year, coupled with lots of new initiatives from the Government.
Yours faithfully
Alun Williams - CEO