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from John Taylor Multi Academy Trust

CEO’s Blog: November 2023: 400 years – and counting.
As I have stated previously in my blogs, I came to reading for pleasure relatively late in life. Certainly, as a child, I was not an avid reader. My family home was not one in which…
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CEO’s Blog: October 2023: Not enough crosses!
When my children were growing up I, like many parents, would often take the opportunity to look at their exercise books from school. I’d thumb through them with several questions I’d hope to answer. “What work…
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CEO’s Blog: September 2023: “Chauffeur Learning”
Upon the recommendation of my coach, I have recently read Caroline Goyder’s “Gravitas”. In what is quite an expansive work, she articulates numerous examples and testimonies where individuals have demonstrated their “gravitas” – a quality that…
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CEO’s Blog: August 2023: The Persistence of “Common Knowledge”
For this month’s blog, I wanted to focus on something that teachers come across frequently: a perception from their pupils that they already know something when, in fact, they don’t. Often these misconceptions are innocuous and…
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Headteacher Designate – Branston Locks Primary & Nursery School
We are delighted to announce the newest member of John Taylor MAT due to open in September 2024.
Appointing a Headteacher Designate will be a crucial part of this process, and recruitment for this role will…
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CEO’s Blog: July 2023: “Listening to others, sharing with others, learning from others.”
For my final blog of the academic year, I want to articulate two things that I hope you will see are very much related. First, I want to thank all of my colleagues – leaders, teachers,…
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CEO’s Blog: June 2023 “How’s the water?”
I’m always very conscious in my blogs that I will be sharing something that will be new to me but may not be new to you. It can be very difficult to gauge how widespread a…
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CEO’s Blog: May 2023: “A Community of Communities”
For this month’s blog, it would be remiss of me to not feature some of the aspects of the King’s Coronation that resonated with me over the last few days. One of the most prominent features…
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CEO’s Blog: April 2023: “A born leader”?
If you’ve ever observed a group of children playing and socialising, it will have become obvious to you fairly rapidly which individuals hold sway over the direction of play and the dynamic of the group. John…
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CEO’s Blog: March 2023: “Many Hands”
We all know the expression that “many hands make light work”. One of the key advantages of working within a group of schools – or a group of anything for that matter – is the opportunity…
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We’re delighted to welcome Blythe Bridge High School to our family of schools today!
We’re delighted to welcome Blythe Bridge High School to our family of schools today! 1st March 2023
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CEO’s Blog: February 2023 The IKEA Effect
As my more regular readers will know, I am drawn to philosophy and critical thinking – and believe their wider study and application in our schools would see our young people and those who work alongside…
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CEO’s Blog: January 2023: “Prepare your children for the road.”
I will start this month’s blog by wishing you a Happy New Year, and every best wish for the year ahead. At the time of writing, we are preparing for the official opening of Fradley Park…
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CEO’s Blog: December 2022: “Availability is the best ability.”
Like many of you, I watched the World Cup Quarter Final football match on Saturday evening, which saw England knocked out of the tournament by current-holders France. Inevitably with such events, especially in an age of…
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CEO’s Blog: November 2022: “Slaves to moods, appetites and passions.”
At the start of this academic year, I was invited to give a presentation to the staff at one of our schools. The theme I chose to talk around was that of discipline, and specifically the…
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We’re delighted to welcome Whittington Primary School to our family of schools today!
We’re delighted to welcome today the wonderful Whittington Primary School to our family of schools. 1st November 2022
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CEO’s Blog: October 2022: Strategic Choice: Theseus’ ship, Brailsford’s bike, or Orville and Wilbur’s Flyer?
As leaders, we all have aspects of our work that ignite our passion more than others. A number of years ago, I read John C Maxwell’s “Five Levels of Leadership”, in which he argued that the…
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CEO’s Blog: September 2022: “The amber of this moment”?
It would be impossible to publish my monthly blog without reference to the events of such magnitude that we all witnessed in September – a month which saw the arrivals of both a new Prime Minister…
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CEO’s Blog: August 2022: “The joys of a ‘Cardiff Bay Moment’
As this month draws to a close, and once again I am pushing against its end to get my blog published in time, I wanted to reflect on a few recent experiences. Our family always knew…
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Rugeley all-through school delayed as discussions continue
Plans to open the county’s first all-through primary and secondary school have been delayed. Applications to the school, proposed to be built on the site of the former Rugeley Power Station, will now be put on…
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