On World Book Day, 2 March 2023, Wyvern Academy in Darlington is celebrating receiving £8,000 of funding from The Foyle Foundation, which will enable them to buy 2,500 new books for their students, to a newly refurbished library.

This is all part of a successful focus on literacy across the school, which is part of Consilium Academies. The literacy programme, launched last year, is tailored to each child, has created a reading culture that is now reaping rewards. Last year, the school’s successful focus on reading saw Year 8s jump a year in reading age in just six months.

The Foyle School Library Scheme gives preference to schools which can clearly demonstrate a commitment to renewing and maintaining their library provision in the future. Which is truly the case at Wyvern, as well as refurbishing the library into a thriving and state-of-the-art environment to enjoy the love of reading, a new Director of English and a new librarian has joined the team this year, and a peer-to-peer literacy mentoring programme has also been launched.

As well as stocking up their library with 2,500 new books, on World Book Day Wyvern staff dressed up as their favourite book characters, designed classroom doors around best-selling books, such as The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, as well as a ‘shelfie’ competition where students guessed their teachers’ bookshelves.  

Jonny Willis, Literacy Coordinator and Associate Assistant Headteacher for Quality of Education at Wyvern Academy, said:
“We are so excited to be able to fill our bookshelves with more new books, as we know reading and literacy has such an incredible impact on our students as well as giving them so much enjoyment.

“This World Book Day, we are celebrating our huge successes as part of our literacy programme, which isn’t about just one day but a sustained focus on literacy which has become central to school life here. This programme is going from strength-to-strength thanks to the commitment of our students and teachers alike, as well as support from fantastic organisations like The Foyle Foundation.”

John Halstead, Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Consilium Academies, a team of nine schools across Salford, Gateshead, Darlington, Sunderland, and Doncaster, has been named MAT Finance Leader of the Year, as part of the MAT Finance Awards 2022.
 

The MAT Finance Leader of the Year category was one of five announced as part of The MAT Finance Awards 2022, sponsored by specialists in MAT budgeting and financial management software IMP Software, last week on 24^th February. This category recognises outstanding CFOs, or equivalent, in a multi-academy trust for their leadership and management of trust finances.

John Halstead was one of three individuals shortlisted for the coveted award. An expert judging panel – comprising Confederation of School Trusts CEO Leora Cruddas, ISBL CEO Stephen Morales, Dartmoor MAT CEO Dan Morrow, Epworth Education Trust CFO Adeel Sahi, Bishop Fleming Audit Partner and Head of Education Pam Tuckett, and IMP Software Co-Founder Will Jordan – reviewed high-quality nominations from a wide range of trusts.

Having chosen John Halstead as the MAT Finance Leader of the Year, the judges commented:
“John has led centralisation and GAG pooling at Consilium Academies, delivered cost savings within the trust’s administrative functions of over £1.4 million and ensured that the resources available are utilised to have the most significant impact on students. In the process, school leaders who had lost confidence in the previous financial leadership of the trust, have been re-engaged.

“John’s ability to build a finance team who go out of their way to support all schools is also impressive. Excellent customer service is often the forgotten part of a strong finance function, and perhaps the hardest to instil into your team as a leader. However, John has managed that successfully whilst also spearheading some key changes across the trust.”

John Halstead, Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Consilium Academies and MAT Finance Leader of the Year, said:

“Winning this award is a huge honour and something that our entire team has made possible. At Consilium Academies we truly are a team who cares about every member of our community, and that drives everything we do. It is essential that we have the best possible and most equitable financial processes in place so that we can offer the right support at the right time to every one of our students and staff, so that they can thrive and deliver on our ambitious promises every day.”

IMP Co-Founder Will Jordan said:

“Congratulations to John, and indeed all our winners and runners-up. We were blown away by the quality of entries this year and, whilst it is a cliché, choosing a winner for each category was a really difficult task. In our work we see the impact of trust finance teams every day and are pleased to shine a spotlight on their contributions through the MATFAs. “As our new insight report, The 2030 MAT Growth Challenge: Effective Strategies and Systems, demonstrates MAT finance teams are critical for supporting expansion and sustainability in the sector going forward.”