CEO Latest News
Welcome to my CEO news page. I'll be regularly updating this page with news and developments from across the trust. There is lots going on so keep popping back to see what's happening!
Best Wishes
Gavin Booth (CEO)
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People Matter!
Thu 13 Feb 2020At the end of another busy and successful term it's useful to pause and reflect on what's important. Infinity Academies Trust is continually refining and improving its offer to schools and what it means to be a member of our Trust family whether you're a pupil, parent, governor, trustee, staff member or friend.
As CEO when I think about my ultimate ambition for our Trust it's pretty simple... to put people first. I want our Trust and schools to focus on ensuring we help everyone be the very best version of themselves and we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that they succeed in whatever it is that's important to them.
Sure exam outcomes are very important as are Ofsted results but in 10,15 or 20 years time I want people to think back and be able to say how being at one of our schools whether as a pupil or staff member has enhanced their opportunities, supported their career and ultimately impacted positively on their life. I said it was a simple ambition... I didn't say it was easy!
To that end we frequently seek feedback from our pupils and their parents about how they feel about our schools. We are also just in the midst of conducting a well-being survey for our staff. I can't promise that we have got it right yet but I can say that we are constantly looking at how we can be better. We want Infinity to be place where every professional wants to work and every child wishes to attend and to do that we have to ensure we are investing in relationships and making people feel valued.
Schools are busy places and we ask so much of our teams and children but we want them to enjoy being part of our family and feel that they've got a support network across our schools focused on helping them succeed. So at the end of this busy term a huge "thank you" from me to all of our staff and children for a brilliant term. Your hard work does not go unnoticed, it is greatly appreciated and I'm so glad you're part of our Trust.
Have a great half term break.
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The Power of Peer Review
Wed 05 Feb 2020St Thomas' CE Primary Academy had its Trust Peer Review yesterday and it got me thinking.
As a Trust we are proud that our schools have the opportunity to regularly engage in Peer Review. The power of this reciprocal activity cannot be underestimated. Each school in our Trust receives a visit from two other Infinity Heads at least once per year. The reviews can focus on a particular aspect of the curriculum that the school has been developing, confirming the school's own self-evaluation or evaluating a specific strength. The reviews are developmental and supportive but come with a degree of challenge that means receiving Heads find them really helpful in informing next steps and validating their judgements. This is nothing new or revolutionary- lots of schools do this. However, doing it in a Multi-Academy trust feels different because people don't leave at the end of the day and not look back. The support continues...
The happy by-product of these reviews is the growing culture within Infinity that sees Heads and Senior leaders regularly reaching out to one another for support and guidance way beyond the original peer review, the willingness of staff to share resources and ideas and the new ways of working that the visiting Heads take back to their own schools.
As CEO I'm so proud of the growing culture of collaboration we have within our Trust, the increasing amount of informal networking and the Trust-wide ambition to be better for all our students and staff not just those within an individual school. It's this quiet, "behind the scenes" collective approach that sometimes those that are not part of a MAT can't see or always appreciate. It is incredibly powerful to know that there are people beyond your school gates working hard to make sure all our children succeed and who are prepared to share all they have so that we all flourish together.