The Rs have it

6th September 2024

Return

Welcome back. I know that some of you will have been at it all summer, some of you have been back for a couple of weeks and some have returned this last Monday. Whenever or however you returned to work, to school, to college I do hope that you had a restful and relaxing summer and that you are ready to face the challenges that this (academic) year will bring – there are always challenges and, without being too Rumsfeld about this, there will be known unknowns, i.e. things will happen that we will have to face down, we just don’t know what they are yet.

And we’ve seen the return of all of our pupils and students now. I’m sure you all feel so much better when we get the children and young people back in the buildings. I’ve had the pleasure and honour to be on the ground in all four of our institutions this week, when the pupils and students have been around, and the atmosphere across the piece has been amazing; really positive and really calm – more on that below.

Recruitment

I would want to point out that, if anyone were to doubt us or question our culture, it’s incredible to note that, in a period of falling rolls locally, we are just about full and are oversubscribed in many of our year groups. It really is the positive culture which we promote which allows parents, carers and the young people to feel comfortable in one of our institutions, in all of our classrooms, playgrounds and social spaces. Inspire Learning Trust will be: A safe place for everyone.

We will work:

• To ensure that all pupils / students learn to their full potential in a caring and supportive environment.
• To improve life chances by helping to grow into well rounded, work and adult life ready children and young people.
• To provide challenging learning experiences that develop pupils / students as successful confident young adults

Results

I should pass on my thanks and congratulations to all those pupils, students and staff for the amazing KS2 SATs, GCSE and other level 2 qualifications and A levels, BTECs and other level 3 qualifications. Yes, there will be some disappointment at the performance of some individual pupils or students but the performance of many was truly outstanding and those ‘passports’ will allow many of our children and young people to move positively through their educational, professional and social lives. Without that ratification the educational achievements and the aspirations, we might have for our charges, are worthless. So… a heartfelt thank you from me on behalf of those children and young people, the wider community, the governors and the Trust Board.

Riots

Oh dear. The events of the summer in our town yet again pushed Rotherham into the national conscience, for all the wrong reasons. Those of us who have committed so much of our professional and  personal lives to this town will have been shocked, appalled, exasperated, horrified and saddened in equal measures. Those events do not reflect the communities which will serve. Those events do not reflect this great town. Yet, sadly, all that we have all done to rebuild the reputation of Rotherham has been eroded. I’d note that many of those found guilty and charged offences were from ‘out of town’; not from our borough.

Reputation

So, let’s rebuild and re-emphasise our community’s reputation. We can do that through our daily work and a focus on our Rs. If anyone might wonder why we do work together it is simply that we have a ‘values led’ and ethical trust, with a complimentary ethos and aspirations. As we look to rebuild the reputation of this town and as we work to add value to the lives (academic, cultural and social) of our children and young people, remember the Rs.

Ready

In the schools and in the college now is the time when we set the expectations you would want us to maintain and hold throughout the year. We establish routines and apply rigour to all that we do and expect our children and young people to raise their game to meet those demands. The overwhelming majority of children and young people value a strong, warm-strict approach. We cannot expect the children and young people to know what we demand without communicating those expectations with clarity and consistency. I wholeheartedly believe that our children and young people do want to be respectful and they will reflect upon their behaviours in the context of our set expectations. If we leave a vacuum, without those routines and rigour applied and reapplied, we cannot really expect our children and young people to take responsibility for their actions. We can only demand they take responsibility when they are clear about what they should be responsible for.  And, as many of us know, how we commutate those messages will be critical. We are in the people business. Relationships between children and young people, between those children and ourselves and the relationships we model with each other as adults (including parents and how they talk and communicate to and with staff) has a profound impact upon the response we get. They and we ought to reflect upon how we interact with each other. A mutual respect and understanding are what marks our collective endeavours. We know that there will need to be a degree of resilience on all our parts. The children and young people won’t always get it right. We might not always get it right but they and we will bounce back, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and go again.

Reiterate

We get so much right. They get so much right. But we know that there’s more to come; there’s more that we can demand; there are higher standards to be achieved in an academic and a social sense. We lift our game, so they can lift theirs.

Relax

It’s a long and important term. We’ll all need resilience in managing those relationships.

‘With the right people, culture, and values, you can accomplish great things.’  Tricia Griffith