Pathfinder School News Pages

Our first Pathfinder Schools communication has been sent to all staff, parents and carers. This communication lets everyone in our community find out a little bit more about our Trust, the work of the central team, our successes last year and our plans for 2022, and is the start of the regular “Spotlight On…” communication which will go out each half term. The “Spotlight On…” will focus on different aspects of our work – if you have any ideas on what you would like to learn more about please let us know.

Pathfinder Schools are delighted to be participating in the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot (MHPP) funded by Midlands Engine. The pilot has been designed to support workplace mental health across the midlands region and will provide the Trust with the opportunity to work with a number of key partners including Mind, The University of Warwick and The University of Birmingham.

Nationally mental health problems affect one in six employees each year and are the leading cause of sickness absence. We are also very aware of the impact of the COVID pandemic and the additional pressures and increased workload experienced by education staff. Research from Deloitte in 2020 found that 41.8% of the UK population are deemed to be at high risk of mental health problems as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak. A recent report by the national charity Education Support (2020) found that 50% of education professionals report a decline in mental health.

As a Trust we are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our staff and see participation in this pilot as an invaluable opportunity to provide pro-active and expert support whilst also raising mental health awareness. Our first pilot is the INWORK research trial testing new approaches to providing mental health and wellbeing support to staff. The trials will focus on early identification of issues and prevention, and potential support on offer includes: online materials explaining the psychology of emotion regulation and offering practical advice for self-care; sleep therapy; and individually tailored support for employees and their managers from a Mind independent liaison worker.

As well as supporting those taking part, the trial results will be used to measure the success and challenges of the new approaches, and our involvement alongside other Midlands employers will help to shape the future of mental health support in our workplaces. In the coming months Pathfinder Schools will be also participating in the PROWORK pilot led by the Universities of Loughborough and Nottingham which aims to help staff on long term sick leave return to work in a healthy and sustainable way.

Never has it been more important to work together to improve the life chances of the young people in our community. This is why I have been volunteering as a school governor/trustee of Pathfinder Schools since 2015. My fellow trustees and I come from a variety of backgrounds: education, law, finance and the world of business. What unites us is a desire to create an environment in which our schools can deliver the best educational outcomes for all learners and empower young people to broaden their horizons and open their minds to new opportunities. We support school leaders, monitor progress and care about every pupil. Working as a valued member of a team helping schools to grow and seeing the resulting impact for pupils is extremely rewarding.  

We wouldn’t be who we are without our amazing staff. Being a governor/trustee gives you the opportunity to encourage, appreciate and say thank you to the staff in our schools.   

Everyone has a part to play and a contribution to make. We all have life experiences that are invaluable for this role. If you are passionate about education, wish to develop your own skills and want to add value to your community being a governor/trustee is something I would highly recommend.   So if you share our ethos and values then why not join us?

Jo Woods – Trustee

If you are interested in a role as a Pathfinder Schools Trustee, or as a governor at one of our schools, please contact clerk@pfschools.org.uk in the first instance.

Congratulations Montsaye Academy for being recognised as a LOCKDOWN HERO by Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Northants Live asked readers to name a school they would like to single out for a mention and once again Montsaye Academy was praised for going above and beyond: ‘from 9am on day 1 the children have received good quality online lessons with their teachers …..they have been on hand and helpful to students and parents’

Visit Northants Live Website

We’re not surprised – just delighted

GREAT WORK Montsaye and a big thank you to all our Pathfinder staff, parents and pupils for making this possible