It was a real privilege to welcome Joe Farrell from the Regional Schools Commissioner’s Office to the Bushey St James Trust on Monday morning of this week. Joe works closely with the Secretary of State for Education and has been supporting the schools within the Trust to improve attendance and has also been using the schools as a hub of best practice to share ideas with other similar schools.

The Chair of the Trust Sam Russell also attended the meeting held at Little Reddings Primary School and was delighted to hear of the significant improvements in attendance and paid tribute to all staff at Bushey Meads School involved in driving up this key agenda. Under the leadership of Deputy Headteacher Ms de Groot and with the hard work of Miss Cassidy and all the CDCs, we have seen children attending school for more than 6500 more lessons this year alone compared to last year. A huge thank you must also go to the parents and carers for their encouragement and support.

Attendance is the key driver to improving engagement with school and creating that strong sense of belonging, which in turn helps students achieve their true potential and succeed in life.

After the meeting it was great to be able to give Joe a tour of the brand new school at Little Reddings – a truly flagship school in the Trust and across the South East Region. He commented on the very calm and purposeful atmosphere and that sense of enquiry and enjoyment in learning.  He also met some outstanding Class Ambassadors who told him what they loved most about the school which was encouraging to hear.

It was a very positive visit and once again placed the school and the Trust on the map for all the excellent work that is taking place.