In her fifth blog, Emily continues to write about her placement as she starts the new academic year:
It is the start of October, how did that happen? I have worked at the White Rose Academies Trust for nearly 6 months now. I still learn something new every day! One thing I have learnt is that schools are extremely busy over the summer period! I never understood how much time and effort it took to run a school. I worked on so many different tasks throughout the 6 weeks, from buying out of home media (billboards) around Leeds, sending artwork to advertising agencies, to creating press releases about our academies GCSE and A Level results (Leeds West Academy). I found all of this very interesting, this is something I never thought I would be doing whilst working in a school.
One thing I have learnt is that schools are extremely busy over the summer period! I never understood how much time and effort it took to run a school.
One of my main jobs over summer was the planning of CPD (Corporate Professional Development) Day, which is the whole staff-training day. This included organising room arrangements, food, timings, travel and communicating with all staff about the planned schedule. I have also worked with digital technicians to find the best way to create a feedback survey about the staff CPD. Throughout my time at the White Rose Academies Trust I am being introduced to all different aspects of the business and learning so much about what it takes to be successful.
We are now in the fourth week back after Summer and I feel very lucky to be invited to all Trust Leadership Group meetings, I feel like I am part of the team and feel honoured to be a part of such high leadership discussions. These meetings have taken place every week since the start of September, with different topics being at the centre of each one. Senior colleagues from the academies have been presenting on key subjects such as Teaching and Learning and attendance. Attending these meetings definitely helps me to expand on my learning development each week, as I am able to watch the process and then witness the improvements which stem from the meetings in action throughout my time here.
From when I started in May, I think the academies have improved hugely in such a small time frame which is down to the commitment from all staff who you can see clearly, are all proud to work for the White Rose Academies Trust and committed to ensuring that all the students receive the best possible education. The main objective for all three academies is to be judged as outstanding by OFSTED in 2020 and from being here only 6 months, I think they will most definitely reach this goal.
