We have finally reached the end of a very long Autumn Term and a highly successful 2018 for our Trust. Over the past 12 months it has been a real privilege to see our LEO vision & values in action across the entire Trust. The quality of Learning and Teaching continues to improve, with all of our academies now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. The support and challenge provided to each other through our Network Learning Communities, Guided Peer Evaluations and LEO professional development programmes is having a significant impact on learning and pupil outcomes. At the LEO Academy Trust, we continue to strive for excellence in all we do and through your great efforts we are enabling our children to achieve highly across a truly broad and balanced curriculum. Music and the arts, PE and sport and the development of SMSC are areas we can all be proud of at LEO. The incredible range of opportunities you provide for our children continues to stand LEO out from other MATs in our local area. In 2018 children from LEO academies have been to France on residential trips, they’ve performed at the Royal Festival Hall and the O2 in London – with over 1000 of our children currently learning a musical instrument, they’ve taken part in a triathlon with the Brownlee brothers, watched sporting events at iconic venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham and Wimbledon, spent the night on the Golden Hinde, created their own Apps, helped schools in Ghana, Malawi and India, worked with countless authors, leaders of the industry and STEM & Computing professionals in the City and so much more. Providing more opportunities for our pupils and staff is a fundamental part of our Trust’s core aims, so thank you all for making our vision a reality in 2018.

Last week the Department for Education published the annual Primary School League Tables for KS2, confirming the LEO Academy Trust as one of the highest performing MATs in England at KS2. Without doubt, the collaboration of Year 6 staff and school leaders, played a part in the large improvements seen this year. We can all be proud that collectively 84% of Year 6 children left our academies at the expected standard for Reading, Writing & Mathematics combined this July compared to 64% nationally. Equally impressively, 28% reached the Greater Depth Standard in all subjects by the end of KS2, compared to just 10% of their peers elsewhere in England. Individually, every school in our Trust had results to be proud of in 2018 and are now each amongst the highest achieving schools in Sutton. Working together is making a difference for our children in every other year group too, so please continue to set such high expectations and support each other to reach our goals. To support you, the Trust will continue to provide opportunities for your development too. In 2019, we are looking forward to exciting new events such as a LEO Teach Meet, a LEO Leadership Conference and a LEO EXPO to showcase the distinctiveness of the curriculums each of our academies have designed and follow.

Thank you for all you do for our children across the Trust, the impact of your hard work, dedication and commitment has been there for all to see in 2018. Have a very Happy Christmas and enjoy a well deserved break!

Phillip Hedger

CEO

LEO Pupils Excel In 2018!

Cheam Park Farm Christmas D.T. Project

Reported by Kiriththiga and Prithisha (Parks class)

Two weeks ago, we were told about an exciting D.T. project where everyone in the school was going to make something in their teams to sell at the Christmas fair.

The four teams are Determination (Yellow), Inspiration (Blue), Courage(Green) and Respect(Red). The teachers leading Inspiration are Mrs Pritchard, Miss Gibney, Mrs Minhinnick, Miss Sharp, Miss Rahmani, Mr Tilley, Mr Hudson and Mr Claxton. The teachers leading Determination are Miss Bignell, Mrs Hafeez, Miss Thorndycraft, Mrs McGauley, Mr Raney, Miss J Adams, Miss Potter and Mrs Hennessey. The teachers leading Courage are Miss Evans, Mrs Hansen, Mrs Atkinson, Miss Almeida, Miss Martin, Miss Brice, Mr Kielty and Miss I Adams. The teachers leading Respect are Mrs Wight, Mrs Francia, Mrs Osborne-Hall, Mrs King, Miss Edwards, Mrs Ashworth, Mrs Rowland , Mrs Procter and Mr Vigor.

In our teams we had to make Christmas-themed objects that were good enough to sell at the Christmas Fair. Each year group made different objects. Reception made something edible, Year 1 made an item using sweets, Year 2 made tea light holders, Year 3 also made something edible, Year 4 made Christmas decorations, Year 5 made Christmas gifts and Year 6 also made tea light holders. We all had to plan carefully so our products weren’t the same! We also had to discuss costings and how to advertise our products.

We had 3 sessions to plan, make and finish our creations in our teams.

In the fair, our designs were displayed on the stalls for people to buy. A lot of people came in to buy our creations, which was amazing! Some children stayed and helped to sell the products too. At the end of the fair, all the totals were added up and on Monday morning, we nervously waited whilst the results were read out in assembly.

The Results:

Fourth place was Courage with £104. Third place was Respect with £113.85. Second place was Inspiration with £124.50. And in first place is Determination with a high total of £171.72. The total raised for all four teams was a staggering £514.07 and as a school we raised a whopping £6600 which is the highest our school has ever raised! Well done to Determination, who have won a mufti day on Monday 17^th December.

Thank you to Mrs Hennessey and Mrs Francia for organising the whole project and to the PTFA and to everyone who helped at a stall plus a massive thank you to everyone who came and gave us a donation.

Brookfield Values

At Brookfield this half term, we have focussed on personal well-being and behaviour by launching our Brookfield Values as part of our Anti-bullying Week.

We incorporated our Art Week into this by assigning key Art skills to each year group (sewing, pointillism painting, 3-d sculpture etc.), where each class contributed towards our whole-school ‘VALUES’ project by designing several letters that spelt-out our seven chosen values. We have proudly displayed these in our school hall as a reminder of the types of attitudes and behaviours we wish every Brookfield child and adult to demonstrate. It’s been remarkable to see our Brookfield children working hard to develop their skills to live out these important values.

With a strong emphasis on ‘KINDNESS’ (one of our values), we have focused on showing ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ to make Brookfield a friendly, happy and inviting place to be! Our children’s random acts of kindness have not gone unnoticed this term: kindness in the playground, in-and-around the school corridors and within the classroom, strengthening opportunities to learn and grow. A message from Brookfield: ‘Don’t forget to spread a little kindness wherever you go ...'

Learning to Learn at Cheam Fields

The first topic the children at Cheam Fields have studied this year is 'Learning to Learn'. They have discovered:

• That the brain is the centre of the human nervous system, controlling our thoughts, movements, memories and decisions.
• Every time we practise a skill, we strengthen neural pathways.
• A positive brain is a happy brain! Every time you have a negative thought, try to turn it around and just think about the positives... Our minds need training!

African Drumming at Manor Park

This term, children in Year 6 have taken part in weekly music sessions led by Inspire-Works. The focus of their learning has been how to play the djembe drum. This drum originates from West Africa, in particular Senegal, The Gambia and Mali. During their weekly sessions, Year 6 learnt how to play a range of notes on the djembe including the bass, tone and slap. When playing these notes, the children thought carefully about the difference between the sounds and how to use their hands to produce the sounds effectively. As part of their learning, the children learnt a range of different rhythms, which when played together, made a vibrant, powerful piece of music. Year 6 also learnt how to improvise and compose their own rhythms of 4 and 8 beats, using an array of notes on the djembe. At the end of term, Year 6 welcomed their parents and carers into school to perform and showcase their wonderful learning, a performance thoroughly enjoyed by all involved.

Fundraising for Mkunkhu Primary School in Malawi

The Year 2 children at Cheam Common Infants' have completed some wonderful independent research projects as homework this term. So far Cheam Common Infants' have raised £450 for Mkunkhu Primary School and its community in Malawi and are still collecting at their Christmas performances. The children also danced to a Malawi song at Christ Church St Phillip as part of their Harvest Celebration and to support their fundraising for Mkunkhu school. Mrs Marshall made the costumes out of the special material that Mrs Buckeridge bought back from her visit to the community last summer.

LEO Annual Conference

Our second LEO Annual Conference took place on 29th October 2018 and focused on the LEO Digital Strategy. During the morning staff learned about 'Technology in education and life - the ever changing world in which we live' from John Jackson, the CEO of London Grid for Learning. Oli Trussell then gave us some great tips to make us more efficient using G Suite and Dawn Hallybone highlighted some of the LGfL resources to support staff and pupil wellbeing.

The conference also marked the launch of our new LEO CPD App. The app has been developed with Pearson Publishing and enables staff and Governors to access CPD on the go! All staff should now have their login details - if you haven't been issued with yours yet, please ask your Headteacher.

During the afternoon staff had the opportunity to attend a variety of workshops covering a range of IT and wellbeing topics.

It is particularly pleasing that the inspection team found that:

• Since the inspection of the predecessor school, leaders, the trust and governors have improved the school significantly so that it now provides a good standard of education.
• Leadership and management are outstanding. Leaders, including middle leaders, have high expectations and collectively work together to bring about continuous improvement.
• Leaders take pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development seriously. Pupils are caring and respectful of differences. They take pride in being learners at Cheam Common Junior Academy.
• Senior and middle leaders continuously reflect on how they further improve the curriculum. As a result, pupils’ knowledge and understanding across the curriculum are strong.
• Pupils’ achievement has improved significantly. At the end of key stage 2, pupils’ progress and attainment consistently remain well above the national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ progress and attainment continue to improve to above the national averages. These pupils leave the school with skills that prepare them well for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils feel safe and well cared for. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the provision their children receive.
• Teaching is consistently good and teachers use interesting activities to engage pupils.
• Leaders have worked systematically and with a clear rationale to improve the school since the predecessor school’s inspection and the school’s opening. Leaders, governors and staff from the LEO Academy Trust provide highly effective support to bring about rapid improvements. As a result, the quality of education has improved significantly.
• The physical education (PE) and sport premium is used highly effectively. Leaders are keen to develop pupils’ sporting experiences. They ensure that regular professional development of staff is sustained to build teachers’ confidence in teaching PE lessons. Leaders focus successfully on providing opportunities for pupils to take part in competitive sport, including building links to local sporting facilities and sports clubs. As a result, a large proportion of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, represent the school in sporting competitions.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively. Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils receive strong provision, particularly in taking part in extra-curricular opportunities across the curriculum. As a result, these pupils achieve highly.
• Funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is used effectively. The academy trust provides hands-on support to leaders. As a result, leaders have developed their understanding of pupils who have additional needs.

Highlights from the QA Report:

• There is a strong culture of developing every member of staff in the school to the full and staff are very open to learning. All CPD is closely linked to the school development plan in addition to performance management targets
• One middle leader said, “Everyone wants to improve and get better”.
• A major strength of the CPD methodology in the school is that all training comes through the school’s staff. They are trained to provide high-quality courses to colleagues in school and others throughout the Trust. There is a great deal of sharing of knowledge that benefits everyone. This also ensures effective succession planning across the Trust because teachers take their expertise with them when they take up new posts in other schools
• The high-quality CPD staff receive has directly improved the quality of teaching and learning, leading to a commensurate increase in outcomes. Senior and middle leaders are empowered to take responsibility for a myriad of areas across the school and they flourish in their roles. This enables them to further develop the knowledge and skills of the staff in their phase/subject so that all can deliver high-quality lessons that energise and enthuse learners.

If you are keen to find out more about the amazing work that Cheam Park are doing and also explore a range of accredited Areas of Excellence, you can visit our School Support Directory (SSD) that provides information on the 400+ schools and 30+ hubs in the Challenge Partners Network of Excellence.

To access the School Support Directory, you need to be registered on the website and logged in. To register, click here.For further information and for any queries on this, get in touch via info@challengepartners.org

A Trip to the Imagination Lab

On Wednesday 21st November Digital leaders from three of our schools, Brookfield, Cheam Common Juniors and Cheam Fields, visited the Imagination Lab. Together they thought about how energy could be generated in the future. They built their own aircraft (and tested them in the wind tunnel), created energy from fruit and built glides. What a wonderful opportunity for our children and a fantastic way of creating a greener future!

The children (and adults) also had the opportunity to put their coding skills into action when they had a go at programming a mini-drone.

It was lovely to see another example of children from schools across the Trust coming together and working collaboratively.

Music

Music has played a big part in the curriculum this term with concerts and assemblies taking place. Many children are now learning to play a musical instrument. Our Music teachers from across the Trust enjoyed taking part in a Young Voices Teacher Workshop and we are looking forward to taking children from Brookfield, Cheam Common Juniors, Cheam Fields and Cheam Park Farm to perform at the O2 Arena in January!

Here are some of the highlights from this term:

Sporting Events

The children across the trust have had lots of opportunities to attend or participate in sporting events this term. Here are some of the many events:

• In November children from Cheam Common Juniors went to Wembly Stadium to see a football match between England and USA.
• Children from our school have taken part in the Indoor Athletics Championships along side other schools in the Borough.
• Year 5 and 6 children from Brookfield, Cheam Common Juniors, cheam Fields and Cheam Park Farm took part in a Badminton Tournament.
• Well done to Cheam Park Farm and Cheam Common Juniors football teams; it was great to see two schools from our Trust in the Final together.
• Children from schools across the Trust had a great day at the O2 seeing some of the world’s top eight tennis players in action at the ATP World Tour.

Olympic Athlete Visits Manor Park

This term, Hermione Plumptre visited Manor Park Primary Academy. Hermione is a 400m Hurdler, living and training in Birmingham. She was an England Lacrosse player for 5+ years and is now training to compete in the hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. This year she has already made the final at British Trials.

Hermione completed a circuit and racing technique session with the children and gave an inspirational assembly. The children raised just under £2000 through sponsorship for the whole day and a huge thank you must go to our amazing parents for their support with this. The school got to keep £778 of this money which will go towards PE resources for all the children, which is wonderful. A fabulous day was had by all.

Year 6 Sports Leaders Training at Manor Park

During October, 15 Year 6 children took part in Sports Leaders Training. The children learned some important skills such as listening, being organised and being thoughtful and creative, in order to become the Manor Park Sports Organising Crew. Throughout the morning, they were able to practise their skills with year 2, with all of the children thoroughly enjoying the session. Some jobs that the children can now carry out include:

• Assisting with Sports Days
• Organising lunchtime activities and games with younger age groups
• Updating School Games Board (PE notice boards) with photos, club information, fixture information, match reports, etc.
• Canvasing opinions around the school