Our Trust drivers live and breathe in all aspects of Consortium's work and structures, and that includes the Trust Board and Trustees, collectively and as individuals.  Recent visits to Cambridge to meet with the ESFA and the Regional Director and his wider team have highlighted to me how the drivers really are embedded in our approach to Trust life and development.

The pandemic, in many ways seems like a lifetime ago, but we are all aware of the legacy impact that is faced every day in the classroom, for our young people, but also for our colleagues.  The determination and resilience,  that continues to be shown in supporting school improvement is a daily challenge; and whilst the Trust Executive and Board are under increased scrutiny from our external stakeholders, and we accept this is necessary and vitally important, we are also absolutely committed to ensuring that we are more than just academic outcomes.  Standards and progress take many forms and it is our responsibility to ensure that this is clearly established.

I believe that we have always been a Trust that values self-improvement and reflection.  The Trust Board undertook an external review of governance and this has led to a change in emphasis of local stakeholder engagement that reflects not only the views of the Trustees, but also national best practice, guidance and regulation, and the views and expectations of the locality committees and our school leadership teams.  With the newly appointed Head of Governance, Maxine Bagshaw, now leading on establishing and embedding locality committees and the Teams, we will be ensuring that local stakeholder views are heard and responded to at Trust Board level.

Collaboration has also been fundamental to the vision and ethos of the Trust from it's inception; and this continues through our recent appointments to the Trust Board, where Karen Horne and Sue Childs in particular have experience of other Trusts and they are challenging our working practices and our thinking - in addition to this, Maxine also has experience of working with other Trusts outside of our immediate vicinity, and through this we are actively seeking opportunities for the Trustees to collaborate with a Trust in the Midlands.

And on a personal basis, I have committed to my own independent learning journey, having recently completed ACAS training to carry out independent investigations for HR processes, and have also joined the Chartered Institute of Copy Editing and Proofreading alongside a range of qualifications and online learning ongoing.  Finding the time and the motivation to complete this is difficult at times, but I am really enjoying expanding my knowledge and gaining new skills.

I hope this brief snapshot of Trust Board and Trustee commitment to the Trust Drivers illustrate that they are fundamental to our development, collectively and independently, and that they are truly embedded in our ethos as we make strategic decisions and consider opportunities and next steps for Consortium as a whole.

On behalf of the Trust Board, thank you for all the ways in which you too embody the Trust Drivers and support our young people to recognise, experience and enhance their own abilities and outlook.

Written by Dawn Carman-Jones, Chair of Trust Board