Newsletters

Autumn Term 1 - Staff Newsletter September 2021

Welcome

Welcome to the first edition of the Trusts' staff newsletter for the new academic year.

By way of an update on programmed works over the summer break we wanted to share some of the highlights that our Delt colleagues have helped us achieve in readiness for the Autumn term. See the articles below for an update on what has been completed over the summer break and in recent weeks.

Over the coming months a priority for us will be working with each of our schools to focus on how we can look at the work that has taken place over the past two years and identify good practices and highlight where we can still develop.

Finally, I hope that you have all settled back in following the summer break. Both myself and Trustees look forward to visiting you all far more frequently this year as we approach the year ahead with a greater sense of ‘normal’ in relation to our working practices.

Gavin Gracie, CEO

ICT

Headed up by Steph Smith at Delt, the IT team have been working on the following priority projects over the summer holidays:-

Mobile phone project
Service Now Desk – implementing a telephone service
Reviewing the ‘leavers process’ for IT equipment
Printer device relocations –Bretonside, Camborne and Derriford
Support of Cyber Essentials Accreditation
Supporting Estates in their projects, for example, CCTV installations, Courtlands refurbishment & the relocation of IT equipment, Bretonside refurbishment & staff room IT equipment relocation
Re-imaged stock devices in readiness for any service requests
Disposal of redundant IT equipment releasing the leased SafeStore container (cost saving to the business)

Estates

Headed up by Damean Miller at Delt, the Estates team have carried out the following:-

Courtlands – Incl. asbestos removal, replacement windows and CCTV installation
Bretonside – Incl. new staff room and classroom
Exeter – Incl. replacement doors, closers and finger guards installed
Dover Rd – re-decoration
Tiverton – incl. drainage remedial works, installation of high-level fencing beside bike storage, quotations being sought for roofing the current bin store, and the creation of a new smaller bin store
Legionella testing at all sites complete in readiness for start of term

Finance

Headed up by Karen Morris, the Finance team have been completing significant projects over the summer break including those below as well as improving a number of internal processes within the team:

Internal Audit Year End
External Audit Year End
Routine management accounts reporting now being undertaken
Migration from Access to PS Financial
Focus on credit control resulting in a positive impact on income generated

HR

The HR team have moved forward the following priority projects over recent weeks:-

The National College – Switch to & set up exercise transferring to new online training provider
Development of TFT Training Matrix for Trust/Schools
Reviewed and redesigned Annual Schools Reading List (now available through TNC)
Creation of new TFT People Hub – Shared HR Resource area in SharePoint for all staff and leaders
Finalising TFT new employment contracts
Development/drafting of 'Batch 2' of TFT People Policies: Incl. Recruitment & Selection Policy & Procedure, Appraisal Policy, Capability Policy, Probation Policy, NJC Pay Policy.

Useful contacts:

estates@deltservices.co.uk

repairs@deltservices.co.uk

TFTFinance@Deltservices.co.uk

TFTHRSupport@Deltservices.co.uk

TFTRecruitment@Deltservices.co.uk

TFTSalesLedger@Deltservices.co.uk

Recruitment Update

Let you friends and families know.........

The Trust currently has a number of vacancies for Teaching Assistants at both Courtlands Special School and ACE Schools, Exeter.

To view these vacancies visit our website here as we'd love to hear from you!

In addition, we are still seeking Local Advisory Group Governors.......

As part of the work we have been undertaking to improve our governance processes we are seeking Local Advisory Group Governors at our three academies.

The main purpose of the role is to provide governance at a local level on behalf of the Board of Trustees and in accordance with the Trust Scheme of Delegation. If within your networks you know of individuals that maybe interested please do pass on our campaign pack with all the relevant information available here

If you need any further support or have any recruitment related queries, you can contact Recruitment via TFTRecruitment@deltservices.co.uk.

On the subject of recruitment, congratulations to Clint Bray who has been successfully appointed as the new Head of Estates. As you may know, Clint was previously a Senior Caretaker and so we are delighted that he will continue his fantastic work with Delt and the Trust.

Headteacher's Blog

This time the spotlight shines on Hannah Smart and her team at ACE Tiverton to share some highlights from recent weeks:-

Prior to and during the Summer break, we worked closely with the Trust Executive Team to prepare an application to increase our published admission numbers at ACE Tiverton. Currently, ACE Tiverton has 70 students on roll and, following a request from Devon County Council to take on more students, intend to increase this number to 100. Having received Board approval to submit an application to our Regulator to make this change, we are now consulting with staff, parents, families, neighbours and local community partners and other stakeholders to determine whether the Trust should proceed with this increase in number on roll.

Further information including the Consultation Document that covers some answers to key questions you may have, can be found on our website here. If you would like to get in touch to share your views and feedback you can email TivertonConsultation@transformingfutures.org.uk. Consultation commenced on Monday 13th September 2021 and closes on 25th October 2021, therefore please share your feedback prior to this date.

Hannah Smart
Headteacher

New Arbor System

With the start of the new school year ACE Schools joined Tiverton and Courtlands in using Arbor instead of SIMS. This has been a two-year journey, originally focused on ACE but expanding to find a solution that best fitted the diverse range of schools within the Trust. The aim is to make our data work for us, generating information which can then improve teaching and learning in the classroom.

The new system is more user-friendly, and I hope more intuitive than SIMS for new users. Data is processed live, presented as information in a variety of dashboards available. Please do dig into these and experiment with the options available to you. Of note are features such as live feeds, increased analysis at an individual student level and more context around attendance marks and behaviour. For the first time we have a MAT level dashboard which communicates data in real time and in context.

I appreciate that there are bits we are still sorting and perfecting for our settings, however please bear with us and continue to communicate your experiences, suggestions and ideas as they are gratefully received.

Tim Mockford

Science Teacher, LAC Designated Teacher at ACE Schools

HR Update

A warm welcome to Helena White who joined Delt as the Head of HR Services in August; bringing over 25 years in HR experience to the team.

Until the replacement for Tracey joins, Helena will be the HR partner for TFT, leading and supporting the HR team and providing expert advice and support on all employment and workforce matters.

You can contact Helena through the HR mailbox at TFTHRSupport@deltservices.co.uk or Helena.white@deltservices.co.uk or on 01752 580304.

Winter Flu Jabs

We are currently looking into whether we can partner with a provider to offer flu vaccinations to staff who do not already meet the NHS free vaccine eligibility criteria to help protect colleagues against the winter flu virus.

We will keep you posted on this and provide an update in due course. In the meantime however, please do check your eligibility via the link above in case you are able to access free via the NHS.