FST Newsletter

October 2023

CEO Welcome

What a start to our new academic year.

In total we have 2596 young people in our care and 350 staff work relentlessly to ensure we deliver the best possible education for them. From our youngest babies at Tiger Cubs (our youngest is 6 months old) to our year 7 students and our Sixth Formers, whether they were part of the Trust already or have joined us from other secondary schools in Maidstone; we are a community.

It is with great pride that I can finally share with you all the fantastic outcome of Tiger Primary’s Ofsted inspection: GOOD. Congratulations to all the staff and children. This is a much-deserved recognition for all the hard work over the last twelve months.

For the first time in the history of Future Schools Trust, our three schools are Good. A true testament of great leadership and management, dedicated staff, effective governance and effective teaching and learning.

The last 7 weeks have been incredibly busy with everyone showing great resilience and tenacity. All our schools were once again able to open their doors to record number of prospective parents. All visitors were so complimentary and delighted by what they saw. Thank you to you all for being such advocates of all the great things happening in our schools.

Needless to say that maintaining a broad and balanced curriculum whilst supporting your children and young people has been our main focus. Many needed us to carefully scaffold our curriculum, taking into account what they knew and remembered, whilst not compromising on our end goal: enabling them all to reach their full potential. Thank you to all our teachers, Teaching Assistants and Heads of Department for working so closely together and for doing everything they can in ensuring your children and young people are prepared for the next stage of their education. All schools have set themselves ambitious targets and are working incredibly hard to improve the outcomes of your children/young people.

The Trust Sixth Form Open Evening

Our Trust Sixth Form Open Evening takes place on 15th November at Cornwallis Academy. I look forward to seeing as many prospective post-16 sixth form students on the evening. More information will be sent out by the two secondary schools in due course.

Primary School Reception Tours

Tiger Primary is a GOOD school. They have been welcoming prospective families and there are more tours on offer before the primary school application deadline. Click here for more information and how to book!

Finally, I have been working in collaboration with Maidstone Borough Council and Fusion Maidstone to pursue a long-term ambition of mine to create community gardens for members of our community. Our community gardens would provide a friendly, calm, and warm environment for those without outdoor space, those who feel isolated and those who would benefit from nature’s healing powers.

Mrs Linney-Drouet

New Line Learning Academy

Trust Sixth Form Open Evening

Tiger Primary School

Tiger Cubs Day Nursery

The Gateway

Executive Team

Mrs Linney-Drouet, CEO, has been with Future Schools Trust since April 2016.
Mrs Liffen, Executive Personal Assistant, works closely with the Central Services team and has been with the trust since September 2023.
Mrs Greener, Governance Professional, is the newest member of the Central Services Team. Mel works closely with the school's leadership teams to support the governance of the schools and the trust.

Finance Team

The Finance Team provides a wide range of financial and payroll support for the Trust. This is to ensure best value is sought to deliver the highest quality educational provision. The Finance Team are there to aid this delivery, whilst complying with strict guidance set out by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and abiding by professional accounting standards. The team supports the Trust in budget planning and preparation, long-term forecasting, cash and treasury management, tax compliance, safeguarding of assets, procurement, payroll and risk management.

Mrs Johnson, Finance Director, has been working for the trust since October 2012.
Miss Bishop, Payroll Officer, has worked for the trust since January 2019.
Miss Brown, Senior Finance Officer. Hollie line manages the Finance Assistants. Miss Brown has worked for the trust since August 2017.
Mrs Vidgen, Finance Officer. Mrs Vidgen has worked for the trust since August 2017.
Mrs Duncan, Finance Assistant with a focus on Tiger Primary School and manages our Trust Lettings. Mrs Duncan has worked for the trust since January 2015.
Mrs Carapiet, Finance assistant with a focus on New Line Learning Academy. Mrs Carapiet has worked for the trust since April 2003.
Mrs Rofe, Finance Assistant with a focus on Cornwallis Academy. Mrs Rofe has worked for the trust since October 2006.
Miss Jones, Finance Apprentice who has just joined us from The Trust Sixth Form. She will be studying towards her AAT qualification whilst learning essential book keeping and accountancy system skills at the Trust.

HR Team

Our HR Team provides Future Schools Trust with a wide range of services from recruitment and bringing in the best talent on board, to building trust across our Schools to be best placed to provide support and guidance on all aspects of human resources. Their expertise and advice enable senior leaders in particular to ensure all employment laws are adhered to, making sure robust and responsive support is available at all times. Our team is based at the New Line Learning Academy.

Mrs Vanderson, our HR Manager joined the Trust in 2022. Mrs Vanderson has full responsibility for providing a high-quality service to the Trust, covering the full generalist remit, and overseeing all aspects of HR and Recruitment.
Mrs Harrington is our Senior HR Officer and has worked for the Trust for 6 years. Mrs Harrington currently works 3 days a week and contributes to the delivery of a comprehensive HR function, supporting Chloe in the delivery of the HR strategy.
Mrs Gulliver has worked for the Trust for 9 years as HR Officer. Mrs Gulliver also works 3 days a week, supporting the HR function, carefully managing case load, and helping to maintain effective relationships with all our colleagues.
Miss Blain is our Recruitment Officer. Miss Blain joined the Trust in June 2022 and manages all aspects of Recruitment and onboarding for our Schools and is responsible for the development of our local and national recruiting plan.

IT, Facilities and Transport Team

The IT team looks after all ICT within the Trust, ranging from servers to copiers, telephones to the internet. They are based in the site office at Cornwallis Academy and next to the staff room at New Line Learning.

Mr Packham is the Senior ICT Technician. Mr Packham has worked for the Trust for 16 years. Starting as an ICT Technician at Senacre Technology College, moving to Oldborough Manor School, then to Cornwallis Academy.
Mr Fillon-Payoux is an ICT Technician. Mr Fillon-Payoux has worked for the trust for 14 years.
Mr Green start was an ICT Apprentice and in September 2023 been promoted to an ICT Technician. Mr Green has been with the trust for just over a year and a half
Miss Fox is an ICT Technician. Miss Fox has been with the trust for a year and a half
Mr Webb is an ICT Technician. Mr Webb has been with the trust for just over a year and a half

Our Facilities Team manages our buildings, grounds and all aspects of day-to-day maintenance.

We have two Senior Facilities Maintenance Technicians

Mr Mannering has worked for the trust for 6 years.
Mr Brook-Child has worked for the trust just over 5 years.

We have six Facilities Maintenance Technicians

Mr Trowell has worked for the trust for about 10 years now.
Miss Trowell has worked for the trust for 16 years.
Mr Walters has been working for the trust for about 6 months now
Mr Gasson has worked for the trust for nearly 5 years. His main role is to look after all the lettings and the sites at the weekend.
Mr Ford has worked for the trust for around 6 months. His main role is to look after all the lettings and the sites at the weekend.
Mr Cawse is our casual FMT and helps cover holidays and during busy periods.

Mr Hoy - is our minibus driver and has worked for the Trust a year. His main role is to transport Sixth Form students from one site to the other but also assists all schools in moving staff and students about on trips, swimming and sporting events to name a few. He is also responsible to the maintenance of the 4 buses in the Trust, arranging servicing, MOTS etc.

Our IT and Facilities staff are Trust based and work across both our sites. Mr Eatwell, our IT and Facilities Manager, joined the trust in 2008. He has full responsibility for providing a seemless support service across the Trust.

Summer Works

New Line Learning Academy

Lab3 Resigned – Plus door moved away from Lab 2.
Removed wall by lab3.
Top corridor painted.
Drama Room Painted.
Dance Room Painted.
PE Corridor Painted.
MFL Corridor Paint.
House Colours – 3 colours changed around.
Move HR/Finance department.
Blinds installed in all second-floor plazas.
Sound proofing between plaza and mezzanine levels in all plazas.
Window handle added to lower plaza windows and removed from auto system.
Installed path to Astro.
Fencing for Astro.
New carpet in maths plazas.
New Stair flooring in 3 stairwells.
Floor repaired in food room.
15 x canteen tables.
15 x picnic benches.
Marquee installed outside canteen from CWS.
New one-way stickers/signage.
New tension barriers in heart space.
Lights changed to LED - School is now 99% LED Lighting.
10 x New Staff Laptops.
64 x New Student Laptops.
32 x iPads.
28 x New Macs for Music.
Windows Cleaned – Inside and Out.

Tiger Primary School

Reception has been split into 2.
Lights changed to LED - School is now 99% LED Lighting.
Windows Cleaned – Inside and Out.

Cornwallis Academy

7B Converted into 3 classrooms with new carpet.
10B Converted into 3 classrooms with new carpet.
9A Classrooms sound proofing installed above ceiling.
New Office for English in 10A.
New Office for MFL – Down from Café Wallis.
PE Corridor Painted.
Changing rooms painted and repaired.
Water fountains all repaired.
Student toilets all repaired.
S1 – S21 Corridors Painted.
Art/Music Corridor Painted.
31 New Picnic Benches.
Marquee Removed and moved to NLL.
New Boilers – CIF Bid.
Lights changed to LED - School is now 99% LED Lighting.
230 new laptops for students.
30 New iPads.
20 New PCs for computing.
16 New Mac Books for Music.
Windows Cleaned – Inside and Out.

Mrs McMahon

Headteacher

Cornwallis Academy

As Term 1 draws to a close, I know that you are all looking forward to a well-deserved break and spending quality time with your children. This term has been incredibly busy but so positive. I’m very proud of what we have achieved this term at Cornwallis. Students have settled back into school life fantastically well and made excellent progress this term, which is testament to their hard work and resilience.

Open Evening and Open Morning Tours

What an amazing two weeks we’ve had with our open events. On Wednesday 27th September, we hosted our annual Open Evening. Over 470 families took the opportunity to visit our school and it was a great pleasure to see so many happy faces. We also met over 200 families during our seven Open Mornings. The feedback from families has been amazing and highly complimentary. I really believe the excellent work, care and attention our staff provide to every student, is a testament to this. Thank you to all staff and students for giving up their evening and representing their school with such enthusiasm, energy and pride.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

An enormous thank you to everyone who donated cakes and supported us for our recent Macmillan Coffee Morning. Our students enjoyed buying the cakes throughout the day. Macmillan is a charity close to our hearts here at Cornwallis Academy and we are very proud to have been able to support them for the last 4 years by taking part in the Coffee Morning.

This year we beat last year’s record by £148 and raised a fantastic £857.00. We are already looking forward to next year! If you would like to donate to this amazing charity, please click the link: Donate to charity | Macmillan Cancer Support

Jeans for Genes day

On Friday 22nd September, we hosted our annual Jeans for Genes non-uniform day, raising over £500 for this fantastic charity. Students also took part in a House competition to design a pair of jeans in tutor time.

European Day of Languages

On Tuesday 26th September, we held our first celebration for European Day of Languages. Students were able to sample a variety of traditional foods from across the world during lunch. The aim of this event was to raise awareness of the wide variety of languages within our Academy, promoting cultural heritage and linguistic diversity. The event was an enormous success, thoroughly enjoyed by both students and staff members.

Cornwallis’ Class Champions

Students have settled back in to their routines excellently and some fantastic learning has been taking place. Some notable highlights are:

· Year 11 and 13 students’ magazine covers in Media Studies

· Year 7 creating information posters about drama techniques in Performing Arts

· Years 12 & 13 creating images of the brain using sweets in Psychology

Please use the link for our full list of Classroom Champions: www.cornwallisacademy.com/news-events/classroom-champions/

Term 1 Sporting Results

Term 1 has been dominated with football fixtures that have included local district games as well as Kent and English Schools cup matches.

1st XI Football

The team have drawn and won a game against St. John’s School (4-4) and Homewood (8-4) respectively in the Kent Schools league.

The league table is below:

We were knocked out of the English Schools Cup by Buckswood School (7-2) in the 2nd round after having a walkover in the 1st round. We play a Kent Cup game in term 2 against Queen Elizabeth’s School.

Year 11 Football

Year 11 v Maidstone GS for Boys

- English Schools Cup 1st Round

- Won 3-2

- Goal scorers – Reuben Jones, Mark Boruk, Astyn Taylor

Year 11 v Simon Langton GS for Boys

- Kent Cup 2nd Round

- Won 3-0

- Goal scorers – Reuben Jones, Mark Boruk x2

Year 11 v Oakwood Park GS

- English Schools Cup 2nd Round

- Won 3-1

- Goalscorers – Reuben Jones, Mark Boruk, Richie Sage

Year 9 Football

One game played so far against Fulston Manor which we lost 7-0.

Year 8 Football

One game played so far against Homewood School where we lost in extra time (3-2).

Girls’ Football

The year 10/11 girls participated in a tournament at Maplesden Noakes. The overview of the matches are listed below:

· Maplesden 9s (0-0)

· Maplesden 10s (1-1)

· MGGS 1 (0-1) Cornwallis

· MGGS 2 (0-0)

Next term, sees the introduction of the rugby tournaments, with basketball and handball in term 3 and table tennis in term 4.

Trust Sixth Form Open Evening

The Trust Sixth Form Open Evening, takes place on Wednesday 15th November between 5:30-7:30pm. All Year 11 Families are invited to come along and hear about the amazing courses we have to offer for Post-16 learning. With over 30 courses to choose from, we’re really looking forward to seeing you there.

House point totals

Bradbourne - 9469

Chartwell - 9754

Cobham - 8952

Knowlton - 9638

Preston - 9127

Scotney - 9986

Have a relaxing half term and I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 6th November.

Take care

Mrs McMahon – Headteacher – Cornwallis Academy

Ms Mackie

Head of School

New Line Learning Academy

New Line Learning has had an exciting start to the academic year with all having settled well, including our largest year 7 cohort yet of over 200 pupils. Our school community are committed to being the best that they can be by demonstrating the core values of ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ and being fully engaged in the opportunities provided. We have had many visitors touring the school this term and have been delighted with the feedback. Some of which includes, ‘what a wonderful school’, ‘you should be very proud of your pupils’, ‘everyone is so focused’, ‘I can’t believe how calm the school feels’.

Pupils are being stretched and challenged more than ever both in and out of class with year 11 having participated in a fantastic day with Elevate Education, Dance pupils attending the Peacock Theatre to see a performance by a choreographer they are currently studying, the introduction of after school Cheerleading and Boccia clubs and pupils learning about and preparing a variety of food during Black History Month.

We are incredibly proud of our unique morning ‘Pathway’ sessions that are designed to ensure that every pupil is engaged in an enrichment opportunity encompassing the school ethos of ‘Believe and Achieve’. Due to popular demand, our options have further expanded to now also include: Creative writing, Forest School, IMedia and Dungeons and Dragons. Some examples of those that are already well established but by far from the whole list, include: Duke of Edinburgh, School of Excellence, Arts Award, STEM, Eco School and separate boys and girls sport. Many of our pathways enable pupils to gain additional qualifications, some even count as UCAS points.

We are proud of our year 11 cohort who are currently sitting their first mock series. They have returned to the academy with a sense of maturity and purpose and we feel confident that they will make fantastic personal progress with this positive attitude, attendance to school and additional study sessions.

Trust Sixth Form Open Evening

The Trust Sixth Form Open Evening, takes place on Wednesday 15th November between 5:30-7:30pm at Cornwallis Academy. All Year 11 Families are invited to come along and hear about the amazing courses we have to offer for Post-16 learning. With over 30 courses to choose from, we’re really looking forward to seeing you there.

Meanwhile, our performing arts team are rehearsing hard to prepare a fantastic pantomime treat for us to enjoy in term 2. Look out for tickets for ‘Robin Hood’!

Mr Siggs

Headteacher

Tiger Primary School

We have been working tirelessly to update and design an effective curriculum across all subject areas, ensuring that key knowledge is mapped out across the year groups for all subject areas. Our aim is to provide a clear pathway for our children, highlighting the key milestones they need to achieve throughout their primary journey.

One area that we have prioritised in our curriculum is reading. We have implemented a brand-new English scheme of work called 'The Power of Reading', which places literature and key texts at the heart of our units of work. This approach not only enhances our children’s reading skills but also promotes equality, diversity, and inclusion. As part of our commitment to fostering a love for reading, we recently had an author visit the school. The children were highly engaged and gained valuable insights into designing and developing their own characters.

Furthermore, we are thrilled that our school library will undergo a refurbishment. The children have enthusiastically shared their favourite books and genres of literature, and an external company has designed a fantastic piece of wall art for us. This art piece incorporates the children's ideas and wishes, creating a vibrant and inspiring space for reading and learning.

In addition to our curriculum enhancements, we are delighted to announce that Tiger Primary School had a very successful Ofsted inspection in September 2023. As a result, we achieved a 'GOOD' outcome for overall effectiveness.

The inspectors were impressed with the improvements we have made since the last inspection, particularly in regards to the curriculum, including the introduction of a new behaviour curriculum. They also commended the school for providing a good quality of education to our children.

The report also highlighted our high expectations for the children’s achievement. We are proud to say that our children have proven to be attentive and well-behaved in lessons, reflecting their dedication to embodying our school values. It is wonderful to see our children striving to reach their full potential and making good progress academically.

Another aspect that stood out to the inspectors was our effective safeguarding culture. They noted that our safeguarding arrangements are robust, ensuring that our children feel safe and secure within the school environment. Furthermore, they observed the warm and positive relationships between our staff and children, which contribute to the overall positive atmosphere in our school.

I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Tiger Primary School community for their ongoing support and dedication. It is through our collective efforts that we continue to provide a nurturing and enriching environment for our children.

Hayley Oliver

Incoming Nursery Manager

Tiger Cubs Day Nursery

It has been a very busy term at Tiger Cubs Day Nursery. We reopened to welcome back all the children during the last week of August to start our new academic year. It was lovely to welcome back existing and new children, and their parents to our nursery.

We have had a fun-filled term. Our Toddler Room went on a very exciting adventure to Milebush Farm! We went on a minibus which the Toddlers were very excited about! They picked their own pumpkins and got lots of photos! They got different pumpkins of many shapes, sizes and colours and used gross motor skills to carry them back to the wheelbarrow. Once they got back to nursery we washed and dried our pumpkins altogether!

Each and every child has been outstanding with their learning and developing through play, it has been a pleasure to watch them grow.

On a final note, we will be welcoming a new Nursery Manager, Hayley Oliver, at the start of term 2. Some of you will remember Hayley from pre-2017. She will be back with her wealth of EYFS knowledge to support the nursery as well as Tiger Primary as Assistant Headteacher.

Mr Smith

Head of the Gateway

The Gateway

Term 1 at the Gateway…

The new term saw us welcome two new staff members, Mr Stewart our new science/PE teacher and Dr Yates our new maths teacher. This further expands our curriculum and increases opportunities for physical activity and exciting extra-curricular trips. Gateway continues to provide a nurturing and inclusive environment with a flexible and personalised approach to learning, that aims to re-engage students and improve attendance.

Focus Day 1 – Mental Health Awareness Day:

During our first Focus Day of the academic year, we focused on raising awareness of mental health with our students. The day included four themes; Celebrating Neurodiversity, Managing Anxiety, Coping with Change and Exploring the Adolescent Brain. Our students engaged in a range of interactive activities and discussions that aimed to provide them with a deeper understanding of mental health and effective strategies.

Thorpe Park - Reward Trip:

As part of our Gateway reward system aimed at celebrating student achievement and progress, all students visited Thorpe Park on Thursday 19th October. The day was an opportunity for students to develop team building skills and celebrate their individual and collective success.

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