Latest News From Across The Trust Community Newsletter Autumn 2019

Trust celebrates another fantastic year of GCSE Page 4 Page results

Trust-wide sports day Page 5 Page

School updates Page 8 Page LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS THE TRUST

TOGETHER TOWARDS EXCELLENCE AMBITION AND INSPIRATION Our Trust has grown and developed over time, but remains committed to a clear vision and values. While each school operates independently and has established relationships with the local community, it is important to know that the vision and values is what unites our schools in partnership and allows us to offer more support and opportunities to our communities.

them happy and how to stay that way; know the Our Vision importance of humour; know how to look after themselves and live healthy fulfilling lives and know Our vision is to educate, empower and inspire how to support others and how they can contribute generations of children through a network of to making society a better place for themselves, outstanding schools that are recognised at a local, others and future generations. regional and national level as being the absolute benchmark in teaching and learning. The Trust will do this by offering them a first class education within each individual , and by Our schools will be recognised as the most forward offering outstanding enrichment opportunities which thinking and innovative organisations within the will offer them unique experiences and see them truly communities that they serve, and all children will stand apart from others. leave our care as well rounded individuals who have achieved high levels of academic success and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Valuing our students

Our Values We passionately believe that all children and young people, however challenging their circumstances and The Chiltern Learning Trust is characterised by its whatever their background, can achieve. Our students passionate and unrelenting drive to ensure that every will practise the values of integrity, compassion, one of its students makes extraordinary progress, understanding and tolerance. achieves exceptional standards and realises his or her huge potential within schools where best practice is commonplace, and which pride themselves at being at Valuing our staff the cutting edge of innovation and best practice. We are passionate about our staff, as we are about The Trust is committed to developing the whole our students. We want to employ and create person so that young people know what they care outstanding teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff, about in life and what drives them; know their who genuinely aspire to excellence, are truly excited strengths and aspirations; know how to remain by challenge, love to take risks, and have a passion to optimistic and bounce back from setbacks; know co-develop and co-construct best practice with their how to deal with their emotions; know what makes students and fellow practitioners.

Dallow CHILTERN ACINSPIRING ADEMYMINDS BUILDING FUTURES Primary School .

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Introduction from the CEO

Adrian’s Welcome

to everyone for their commitment to their studies and thank you to the families and communities who supported them throughout the process. Many thanks also go to the fantastic team of staff at each school who continue to strive to provide every child with the best opportunities to achieve their potential.

At the Trust, we believe in developing the whole child and it was brilliant to see our students taking part in a range of curricular and extra-curricular activities throughout the summer term. From educational conferences to high-level sports competitions and students following their passions, our students have excelled. Thank you to all the staff who organised and ran the events.

We also enjoyed our second Trust-wide sports day, with schools from across the Trust competing. It was fantastic to see students making new friends and our wider community coming together. There was great Welcome back to another school year! It is great talent and sportsmanship on show. Well done to all to see students and staff return to school ready to our students. begin the new term. I hope everyone had a joyful and relaxing summer holiday and is as excited as I am for We are delighted to welcome Katharine Lovell as the the next academic year. new Headteacher at Primary School. Also, congratulations to Mark Gibbs and Tracey Walbank As we begin the Autumn term, it is important to with their appointments as the new joint Heads of reflect on what has been a fantastic end to the School at Linslade. We are also very excited that previous school year. Firstly, we celebrated some Ardley Hill, a primary academy in , hopes amazing GCSE and A Level results with success seen to join us on October 1st. across all our schools. I look forward to seeing students take part in the Many key headline figures saw improvements on last great academic and extra-curricular opportunities year’s strong results. Almost 50% of all GCSE students available over the next term and hearing about what achieved 9-5 in English and Maths and expected they get up to. I hope everyone continues to work Progress 8 figures look very positive. It is amazing together in harmony and support each other as we to see our schools go from strength to strength and strive to provide the best possible education for some of them are amongst the best in the country! our communities.

I thoroughly enjoyed my tour around the schools Adrian Rogers on results day celebrating with students and I am Chief Executive of Chiltern Learning Trust (CLT) truly delighted with these results. Congratulations

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Trust celebrates another fantastic year of GCSE results

We are celebrating another fantastic summer of results as our students, across the Trust, achieved strong GCSEs and A Levels.

Putteridge High School recorded impressive results as 40% of students achieved grades 5 and above in both English and Maths. Their provisional Progress 8 score is +0.32, meaning that on average students gained a third of a grade higher than the national averages in their subjects.

At High School for Girls, 41.3% of students achieved grades 9-5 in both English and Maths, a 7% improvement on last year. Fifty grade 9s were achieved across many subjects including Biology, Business Studies, French and Geography. These excellent results are likely to position Challney High School for Girls in the top 15% of schools nationally.

At Challney High School for Boys, a remarkable 49% of students achieved the higher Level 9-5 passes in both English and Mathematics, a 7% improvement on last year’s strong results. Over 25% of students achieved the highest 9-7 grades in at least three or more subjects.

Meanwhile, at Denbigh High School, 67% of students achieved a Level 9-4, in English and Maths with 46% achieving a Level 5 or above. This is an improvement of 4% on last year’s already strong results at grade 5 and above, and a 5% improvement on the results at grade 4 and above. Their provisional Progress 8 score is an outstanding +0.74.

Students at were also celebrating as 68% achieved grades 4 and above in both English and Maths, an increase of 4% on last year. In other core subjects, chemistry, biology and physics each had a 97% pass rate. Media, drama, economics, music technology, children development and physical education were all a 100% pass rate. More than a quarter of grades awarded were a 7, 8 or 9.

Cedars Upper School also secured strong A Levels with almost a fifth (16%) of all qualifications awarded at the highest A* or A grades, and almost two thirds (65%) achieved A*-C grades. These strong results were reflected across a variety of different subjects, including Further Maths which had a 100% of students achieve A*-B as well as Business Studies and French where all students gained A*-C grades.

We would like to congratulate all students on their hard work and dedication over the last two years to achieve such fantastic results. Thanks also go to our staff who have been committed to helping every child achieve their potential, and to our wider community for supporting our students along the way.

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Trust-wide sports day is a home run

This summer, we had our second ever Trust-wide sports day. It was a fantastic event and brought together many members of our community including Linslade School, Marston Vale Middle School, Chiltern Academy, Challney High School for Girls, Challney High School for Boys and Denbigh High School.

It was brilliant to see all our students get involved and take part in a variety of events including races, relays and field events. There were some amazing performances and sportsmanship, highlighting the talent we have within the Trust. It was also a chance for students to make new friends and connect with people from other schools.

Congratulations to Linslade School for winning the tournament and thank you to everyone who helped organise and run the event, as well as those who came along to take part and support our students.

Putteridge High School rated Good by Ofsted

Putteridge High School has received a glowing report from Ofsted which was rated Good in all areas. The two-day inspection was the first the school has received since joining the Trust in March 2017.

The inspectors highlighted the outstanding work the school does to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare, commenting that ‘pupils have flourished in the welcoming, inclusive, nurturing environment that leaders have created’.

The report also stated that ‘teachers have good subject knowledge, which they use to plan engaging activities that build on learning’ and described the classroom environment as having a ‘positive atmosphere’ where ‘strong relationships between staff and pupils provide an effective basis for learning’.

This is a fantastic report for the school, and we are thrilled that their hard work and dedication over the last few years has been recognised. The school will welcome its first full cohort of Year 7 students this September and will begin work on the new build in January, making it a very exciting time for Putteridge!

Goodbye Mrs Nouch

Last term, we said a fond farewell to Mrs Nouch who has retired from Dallow Primary School. Mrs Nouch has been a valued member of our community and took Dallow on a journey of transformation with incredible improvements being made under her headship. She has led the school with determination, commitment, drive and dedication.

To celebrate her time at the school, staff and pupils held an assembly at the end of term and both the staff and student choirs performed in her honour. Happy retirement Mrs Nouch!

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Training and Development Opportunities Across the Trust

Chiltern Learning Trust values the talent and potential of all our staff. We strive to support our staff’s professional development and help them to take on new challenges. The emphasis we place on developing and upskilling our staff is all part of our mission to be a Trust that contributes to and benefits our community and the wider education sector. We believe in ‘Growing our own’.

Sufian Sadiq fellowship success

We would like to congratulate Director of Chiltern Teaching School Alliance, Sufian Sadiq, on his recent achievement of receiving fellowship status. We are immensely proud to see Sufian being recognised and it is a great reflection of his hard work and dedication to improving teaching standards and training across and the surrounding areas.

The next CLT generation We are pleased to announce another successful cohort of teacher trainees have received Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Sixty participants have graduated from our initial teacher training programme this year.

A special thank you to all our mentors, training facilitators and trainees for their hard work and input throughout the year. We wish all our graduates the best in their teaching careers!

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Dallow Primary School Dallow Primary School

We are delighted to announce that we are the first school in the Trust to be awarded the Enhanced Healthy Workplace Award from Active . The award recognises the emphasis we place on our staff and pupil wellbeing.

After all the hard work that our students put into preparing for their SATs, we enjoyed a brilliant performance of Oliver. Our students rose to the challenge of acting and singing and displayed great maturity and talent. We are very proud of their commitment and ability.

To celebrate the end of the summer term, we put on some exciting school trips. Foundation visited Gulliver’s Dinosaur Park, Year 1 went to , Year 2 travelled to the seaside, Year 3 spent a wonderful day at Kew Gardens, Year 4 and 5 enjoyed their trips to KidZania and Year 6 enjoyed . A huge thank you to all our colleagues for organising the events and making sure the days ran smoothly. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and made some fantastic memories.

Music continues to play a big part in school life with our amazing 40+ choir singing at the Luton Music Service Singing Spectacular at Baptist Church. KS2 also worked with the internationally renowned folk group, The Young Uns, and spent a day exploring British values and culture through folk music and historical figures.

Lark Rise Academy

Last term, we were honoured to welcome Great British Athlete and Paralympian, Alistair Patrick-Heselton to Lark Rise Academy. Alistair delivered a motivational assembly, where he talked about the brain injury he sustained which changed his life and lead him to become the amazing athlete he is today. With spirits high and morale even higher, Alistair led our students and staff around sponsored circuits in the School Hall. Our students all took sponsorship forms home and raised a total of £1,888!

At the end of the school year, we said goodbye to an extremely valued, knowledgeable and special member of staff. Jane Gill, who was our Nursery Manager, retired after an amazing 33 years of working at the academy. We wished Jane a fond farewell during a whole school assembly. We hope Jane has a happy retirement, full of laughter and adventures!

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Linslade School

Last term, our students took part in the Student Voice Conference, hosted by Cedars Upper School. The event brought together over 100 students from lower, middle and upper schools across the county to tackle environmental issues.

Throughout the conference, students came up with ideas on how to make their schools eco-friendlier. We were thrilled that our students’ ideas were voted ‘Best Middle School Environmental Policy’. As we start the new term, our students will work together to implement some of their initiatives.

To celebrate the end of term, our students put on a fantastic Summer Spectacular showcase. We were treated to performances including Matilda, solo singing, choirs, rock bands, sign language and a variety of dance performances.

Thank you to everyone who came along to support us, we had a packed theatre. Thanks also go to Mrs Yirrell for organising the evening and to our students for their wonderful performances.

Marston Vale Middle School

Well done to all our Year 6 students for completing their SATs exams with such high standards of behaviour. To celebrate their efforts, we organised for an ice cream truck to visit us at the end of the week which they all enjoyed!

Our older students also had a great summer term, taking part in lots of exciting learning experiences. For example, Year 8 spent the morning at with History Leaders looking at significant local history. It was great to see our students so enthusiastic about the subject and learning about the local area.

To celebrate the end of term, we held our first ever Summer Fayre. We had beautiful weather and our fantastic Pupil Voice designed, organised and created stalls including Tin Can Ally, Splat the Rat, Water Racing Boats, Chocolate Bar Throw and Lollipop Lottery. They worked incredibly hard in the run-up to the event and organised their stalls in the 30-degree sunshine!

The Fayre also hosted some exciting inflatables and sold ice cream and cakes. The day ended with a wonderful performance from our Matilda The Musical cast who performed ‘School Song’. Thank you to all our stakeholders for supporting, donating and attending our Summer Fayre. We are delighted to have raised more than £1500!

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Challney High School for Boys

As well as their exams, our students’ dedication was demonstrated at our arts exhibition. Students, staff, governors and ex-students all had the privilege of visiting the superb exhibition which included art, photography and graphic design pieces produced by our students over the year. It highlighted the amazing talent and creativity of our students.

Some of our students took part in the national Apps for Good competition which attracted entries from over 11,000 students nationwide. We were thrilled that our team, Digicorps, achieved the remarkable accolade of winning the “People’s Choice” Award for their app, Digi-scan. The concept of the app is to help users identify and delete content on social media that may be detrimental to their future career prospects. This is a fantastic achievement and we are very proud of the team for working so well together and representing the school brilliantly.

To mark our seventieth anniversary, we organised an inaugural Alumni Association BBQ. The event was attended by over seventy “old boys” who delighted in touring the school, meeting old friends and discussing ways in which they could support the school in the future. What great role models for our Five Star Challney Leaders and Five Star Challney Gentlemen.

Challney High School for Girls

As well as their academic studies and preparing for GCSEs, the students took part in many extra-curricular activities last term. A group of students worked with a local arts director, Imrana Mahmood to create two evening performances, drawing on their lives as young Muslim women. The girls worked with Imrana over several weeks to write their performances and stage them. They performed with eloquence and poise, culminating in a performance at the University of Bedfordshire in front of a large audience.

We were very proud to win the national ‘School of the Year’ award at the Apps for Good competition. The girls devised apps which could make a difference to the lives of other adolescents, including one which could offer advice and support for adolescents to develop confidence and self-esteem. The panel was impressed with the focus group and research conducted to inform the content and audience for the app. The girls worked every week after school with their teacher Mr Hussain to devise the apps, talk via webinars to specialists working in software companies and talk to some staff at Google and Lego headquarters.

Mr Malik and Mrs Mills established a new debating society in 2018 and it is going from strength to strength. Last term, our Year 10 debating team reached the semi-final of the Luton Schools competition!

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Denbigh High School

Last term, our staff attended a prestigious event at the House of Lords where we were announced as an Edtech 50 School. The Edtech list celebrates the work going on in 50 schools, across the UK and Northern Ireland, that are using education technology to support great teaching and enhance learning. This includes using IT to support teaching, cut teacher workload, collaborate across teams or consolidate knowledge, enhancing creativity and broadening experiences across the curriculum. We look forward to sharing our practices with other schools in the Trust.

Some of our students had the fantastic opportunity to visit Berkhamsted School to attend a talk about Women in Leadership. The day was very inspiring and motivational, led by five amazing women fighting to break the ‘glass ceiling’. Each woman talked about their story, reaching the top and breaking all stereotypes of women. Our students left feeling inspired and motivated to achieve.

Two fortunate Year 10 students, Sara and Iman, spent a day in the kitchens at the luxury country house hotel and spa, Sopwell House. They had a ‘taster’ of catering and hospitality apprenticeships, organised by BBC Radio 5Live. Candice Brown, winner of The Great British Bake Off, interviewed both girls on their perceptions of working in the industry and how they felt about apprenticeships. Both students were complimented on their natural cooking talents.

Putteridge High School

Last term, we had the great opportunity to take some of our Year 7 students to the Luton Schools Languages Festival at . The aim of the event was to celebrate the learning of languages and encourage more Year 7 pupils to consider pursuing languages to GCSE level and beyond. During the day there were taster sessions on different languages including Latin, Japanese and Spanish. There was also a spelling bee and congratulations to Michal, Isabelle, Eloise and Ashdon who won special certificates!

Twenty Year 10 Health & Social Care students also had an exciting extra-curricular trip. They went to to visit the Bodyworlds Exhibition. Dr Gunther von Hagens’ renowned exhibition of real human bodies has sparked curiosity and awe around the world with over 48 million visitors globally. Our students thoroughly enjoyed it and it supported their learning for Unit 3 of their GCSE Health & Social Care course.

We were delighted to win the Luton Schools Debate Competition. It was a close-run competition with many talented students taking part. We won against Challney Girls in the semi-final and in the final. A special well done to Tomasz who took home a shield for ‘Most Inspirational Speaker’ and Brandon for ‘Speaker of the Night’.

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Cedars Upper School

Alongside our fantastic GCSE and A Level results, our students also had sporting success last term. Our CLT Cedars and Linslade Equestrian team competed in the National Schools Equestrian Association County Championships 2019. They represented their county, and all rode fantastic tests on immaculately turned out horses and ponies. Our football team also did exceptionally well, winning the National League Under 19 Alliance Regional Division, Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League Corinthian Division and Bedfordshire Schools County Cup to name a few.

Year 11 visited The Bank of and had the opportunity to see its magnificent building. They spent time at the museum learning about the history of the bank and how they use Monetary Policy to help control inflation. They discovered exactly how our central bank ensures the security of our notes and coins to prevent counterfeiting and got to hold a real bar of gold.

We also hosted the Student Voice Conference. There were over 100 students from Bedfordshire taking part in the event. This year’s theme was ‘Being Environmentally Friendly’. All schools spent the day finding out about environmental issues, how they can help their school to be environmentally friendly and preparing their own whole-school environmental policies ready for September 2019. The students were a real credit to their schools and came up with fantastic ideas which will have a strong impact. Thank you to the students and staff who helped run such a brilliant event!

CHILTERN

IACNSPIRING ADEMYMINDS BUILDING FUTURES . Chiltern Academy

Throughout last year, 12 of our Year 7 students took part in the Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme where students completed a university-style course, delivered by a PhD tutor and produced a written assignment. The programme not only developed their academic writing skills but also provided them with university visits and campus tours, as well as student life experiences.

Our students performed incredibly well with many achieving a first-class award for their assignment. They were invited to a graduation ceremony at King’s College London and were welcomed onto the stage to accept their certificates in recognition of their hard work and achievements. They should be extremely proud of themselves.

We also held our first End of Year Showcase. One hundred and ten students took part which is over half of the school’s intake. After lots of rehearsals, our students performed in our brand-new school building. As everyone was waiting to enter the theatre, our students surprised the audience by breaking out into their first performance of Matilda, flash-mob style. Once the audience took to their seats, they were treated to performances from Jeykll and Hyde, Legally Blonde, Annie, West Side Story, High School Musical and many more.

The deafening applause at the end of every number is testament to the student’s efforts in ensuring this showcase was one to remember. The students involved have shown exceptional levels of resilience, teamwork, commitment and friendship, supporting and encouraging others throughout. They are truly exceptional, and we are proud to have them as part of Chiltern Academy.

11 Chiltern Learning Trust c/o Denbigh High School Alexandra Avenue | Luton Bedfordshire | LU3 1HE 01582 736611 Contact: [email protected] www.chilternlearningtrust.org

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