Category: News

Our Trust was delighted to see all of our primary schools’ Year 6 cohorts shine in their SATs after the delayed results came out just before the Sumer holidays.

The outcomes across our Trust reflected the hard work put in by students, staff and families towards these tests.

With many of the children continuing their education journey within Primitas secondary schools, the overwhelming majority are in strong position to step forward and thrive in their future studies.

Amongst so many highlights:

* Henry Chadwick’s Reading results were stunning – with almost half of the child achieving the top-end ‘Greater Depth’ benchmark.

* Highfields’ superb Maths results stood comfortably above national benchmarks in both ‘Expected’ and ‘Greater Depth’ benchmarks.

* Holly Grove’s Maths results were exceptionally strong too – whether that be the Y4 Times Tables results, or the Year 6 outcomes at ‘Expected’ and ‘Greater Depth’.

* Ridgeway performed fantastically well across the board – especially with consistently strong results across the range of ‘Greater Depth’ benchmarks.

Matt Allman, Chief Education Officer, said: “We are blessed to have a wonderful team across our primary schools who work extremely well together to share ideas, practice and developments. The SATs results were fantastic to see and there were plenty of celebrations with the students to show our pride in them doing so very well. Every child’s journey – and level is different – but our schools share a common commitment to help every child be the very best they can be.”

This prestigious national award recognises our commitment to sustainability and environmental education, celebrating the collective efforts of our students, staff, families and wider school community in making a positive impact on the environment.

The journey towards this achievement began when our previous Headteacher, Mr Allman, identified 2025–2026 as the ‘Year of the Environment’ and set the school on a path towards strengthening its environmental awareness and action.

From recycling and reducing waste to caring for outdoor spaces and learning how to protect our planet, students across the school have embraced the initiative with enthusiasm, responsibility and commitment.

In awarding the Green Flag, judges commented that:

“Your school’s greatest success this year has been the growing awareness and involvement from pupils across every year group. Pupils have become far more willing to learn about sustainability and take part in Eco initiatives, which has created a positive shift in attitudes across the school. It’s been brilliant to see pupils developing a clearer understanding of why protecting our planet matters for their own futures, and this shared commitment has had a genuinely uplifting impact on the whole school community.”

The judges highlighted several particular strengths:

• Pupil-led assemblies during Road Safety Week helped all year groups engage with transport and sustainability issues.
• Waste and recycling have been explored in creative ways, from Year 7 Christmas recycling projects to inter-house competitions that helped pupils understand the amount of waste produced at school and at home.
• Older students made strong curriculum links through their Geography studies, examining sustainable cities such as Curitiba and evaluating Amsterdam’s Waste-to-Energy approach.
• The school’s commitment to involving pupils, families and the wider community was praised, with regular updates and photographs shared through the school website and social media to celebrate initiatives such as litter-picking projects and plastic bottle recycling.
• The electronic Eco Board displayed on school TVs was recognised as a highly effective way of promoting key environmental messages. Staff and student assemblies linked to events such as Second Hand September and World Water Day also helped ensure the whole school community remained engaged.

Mark Drury, Headteacher, said: “Thank you to everyone who has supported our eco journey. This achievement belongs to the whole Friary community, and we look forward to building on this success in the years ahead.”

To learn more about he Eco Schools Award click here.

Our schools offer regular reminders to our students about personal safety – whether that be in relation to roads, cycling, train tracks, or summer fires – as part of our shared responsibility with parents to make sure our students keep safe and are sufficiently community-minded to keep those around them safe too.

Added to this, our schools offer water safety reminders, and with recent reports of swimming in Chasewater, we are keen to reiterate the need to avoid taking risks in this area.

Certainly, we have already pushed the messages that most parents would have made about the dangers of entering open water. This could be cold water shock, hidden hazards beneath the surface, or strong currents, and they all bring potentially life-threatening consequences.

Recently, Staffordshire Police warned that: “While it may be tempting to cool off during warm weather, entering open water can be extremely dangerous. Entering the water can place not only those involved at risk, but also members of the emergency services who may be required to respond. We are asking parents and guardians to speak with their children and young people about the dangers of swimming in open water and the importance of following safety signage around Chasewater.”

Toph Briggs, our Trust Safeguarding Lead Professional, echoed these sentiments: “As teachers and as parents we need to remind our children again, and again, and again, of the risks that are out there, and with the summer sun making open water swimming appealing, it is vital we make out children aware that it is not safe to go swimming in open water without due supervision. We would urge all parents to remind their children of this so that we have everyone back with us safe and sound in September.”

Our secondary schools – Erasmus Darwin Academy, Queen’s Croft High School and The Friary School – will be open this week and next to student as they collect their Sixth Form and Year 11 results.

The Sixth Form results come out on Thursday 13 August and the Year 11 Results are distributed on Thursday 20 August.

Staff will be on hand to support with places in universities, Sixth Form, colleges, apprenticeships and other post-school options. Students and parents can liaise with staff on Results Day or email the main school office address to receive further information.

Matt Allman, Chief Education Officer, said; “Our secondary schools are superb in terms of careers and aspirations and have dedicated teams available to support individuals with their next steps in life. The journey through each of our schools is very much to set up students for their steps into adult life and we are keeping everything crossed that each Primitas student gets what they deserve comes Results Day.”

Friary Sixth Form students attended their Results Dya to see superb results across the board.

Amongst fantastic progress rates across all abilities, there were also a strong of top grades pilled out including:

Sebastien Menaut – A, A, A*

Matthew Allen – A, A, A, Distinction

Kimi Leigh – A, A, A, A

Akito Tokiwa-Smith – A, A, A, A

Amelia Hurst – A, A, A, A

Amelia Long – A, A, C

Calum Finch – A, A, A, A

Timothy Huskisson – A, A, A, A

Joshua Douglas-Boisson – A, A, A, Distinction*

Harry Battams – A, A, A, A

As well as those landing university places, the school’s apprenticeship programme also saw students secure positions across the engineering, legal, surveying, auditing and accounting sectors, as well with the civil service.

Mark Drury, Headteacher, said: “I am immensely proud that the commitment shown by our students, their families and our staff has been rewarded with these excellent results. Given that education is about more than qualifications, this year group also made an outstanding contribution to school life, raising thousands of pounds for local charities, volunteering in the community, and embracing residential and field trips both in the UK and overseas. Even so, it is wonderful to see them conclude their time at Friary with such impressive academic success.”

Andrea Garner-Thorpe, Head of Sixth Form, added: “We’re delighted to see so many Sixth Form students successfully move onto high-quality university courses. Equally, we’re very pleased to see others secured highly competitive apprenticeship opportunities, including several very prestigious degree apprenticeships. We’re looking forward to students coming back and telling us how they’re getting on.”

Sixth Form students enjoyed their Sixth Form Results Day at Erasmus Darwin Academy after achieving a storing of strong results in their academic and vocational courses.

All students at the school have now secured places at university of apprenticeships, with 23% of all grades at either A* or A or equivalent, while 45% were between A* and B.

A number of students achieved all A* or A grades, including:

• Charlie Elcock
• Jack Davis
• Ethan Donnelly
• Matty Hutchings
• Scarlett Robinson
• Millie Ryde
• Jessica Sangha

Phil Walklate, Headteacher,  said: “This cohort have achieved a fantastic set of outcomes – but most importantly, they are all leaving as good people and have secured their next steps. Throughout their Sixth Form journey, they have all given back to the academy in many ways and it has been inspirational to watch them grow as young people. These results reflect a huge team effort from every member of staff, and we wish all of our Year 13 leavers the very best in their next steps.”

Matt Allman, Chief Education Officer, added: “It is fantastic to see the ambition of school leaders and staff come through in these results. The academy is always looking to improve – and it is this ambition that make sit a greta school to be at – but this is a great moment to pause, reflect on the hard-work and to celebnrate these wonderful achievements. Huge congratulations to the students, staff and families involved in this success story.”

One of our Trust’s primary schools, Highfields Primary Academy, has been awarded the prestigious the Primary Futures Gold Award for their work on careers and aspirations with their students. The honour recognises promotion for careers education and inspiring youngsters to explore their options for work in the future. A key factor in securing the award was the academy’s recent Career Week which saw volunteers from a range of professions visit the school to share their experiences with pupils. Children had the opportunity to hear first-hand from many different industries and backgrounds, learning about the skills, determination and opportunities that help to shape different careers.

Mark Wilkes, Headteacher, said: “We are very proud to receive this award in recognition of this important work. We were incredibly blessed by the number of people who were prepared to share their careers with us and inspire our young people. The enthusiasm and generosity shown by our visitors made a real difference. By sharing their personal journeys, they helped our children understand that there are many different pathways to success and encouraged them to believe in their own potential.”

As our secondary schools prepare for the next academic year, significant changes are being introduced to how work experience is delivered to young people. The Government’s ambition is for all students to access the equivalent of two weeks of meaningful work experience before the end of Key Stage 4. This marks a shift away from relying solely on a traditional one-week placement in Year 10. Schools will be encouraged to provide a range of experiences, including employer-led projects, workplace visits, hybrid activities and structured placements.

The new approach is designed to give students earlier exposure to the world of work, with experiences beginning during Key Stage 3. Within this, there is a major focus of the reforms is ensuring that all young people, including those with SEND and other barriers to participation, have access to high-quality opportunities. Schools are also expected to strengthen links with local employers to create more meaningful and relevant workplace encounters. The changes align with the revised Gatsby Benchmarks and updated careers guidance issued by the Department for Education. Our schools’ careers leaders will play an increasingly important role in coordinating experiences and tracking student participation and supporters believe the new model will better prepare young people for future education, employment and training by helping them develop essential workplace skills and informed career aspirations.

Matt Allman, Chief Education Officer, said: “The new standards present challenges to our schools in terms of securing placements, adapting to lost curriculum time, and combining safeguarding and welfare with follow-up work on aspirations and qualifications. However, our schools are embracing the expectations and we are looking forward to hearing how our student get on within the new scheme.” For more information, the following BCC news article – here – relays the experience of some Year 10 students who have already taken on work experience placements.

 

Our Trust’s primary schools have been informing parents that there will be a delay to our Year 6 children receiving their SATs results this summer.

The results were due on Tuesday 7 July 2026. However, Pearson Education Limited, the provider responsible for administering, marking, and returning Key Stage 2 results to schools has informed the Department for Education of a delay affecting the national system used to make results available to schools.

The SATs results will now be available on Thursday 16 July 2026. This will result in primary school staff working through the first weeks of the holiday to review outcomes, evaluate potential re-marks, and complete administrational duties.

Mark Wilkes, Deputy CEO, said: “We have been told by the Department for Education that the delay is not related to the quality of the tests or the accuracy of pupils’ results. Test papers have been marked in line with usual processes. This will not impact your child’s transition to secondary school and no action is required from parents or pupils. We will share results with you as quickly as possible after we receive them on 16 July. “

We are delighted to report that Holly Grove Primary Academy had a very successful OFSTED visit – reaching the elusive ‘Strong’ categories in Personal Development & Well-Being and Attendance & Behaviour – and then ‘Expected’ across the board.

These judgements were not a surprise for school or Trust leaders – on the back of successive years of impressive results, excellent attendance, curriculum awards, extensive community engagement, and a buzzing, daily atmosphere that makes any visit a pleasure.

Amongst many highlights in the report, the inspectors identified that:

• Pupils’ behaviour is calm, purposeful and consistently positive. Pupils demonstrate respectful attitudes towards one another and understand the importance of treating others fairly.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of opportunities that support their broader development. These include clubs, leadership roles and experiences that extend beyond the classroom. Pupils develop confidence and are encouraged to take responsibility.
• Pupils demonstrate maturity when discussing their emotional wellbeing, relationships and sense of belonging.
• Reading and phonics are clear strengths. Pupils across the school achieve highly in these areas.
• Teaching is typically clear and well structured. This enables pupils to understand what they are learning and how this builds on prior knowledge. Pupils engage well in lessons and respond positively to questioning.
• Children in the early years receive a positive start to their education. The early years is well led and highly inclusive.
• Staff are proud to work here, and rightly so. They feel well supported and listened to by leaders. Staff describe the school as a positive place in which to work.
• The trust and local governors are knowledgeable and highly supportive of the school. They provide quality training, support and appropriate challenge.

Matt Allman, Chief Education Officer, said: “Leaders, staff, children and parents at the school can be hugely proud of the plaudits they received in the visit. Already there is a huge drive in the school to keep their momentum rolling, and families can be wholly confident that if their child signs up at Holly Grove, then then they are already on a pathway to personal success.”

The full report can be read here.