Hundreds of education professionals attending the annual conference of Prince Regent Street Trust have been told: “We are creating a very special legacy.”

The Trust’s third annual conference was staged at Hardwick Hall Hotel, near Sedgefield, with the theme: “Enhancing Education Through Collaboration.”

The event began with a welcome speech by the Trust’s CEO, Julia Armstrong, who told the 300-strong audience: “I feel so proud of what we have achieved together, and my aim is to make it better and better.”

“There are always things we can do better, and I want you to tell me what they are, so we can continue to move forward,” she added in her opening remarks.

Julia said the future of the Trust would focus on improvement, listening to the views of staff, arranging stakeholder focus groups, and creating a culture in which everyone understands the organisation’s values.

The conference heard that the latest employee survey showed 97 per cent of staff feel the Trust invests in professional development.

“There is high turnover elsewhere but not with us – everyone seems happy in their schools, and our aim is to be an employer of choice,” added Julia.

She pledged that health and wellbeing of pupils and staff would continue to be high on the agenda, with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) another “huge priority”.

Julia finished by telling the audience “Thank you for everything you do” before handing over to the Director of School Improvement, Keith Morrison, who reminded delegates of the Trust’s core principles: Excellence, Opportunity, and Partnerships.

“Aiming for education excellence is key to our success and, ultimately, that’s what our children deserve. We are creating a very special legacy here – a culture where everyone thrives,” said Keith.

“We want you all to feel part of something bigger. We want every one of you to not just feel that you belong in your schools, but that you belong in Prince Regent Street Trust.”

Autonomy and independence, while sharing values and beliefs, is key to the Trust’s partnership model, added Keith: “We have a shared goal – to give pupils what they deserve every day.

“The Trust has so many opportunities and there is fantastic collaboration going on, but we have to make sure the collaboration is purposeful and impactful. Everything we do must have a positive impact on our pupils.”

Keith finished by highlighting some of the positive aspects of the Trust’s “fantastic” schools: Hartburn Primary School; Village Primary School, at Thornaby; Wolviston Primary School; and Barley Fields Primary School, at Ingleby Barwick. He also welcomed Oxbridge Lane Primary School, at Stockton, which is scheduled to join the Trust next month.

Keynote speakers were Senior HM Inspector, John Lucas, explaining the more collaborative approach to Ofsted inspections, specialist education presenter ‘The Real David Cameron’, and motivational speaker, Paul McGee, known as SUMO Guy.

Workshops were held across a variety of disciplines, including artificial intelligence, human resources, systems, and SEND.

Ofsted changes will make inspections better – pledge to Trust conference

OFSTED changes will put collaboration at the heart of future inspections, the Prince Regent Street Trust annual conference was told.

Senior HM Inspector John Lucas was a keynote speaker at Hardwick Hall Hotel and praised the Trust for “being steadfast in doing what’s best for its children”.

“Thank you for what you are doing for children in this fantastic region – children need caring, talented, dedicated professionals like yourselves,” he told the audience.

John outlined the major changes taking place following Ofsted’s biggest ever consultation exercise – ‘The Big Listen’ – which attracted 22,000 responses.

“We want to regain the trust of the dedicated professionals we work with,” he said.

The consultation has led to the immediate scrapping of single-word overarching school judgements, with a new report card system being introduced, along with an end to ‘ungraded’ inspections and deep-dive methodology.

John added: “We want to improve how it feels to be inspected, while encouraging and supporting education providers to raise standards.

“We want inspections to be collaborative and transparent, and for children to achieve the best outcomes they can. We want schools to be those safe places where children can thrive and flourish.

“The biggest changes are yet to come. We want inspections to feel and look different and at the heart of that will be collaboration.”

John said best practice would be shared and there would be a more tailored approach to place greater emphasis on the context of individual schools. There would also be a sharper focus on SEND children and those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable.

John ended his presentation with an appeal to delegates to make their views heard and help shape the new report cards.

“We will consider all of the responses as they come through,” he promised.

Children from a North East education trust figured out a way to combine work and play in a special maths challenge competition.

Nearly 100 Year 4 pupils from the six schools that make up the Prince Regent Street Trust gathered at Barley Fields Primary School, in Ingleby Barwick, for a celebration of maths and learning.

Splitting into teams named for local Teesside landmarks – such as Team Captain Cook Monument, Team Roseberry Topping, and Team Transporter Bridge – children from different schools worked together to solve maths-based challenges all over the school grounds.

Emma Hills, maths lead for Hartburn Primary School, led the day. She said: “This is the first time we’ve run this challenge across the whole trust, and it’s been a fantastic experience.

“The children have really enjoyed the day. It’s something different, it gets them outdoors and active, and most importantly, it helps them develop their maths skills in a fun and engaging way.

“We’ve been especially impressed with their resilience – they make mistakes, but because it’s presented as a game, they just dust themselves off and try again!”

The children tackled a variety of activities designed to make learning maths interactive and exciting. These included a giant 100-square human ‘snakes and ladders’ game, interactive ‘smart wall’ video games, 3D modelling, orienteering around the school grounds, and a numeracy puzzle relay race requiring them to leap from spot to spot.

At the end of the morning, the team with the highest score was awarded the Prince Regent Street Trust Annual Maths Challenge Cup.

Alice Tattersall from Kader Academy, who was part of the winning River Tees team, said: “Maths is one of my favourite lessons, but my favourite part of the day was winning the trophy!

“I’ve loved today because I got to see friends from other schools, and I really enjoyed the maths games.”

Emma added: “I want to say a big thank you to Barley Fields for hosting us. The school has been the perfect setting to launch this annual event, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!”

Education inspectors have praised the “impressive community spirit” at a Teesside primary school that has again been rated as ‘Outstanding’.

The latest Ofsted inspection at Wolviston Primary School has led to ‘Outstanding’ ratings in Behaviour and Attitudes, Personal Development, and Early Years Provision, with ‘Good’ ratings in Quality of Education, and Leadership and Management.

Inspectors particularly praised the role played by the pupil-led ‘Wolviston Wolf Pack’— a group of children who design games and play with younger classmates to encourage friendships and teamwork.

The report – the first since the school joined the Prince Regent Street Trust – noted: “This helps pupils of all ages to mix confidently. It also contributes to the impressive community spirit throughout the school.

“Pupils love receiving rewards certificates from the head boy and girl. They are proud to collect ‘wolf tokens’ or take home ‘Wolfie’, the school mascot.”

Susan Hawes, headteacher, said: “I am delighted with the report. It is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the Wolviston Primary School community, recognising that the school is very much at the ‘heart of their village’.

“It is a privilege to work alongside our small staff team, who strive tirelessly to ensure the children in our care receive a unique educational experience.

“While the report gives us much to be proud of, we remain focused on our school improvement journey and on continuing to strengthen the educational experiences that our children deserve.”

The report spotlighted improvements the school has made to its curriculum, saying: “Experienced staff with strong subject knowledge bring the curriculum to life. Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. They enjoy connecting learning to local history. This includes studying the impact of the Second World War on nearby towns.”

Beyond academic subjects, inspectors also recognised Wolviston Primary’s strong emphasis on personal development and wellbeing: “Pupils enjoy exceptional pastoral care blended with high academic standards. Pupils achieve well. This is evident in published outcomes.

“Pupils’ personal development is at the heart of the school’s work. The school teaches pupils to look after their own mental health and that of others.”

Julia Armstrong, CEO of the Prince Regent Street Trust, said: “I am so proud of the staff and leaders, and this is another wonderful success story for our Trust. Everyone at Wolviston Primary School should be so proud of all they have achieved!”

Keith Morrison, the trust’s Director of School Improvement, said: “I am always struck by the warm, nurturing atmosphere that leaders and staff have created at Wolviston Primary, as well as the staff and leaders’ drive for continuous improvement, and the laughter and happiness that are integral parts of the school’s ethos.”

Kay Steven, Chair of Trustees, added: “I would like to thank the wonderful staff, children and parents, for their ongoing support of Wolviston Primary School.

“The leaders and staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure pupils at the school receive the best possible start to their educational and life journey, and it is fantastic that their achievements have been recognised.”

At Prince Regent Street Trust we strive to provide unique experiences and opportunities for our children and to create special memories. As part of our programme of trust-wide events, and following on from our success last year, pupils from our five Prince Regent Street Trust schools, and from our partner school, Oxbridge Lane Primary School, came together for our annual Christmas songwriting event.

This wonderful event, held at The Globe Theatre in Stockton, allowed many of our talented writers, singers, musicians and performers to showcase their talents and to work in partnership to produce and perform an original Christmas song.

Supported by staff from our schools, including our passionate and talented music leads, as well as a range of professional musicians, our pupils enjoyed a wonderfully unique experience, which culminated in an emotional performance of their original song, ‘Christmas in Our Hearts’.

A wonderful day was enjoyed by both pupils and staff, and we cannot wait for next year’s event! You can watch our video below:   

With our children at the heart of Prince Regent Street Trust’s vision, the 12^th July 2024 provided our pupils with an ‘opportunity’ (one of the trust’s core values) to take participate in our ‘Prince Regent Street Trust Games’ at Middlesbrough Sports Village. The Prince Regent Street Games is an annual feature of the trust’s calendar.

Eight teams were made up of a mix of year 5 and 6 pupils from the trust’s five schools (Barley Fields Primary, Hartburn Primary, Kader Academy, Village Primary and Wolviston Primary), as well as pupils from our partner schools. Each team, named after iconic local landmarks, competed for the Prince Regent Street Trust Games Cup.

At our event, Team GB Olympian, Richard Kilty was on hand to offer encouragement and was happy to pose for photographs with children and staff. Born in Stockton on Tees, Kilty or the ‘Teesside Tornado’ is a British track and field sprinter who has competed in range of events and achieved major success on the European, world and Olympic stages. It was an honour to have Richard at our event to inspire our pupils and staff to continue to strive for ‘excellence’ (another of our trust’s core values).

Pupils’ efforts and achievements were celebrated across the day and all were rewarded with a medal. Headteachers and members of the trust’s central team, awarded trophies to pupils who, throughout the day, demonstrated the core School Games Values of passion, self-belief, respect, honesty, determination and teamwork, as well as the trust’s values.

The event, organised by members of the trust’s PE working party, received positive feedback from staff and from the many parents and carers who attended. Our pupils had a wonderful day, enjoying a range of events, making new friends and cheering on their teammates. We are already looking forward to next year …

Kader Academy, based in Acklam in Middlesbrough, had voted to join in December 2023 and has now merged into Prince Regent Street Trust, a successful primary-only multi-academy trust (MAT) located in Stockton.

Following a lengthy programme of due diligence, which started with Kader working in partnership with the Trust in 21/22 following the pandemic. The 469-pupil school becomes the fifth member of Prince Regent Street Trust alongside Hartburn Primary School, Village Primary School, Wolviston Primary School and Barley Fields Primary School.

Headteacher Alison Mitchinson said the school began formally exploring merger options following publication of the government’s Schools White Paper which promoted the intention for all schools to be part of a MAT, originally by 2030. However, the Academy had also previously explored joining a Trust prior to the pandemic, knowing that there were benefits to working and collaborating within a group.

The school’s interest in joining a MAT had been “a long and very considered one”, Alison explained, which included understanding what joining a trust could mean for the school; evaluating the benefits of joining several locally-established MATs; and working alongside Prince Regent Street Trust as a partner school.

“At the heart of our school improvement strategy is a long-held commitment to working in partnership with other strong schools – sharing practice, challenging one another and working in collaboration – and we are clear that joining Prince Regent Street Trust is the right thing for our children, staff and wider community,” she said.

“We explored a number of different models, but wanted to be part of a MAT that was primary-based, and as a successful school already one that would give us a high level of autonomy. Prince Regent Street Trust will challenge us, and us working with other high-performing schools will hopefully allow us to give something back to them. The trust’s comprehensive and personalised support around non-teaching elements, including finance, estates and compliance, will allow us to concentrate fully on teaching and learning.

“For the children there will not be much change. In fact, their education will only continue to improve as a consequence of joining, and the carefully selected partner schools share this value and vision for their own schools and their pupils. The day-to-day running and management of the school will remain the same – practically our logo and uniform will be unchanged – but we will be given additional support to improve without having decisions taken away from us. In particular, we will benefit from cross-Trust curriculum meetings, peer networks and working parties, and a wealth of training and CPD opportunities.”

Paul Leadbitter, Chair of Kader Academy Trust, will join the Prince Regent Street Trust board of directors as part of the merger, added: “We researched the models of collaboration available to our school in response to significant changes in the educational landscape. After thorough research which considered many different models of collaboration, we concluded that it was in the best interests of pupils, parents and other stakeholders to join Prince Regent Street Trust.

“Over the past 12 months we have developed a deep association with Prince Regent Street Trust, giving us the chance to get to know their Chief Executive, Central team and Headteachers, who have been honest and open from the beginning. Governors have attended Prince Regent Street Trust’s Trustees meeting, which have been really valuable. We have got to know the trust throughout this period, carried out huge amounts of due diligence in the process, and are really excited about the future”.

“I am also excited by my new role with the Trust and that I will continue to have an association with Kader. I am looking forward to sharing my expertise across the five Trust Schools and assisting the executive team with future growth”.

Julia Armstrong, CEO of Prince Regent Street Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome Kader Academy into our family. Kader is a school very close to my heart as all three of my children attended the school and I was a member of staff, including being the Deputy Headteacher, for twelve years. We are continually striving for excellence and, in all cases we are seeking impact on our pupils through achievement, equality of opportunity by offering enriching life experiences, and in supporting their preparation for future life.

“Kader staff will benefit from a bespoke package of support including development opportunities for the senior leadership team, governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, which will impact positively on many areas of the school, as well as finance and operations.”

For Alison, who joined the school in 2005, she is now looking forward to a new dawn in retirement as the Academy looks to appoint her successor. “My time here over the last 19 years have been a delight, we pride ourselves on the cheerful atmosphere in our school, the sense of family and community, and our children are extremely happy and very well mannered.

“I am fortunate to lead a very talented staff team here and by joining Prince Regent Street Trust they will have the opportunities to broaden their horizons through different settings in the other high-performing schools, both leading and sharing their experiences. This is a wonderful opportunity for Kader Academy.”

Around 300 educational professionals came together for the second conference held by Prince Regent Street Trust. Staff from the Trust, and from all of its primary schools, were joined by headteachers, teaching and non-teaching staff from schools, as well as colleagues from a range of organisations and partners from across the North East for the ‘Opportunities on our Horizon’ conference at Guisborough Hall on the 22^nd March 2024.

A range of national and internationally renowned speakers informed and entertained delegates across the day. As well as thought-provoking and inspirational keynotes, delegates accessed a selection of workshops on a wide range of current educational, leadership and wellbeing issues. 

’Opportunities on our Horizon’ was opened by Julia Armstrong, CEO of Prince Regent Street Trust, who reminded attendees of the Trust’s vision and values and the wide range of professional development opportunities that all members of staff can access. “At Prince Regent Street Trust, opportunity is one of the core aspects that underpins our vision and values. We invest in every member of staff within our organisation, ensuring they have access to a wide range of networking and targeted professional development opportunities. As we have such a wealth of talent and expertise within our trust, it is paramount that we capitalise on this and ensure it is shared widely across all of our schools.” Julia explained that, “Opportunity is a key area of focus for the Trust. For example, we have developed peer networks and curriculum working parties which bring staff together to share and develop good practice. This year we have also focused on ensuring Trust-wide enriching opportunities for pupils, including our Trust Cup sporting event and our Christmas songwriting workshop.” Julia continued by reinforcing that Prince Regent Street Trust is an outward facing organisation, stating that, “working collaboratively with a range of partners has ensured an opportunity-driven culture where leaders and staff are supported as well as challenged to succeed and to be the best they can be.”  

External speakers included John Tomsett, nationally renowned school leader, educational consultant and author; Adam Sproston, Ofsted Inspector and specialist adviser for SEND, and Jaz Ampaw-Farr, a multi-award winning keynote speaker and three time ‘Speaker of the Year’.  

Workshops delivered by John Tomsett, Julie Liddell from Still Human and Anna Mehta and Sarah Watson from Whole School SEND proved popular with delegates and provided input on a diverse range of current educational matters, including staff and pupil wellbeing, the importance of implementing a curriculum offer that fully meets the needs of pupils in your school, and how we can ensure we are fully meeting the needs of our pupils with SEND.

“We were delighted that our conference had such a positive impact on all of our colleagues. There was a real ‘buzz’ during the event itself, with staff reporting that they had thoroughly enjoyed and had been inspired by the event. Our incredible speakers ensured our colleagues experienced such a wide range of emotions across the day and I know that their experiences today will positively impact when they return to school.” Julia said. “I would like to thank all our speakers and sponsors for their incredible support. Our conference, and its success, would not have been possible without them and we very much hope to build on the positive relationships we have already established with them.”

As our Trust grows we have been able to create more collaborative opportunities for our pupils, we started with the summer sports event and we are closing the calendar year with an amazing, original Christmas song! A group of key stage 2 pupils from our trust schools and from Kader Academy attended a song writing workshop at in Middlesbrough. Our pupils spent much of the day working with our amazing music team and a selection of talented musicians to compose a Christmas song. They spent the morning completing a writing workshop to come up with the lyrics and then the afternoon completing the performance. The experience highlighted, and allowed our pupils to demonstrate, their talents for composing, singing and playing a variety of instruments.

On the 28^th June, all Year 5 and 6 pupils from Prince Regent Street Trust’s schools participated in a trust-wide sporting event at Middlesbrough Sports Village; the Prince Regent Street Trust Games. With children at the heart of the trust’s vision, the event provided pupils with the ‘opportunity’ (one of the trust’s core values) to take part in a range of sporting events across the day, earning points for achievement and effort. Pupils from Ingleby Manor Free School did a wonderful job of overseeing and scoring the events.

Eight teams, each made up of a mix of pupils from the trust’s four schools (Barley Fields Primary, Hartburn Primary, Village Primary and Wolviston Primary) and named after local landmarks, competed for the Prince Regent Street Trust Games Cup. As well as striving for ‘excellence’ (another of the trust’s core values), pupils formed new friendships; supported, encouraged and worked in partnership with their teammates; and most importantly, had fun!

All pupils were rewarded with a medal, with headteachers and members of the trust’s central team awarding trophies to pupils who, throughout the day, demonstrated the core School Games Values of passion, self-belief, respect, honesty, determination and teamwork.

One recipient commented, “I felt proud to get the headteacher award and the medal and trophy are now in my bedroom.”

The day culminated with the presentation of the Prince Regent Street Games Cup to team ‘Stockton Flyer’ who topped the scoreboard after the eight events. Pupils from the four schools were keen to share their positive experiences of the day:

“It was the best day I’ve ever had because I made new friends with children from other schools that I had never met before and they encouraged me to do my best!” (pupil from Wolviston Primary)

“I made some new mates and we worked hard to come up with a celebratory dance if we won and we did! It was so much fun!” (pupil from Village Primary)

“We have never been to the Sports Village and done anything like this before and we enjoyed it so much- we can’t wait to go again next year!” (pupil from Hartburn Primary)

“I felt nervous at first but by the end of the day I had made lots of new friends.” (pupil from Barley Fields Primary)

The event, organised by members of the Prince Regent Street Trust’s P.E. Working Party, was a great success, with positive feedback received from staff and from the many parents and carers who attended.

Trust Sports Leaders commented that, “It was lovely to see the children mixing and making new friendships rather than competing against another school.  There was a great atmosphere between all the children!”.

Nicola Nixon, P.E. Lead at Village Primary stated, “The whole day was a huge success. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and hearing all of the cheering made the hard work worthwhile. Every School Games Value was on display and fun was had by all.”

Due to its success, the Prince Regent Street Games will become an annual feature of the trust’s calendar.

Julia Armstrong, CEO, said, “We all thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was great to see all of our children together and competing in mixed teams. There was a buzz of excitement and we will definitely arrange more of these types of events in the future linking to a range of curriculum areas.”