Key Voices #105 - Launching an academy trust during a pandemic, part 2 with TEAM Education Trust

“The pandemic has given us the confidence to change, potentially in quite a quick way, to be creative in what we do and to focus on the most important things which, at the end of the day, are the children, the families and the staff.”    This week we talk to senior leaders at TEAM Education Trust: Sarah Baker, CEO, Alison Bingham, Director of Development, Rachel Watson, Associate Principal and Director of Education and Achievement, and Alan Brown, Principal, Model Village Primary.  We look back at the year gone since the start of the pandemic, think about the difference working together as a trust has made to them and hear about the plans they have currently underway to further develop their work on a wellbeing charter.    We talk about:  Their reflections on the previous year How the central team provided capacity to the schools The Trust’s approach to remote learning and how it has evolved over the course of the year The success of TEAM’s emphasis on parental involvement, including doing detailed individual risk assessments with each family and initially, designing the remote learning around parents’ ability to support it The ways in which parents, particularly at the Special School in the Trust, continued to support both the school and each other at this time Areas the Trust wants to develop in the future including its curriculum around employability and plans for more work around staff CPD  The new members of staff that are joining the central team as TEAM becomes more established and the possibilities that might open up with regard to their wider offer as a result  Their plans around working with staff to create a workload charter  The confidence the team has taken away from the pandemic to “throw things up in the air” and make changes that will focus on what makes the most difference for pupils    You can learn more about TEAM Education Trust  and its work here    “Parents probably learned more by accompanying their child in an online phonics session for instance, than in all the workshops we put on for them around phonics.”