I became a senior school leader as I wanted to make people’s lives better. The privilege of being a headteacher is that in a very real way, you can actually do that both for the staff and the students you serve.
To quote one of my favourite TV characters, Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, as captain of a large secondary school I always keep in mind ‘the mission, my ship and my crew’. In eduspeak, these can be translated as educating young people (the mission), equipping the delivery of that education (the ship) and supporting the fabulous people commissioned to deliver it (the crew).
Finham Park School is a community of staff, parents, governors and young people who are committed to delivering that core aim. We do it with kindness, integrity, humility, perseverance and courageousness; our five core values. As a result, the drive and ambition our young people have makes our school a ‘World Class School’, and one that I am humbled and grateful to lead. We do not rest on our laurels but always develop our thinking to ensure we equip young people for life.
Do come and visit us to see us in action.
Chris Bishop
Headteacher
Finham Park 2
Finham Park 2 is an exciting, friendly and supportive 11-19 co-educational comprehensive school based on the West side of Coventry near the border of Solihull and close to Warwick University. We opened in September 2015 with 120 students and are growing year on year until we reach our full size of 800, including 6th form, by 2021.
In September 2016 we moved to our new building- a light and spacious, high quality refurbishment with superb facilities including a brand new sports hall. We are fully staffed with a positive, supportive, forward thinking team. We continue to be heavily oversubscribed each year. Our recent Ofsted (June 2018) described Finham Park 2 as a good school in all areas with “high aspirations for all pupils”, “a very comprehensive curriculum”, where “leaders are passionate about pupils’ development as fully rounded individuals.” and “pupils have positive attitudes to learning….and want to do well.” However, we are not complacent and our goal is not just to be an outstanding school, but a ‘world class’ one – something for the whole community to be proud of!
Finham Park 2 is a truly comprehensive school with 600 students on roll- to grow to 800 once the 6th Form opens. The vast majority of our students are happy, well-behaved, friendly, inquisitive, polite and wear their uniform with pride. On entry students are broadly in line with nation averages with approximately 85+% middle or higher prior attainment.
We aim to offer an exciting curriculum that provides opportunities for allstudents to ensure they all achieve and make the best progress they are capable of, no matter what their starting points; a curriculum that nurture every child’s talents and provides exceptional opportunities for students to have the ‘time of their lives’.
This includes:
over 50 Out of School Hours Learning (OOSHL) opportunities that all students must attend at least once a week;
timetabled enrichment options in years 7 & 8;
importance of creative subjects;
importance of providing ‘World Class’ opportunities to all students e.g. trips to Covent Garden Opera House and Shanghai, China.
Academic subjects such as Mandarin, Computing and Separate Sciences
Finham Park School, and more recently Finham Park Multi Academy Trust, the parent organisation of Finham Park 2, has been a highly regarded part of the educational landscape for over forty years. It has a long and proud history or providing the highest quality teaching and an innovative curriculum. The school has been judged as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted over a 10 year period. Finham Park 2 is supported by and proud to be part of Finham Park Multi Academy Trust. As part of the Multi Academy Trust, we enjoy working in collaboration with the other MAT schools. This provides fantastic opportunities for both our staff and students.
Successful candidates will join an established and growing team, where our teachers are committed to delivering a high quality, lively and interesting curriculum to challenge and inspire all of our students.
Following a recent audit from the Teacher Development Trust, these were some references made.
“[The headteacher] is absolutely inspiring, believes in us as individual practitioners and a professional body."
“All staff are able to contribute to and engage in decision making at FP2, with distributed leadership around CPD. This is a strength of the school.”
“The culture amongst staff at Finham Park 2 is exceptionally supportive. All staff welcome colleagues observing their practice without fear of judgement and understand that this is encouraged by leaders as an important aspect of continually developing as a practitioner.”
“The school has a proven track-record of "growing its own", with a strong culture in which individuals are able to seek out and access career development opportunities. Leaders plan carefully and flexibly to ensure that colleagues can always progress.”
Lyng Hall
Lyng Hall School has experienced considerable success in recent years. Our last Ofsted inspection in June 2019 judged us to be good in all areas and judged the quality of pupils’ personal development and welfare to be outstanding . The report contains many positive judgements about our school.
Senior leaders are aspirational and have high expectations of staff and pupils. They have successfully created an ethos of ‘high ambition and relentless kindness’ which is widely shared and adopted. Consequently, the levels of consistency and commitment from all involved are ensuring that improvements are successfully embedded.
The school serves a catchment area that is socially and economically disadvantaged. Pupils are drawn from 6 main wards which are among the most disadvantaged in the country. All of these wards contain Super Output Areas and in 2 cases contain SOA’s which are in the 20 most deprived SOA’s in the country 44% of pupils are in the lowest 10% nationally re. social and economic deprivation; 70% are in the lowest 20%. Overall this is the second highest in the city. There is a significant amount of demolition and rebuilding taking place and planned to take place within the catchment during the next few years.
The prior attainment of the pupils is significantly lower than the national average.
There are currently 700+ pupils on roll which includes 100 in the sixth form. Inward transience is high: Each year we admit a significant number of pupils from other countries.
Over half of our pupils are eligible for free school meals. This is well above the city average of 17%. 23% of the pupils have been identified as requiring SEN support. However many more students receive significant support to help them and their families overcome barriers to learning. Most of these needs relate to poor literacy levels, particularly reading and poor social and emotional skills.
The ethnic mix of the pupils has changed in recent years. There is a wider range of ethnic groups represented in the school than was previously the case. There are still significant populations of Indian pupils (9%) and Pakistani pupils (8%). However 8% of the students are of Black African heritage and 19% of the students are white “other”, typically from eastern European countries. The school has a large population of Romanian students (currently 130).
61% of pupils have English as an additional language. This is above the City average of 17.3% and is an increase from 20% during the last 3 years. The main additional languages are Panjabi, Romanian, Polish, Urdu, Slovakian, Somali and Latvian. There are currently 47 first languages represented in the school, 16 by more than 5 pupils each. We run a separate induction programme for the many pupils who join us that are unable to speak English. Following an intensive 6 week English speaking course they are integrated and supported in lessons. They achieve good outcomes and many stay on into the sixth form.
The school became a specialist sports college in September 2005 and joined the Finham Park Multi-Academy Trust in 2016. As part of the Multi Academy Trust, we enjoy working in collaboration with three other schools. This provides fantastic opportunities for both our staff and students.
Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development are at the heart of Lyng Hall School and central to the improvement journey the school has undertaken. The last 5 years has seen the school transform into the exciting and successful learning community it is today.
Relationships are at the heart of what we do. We have developed a deep understanding of the needs of our students and their families through supportive relationships built on trust. Elements of SMSC are incorporated across the curriculum; however, changes in ethos, structure and approach that embed the philosophy into everything we do are of greater significance.
Vulnerable students in both KS3 and KS4 are taught together by our Foundation team, where they spend most of their week with 1 teacher in a nurturing environment and are able to focus on key skills such as resilience that enable them to make accelerated progress. In Key Stage 4, the flexibility of the curriculum enables us to provide highly individualised pathways to develop social and academic skills which has impacted hugely on exclusion figures and has raised the aspirations of a group of young people who may previously have become disengaged.
Many of our young people are burdened with adult responsibilities outside school, so it is important that at school they are able to throw off the burdens of adulthood and be teenagers. Lyng Hall has a team of 17 associate teachers, a group of multi skilled professionals including 4 staff trained as Citizens Advice Bureau advisers, whose principal task is to remove barriers to learning (details of their role can be found in the separate Role of the Associate Teacher document). This may be through individual or group support, through working with a family to resolve issues or it may be about building self-esteem and a clear understanding of right and wrong. This is achieved by focussing on their emotional development through a range of activities requiring social skills. We have an ethos that no-one walks past a problem, we all take responsibility for supporting our students when they need it, further creating the sense of a co-operative learning community developing together with empathy for each other’s needs.
Lyng Hall was the first school in the country to be designated as a Citizen’s Advice Bureau. The ability of our trained staff to access the resources of the Bureau is a huge advantage when supporting vulnerable families. This resource is available to the whole community, not just those with children at the school. The impact of this partnership was powerfully demonstrated in a ‘Newsnight’ film in which a parent says “The school saved my life”.
These approaches have seen attendance at school rise from below 90% to 95%, because students are happy, settled and supported at school and see it as a place they belong and can do well. This is also reflected in the very low incidences of bullying or racial harassment. Students are proud to be members of the Lyng Hall community. A good example of this is the work done with one Year 10 student and her family, filmed as a case study for Channel 4 news. This was a family struggling with debt, mental health and dysfunctionality, who were supported through moving their debt from a loan shark to an ethical lender, sourcing support for mum, encouraging the family to work together better through family group conferencing and thus enabling the youngest child to attend school, secure in the knowledge that all was well at home. Her attendance has doubled and her academic progress accelerated – a real success story.
Lyng Hall embraced Achievement for All and was part of the pilot scheme from the outset in 2009. The school was the first in the country to be accredited as an AFA Lead School and the Headteacher is one of 18 Achievement for All ambassadors. AFA and action to overcome barriers to learning are a common thread running through the school’s CPD programme, developing pedagogy, raising staff awareness of students’ needs and providing strategies to deliver appropriate on-going support.
We have developed a tradition of school concerts and performances. These are very important in helping students build confidence and self -esteem. All pupils who wish to participate are welcomed and the student support for these events on performance nights is very positive and enthusiastic. This year we are introducing Drama and Media as core subjects alongside Music in KS3.
The improved aspirations of the students has led to a rise in the number of students wanting to stay on in education in the 6th form. Students are keen to stay on at Lyng Hall because they feel happy and safe here and know they will receive plenty of support to enable them to achieve their potential. Academic mentoring by staff has further developed relationships alongside many opportunities for these young adults to take on responsibilities such as being a reading mentor to a younger pupil that have further enabled them to build their self-confidence and move on.
Our Year 11 Prom is part of the school’s annual calendar. It is organised by the students each summer as an opportunity for us all to celebrate their time at the school. Students work together with the support of a small group of staff to plan all elements of the celebration.
Our Careers’ Academy programme gives students a range of opportunities to work with mentors from the business world, to learn from their career stories and to experience the world of work. All of our CA students undertake internships in the summer holidays shadowing career professionals in fields they aspire to enter, giving up their time to work in accountancy offices at Price Waterhouse Cooper, support a Police Officer or develop resources for the staff at a firm of Architects for example. All thrive on the experience and gain a well-informed understanding of the options and challenges facing them as they move through school and on to the next stage of their education or training. Some even secure employment either as weekend staff or permanent staff through the success they achieve in their internships.
Like our Teachers Of Tomorrow scheme, these programmes are aspirational and about social mobility as most of these young adults will be the first person in their family to go into higher education.
In June 2019 we were successful in becoming a Careers Hub for Coventry.
We work closely with local partners to try to capitalise upon their skills and areas of expertise. Coventry Building Society have undertaken regular work with students from Year 7 up to the 6th form (including sessions with staff) to look at understanding money and the world of finance. This has been particularly valuable for some of our older students planning to go off to University and needing to manage on a budget. Coventry University gave students the opportunity to be part of a national Cyber Champions project that highlighted the many dangers of internet and social networking and resulted in them visiting the Houses Of Parliament to discuss their work with MPs. We are hugely proud of the way our students represent us in the wider community and regularly receive positive feedback from members of the community about the positive and polite behaviour of groups of students out on school trips.
There are a large number of in-year admissions and we have an ever increasing number of languages represented in our community. EAL students arriving here start on a closely supported programme, working with other EAL students to rapidly develop their social understanding and relationships alongside developing their communication skills, receiving support until they are able to cope independently in all of their classes.
Visits to theatres and art galleries serve to broaden the horizons of our students and to develop an understanding and appreciation of the range of different cultures within school and further afield. Social and cultural opportunities such as the whole school Christmas lunch (provided at no cost to the students), trips to Paris, skiing and field trips all are all essential elements of their preparation for life.
Students who are new to the country and the school have an induction programme lasting approximately 6 weeks which aims to develop basic English language but also helps the children to understand the processes and expectations of school. A significant number of our newly arrived children have not attended school before.
Our students work hard to support others less fortunate than themselves. In the past we have raised money for the British Heart Foundation, a group of 5 staff and students successfully climbed Mount Kilamanjaro earlier this year, Comic Relief, The Hope Fund, launched at Lyng Hall by the Bishop of Coventry, Coventry Haven, the Boot Fund and for Kiddawalime School in Uganda. Two students were chosen to visit Uganda with staff. They raised the funds to support their own visit and spent time there working in the school as sport’s coaches. These students led the rest of the student body in raising £4000 for a clean water system at Kiddawalime School. The students were successful and the water purification plant was installed. Students have chosen to support the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and Myton Hospice in recent years.
Working to support others is an empowering experience for these young people and enables them to better help themselves and those around them with increased self-esteem. Our Student College students now take full responsibility for managing a programme of charitable events throughout the year. They recently arranged a very successful “Help for Heroes” evening. As well as raising money for charity, the Student College has its own leadership structure with students who act as ambassadors for the school. Student members also meet regularly with the SLT and Directors of KS3 & KS4 to discuss any concerns and are currently reviewing the system we will put in place to recognise student achievements in character building and self-esteem through volunteering, individual characteristics and other activities.
By nurturing independent, lifelong learners, we are developing young people able to take responsibility for their own learning. It therefore came as no surprise when one young man arrived at parents’ evening on his own to discuss his learning and progress with staff as his parents were unable to attend.
Students also get involved in local initiatives. Our students are part of a rota of community groups who help out at the local food bank. Through our links with the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are able to issue food vouchers. Working at the food bank gives students a valuable insight into the way communities can pull together to support each other in a positive way.
As part of our work to raise aspiration among sixth form students, we have been fortunate to receive sponsorship from Coventry Building Society to engage the students in some really exciting visits and trips. These have included taking part in committee meetings at the House of Commons, film making at the BBC, debating at Cambridge University and other high quality social events. There is good evidence that these activities significantly influence students’ ambitions.
Each year, towards the end of the Summer Term, we have a “Celebration of Excellence”. At this event, the achievements of individuals and groups of students is recognised and rewarded. There are a wide range of prizes and awards and a local businessman provides an annual bursary for a Y13 student who is going to University.
In September 2017 we started teaching Mandarin for the first time. 34 students in Year 7 and 25 students in Y8 now study the language for up to 8 hours a week. They are really enjoying the challenge and have already taken part in their first joint activity with some visiting students from China. We are very excited about developing our own partnerships with a school in China and facilitating exchange visits for our students. The Y8 students will spend 2 weeks in China in July 2019. Our Mandarin course for Y7 September 2019 is heavily oversubscribed.
Due to popular demand we will be admitting 180 students into Y7 in September 2019 instead of 150.
The strength of pupils’ SMSC development is exemplified through pupils’ views. One pupil commented, ‘There are children here from many different countries but we are all one family.’ Leaders and teachers take every opportunity to promote pupils’ SMSC development. Ofsted June 2019
Meadow Park School
A place to “be the best you can be”.
Meadow Park is a school in a period of transition and on a rapid journey of improvement to ensure it provides an innovative and inclusive education for all students. We value everyone that we work with, regardless of their differing needs, abilities and backgrounds. This ethos influences all that happens within the school with the aim for all students to “be the best they can be”.
Meadow Park is an 11-19 school with over 850 students on roll (including the Sixth Form). We are based in the south of the city and serve a range of different catchment areas. With over 40% of students coming from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds we believe that it is key to give all students an equitable experience to allow them to reach their full potential.
The school is built on a large scenic site with extensive playing fields and woodland wildlife areas which we use for team games, adventurous or enrichment activities and a modern sports’ hall providing outstanding indoor sporting facilities. There is extensive building work taking place in the local area connected to Jaguar Land Rover Global Headquarters, in close proximity to the boundary and visible from the school playing fields. There are many other businesses being developed in the area and this will provide a plethora of exciting opportunities for our students in the future.
Meadow Park provides a broad and balanced curriculum where students benefit from opportunities to be creative, innovative and to enjoy their learning with a wide extra-curricular offer throughout the year. We provide various opportunities in a range of subjects to ensure that we cater for the skills and talents of every child. More recently these have included:
A year-round enrichment timetable
An annual school musical production (Annie, Mathilda)
A bi-annual ski trip
A bi-annual water sport trip
Peripatetic music lessons
Arts Exhibition
Year 7 Talent Exhibition
Careers Fairs
External speakers: Lord Coe (Olympic Gold Medallist), David Dein (ex- Arsenal FC Chairman) and Richard Murrell (Head of BBC News), and
Hosting visits for Kamokita school in Japan (students and staff)
Successful candidates will benefit from working in a safe and stimulating environment. We have a dedicated, highly skilled and committed team of staff upholding high expectations of, and aspirations for our students’ attendance, punctuality, behaviour, uniform and attitude to learning. As part of Finham Park MAT and the Lion Alliance there is a multitude of professional development opportunities for staff to develop their individual skills and classroom practice.
Finham Primary
Let me tell just a little bit about the incredible place where I’m lucky enough to work. Finham Primary School! We’re not just a school, we are a family. My own journey began here many years ago.
Through the years I have watched our children, our school, our families, our community grow and go from strength to strength. I’m proud to say that now, as Headteacher, I stand at the helm of this amazing school, steering it in the direction of providing the children with a world-class experience as they journey through our school.
A huge strength of our school is the warmth and kindness that is at the very core of everything that we do here. We live and breathe our school values – Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Enjoyment, Discipline – and you will see that the committed and talented team of people that surround me, embody these values which they actively pass on to the children in our care.
We are a vibrant ‘child centred’ learning community that is part of a family of schools in the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust. The school is a positive and welcoming environment where adults and pupils have high expectations for what can be achieved.
At Finham, children receive a holistic education, that nurtures their unique skills and talents. Although children will develop at different rates, they all deserve a bespoke, values led, inclusive education and an excellent start in life. We strive for the highest standards. This is achieved by challenging, whilst supporting and nurturing each and every child. We cultivate creativity and critical thinking to develop intrinsically motivated learners with high aspirations for their futures.
Our staff are a part of a committed team where we celebrate the distinctiveness of each of the members. Every member of staff brings their own unique set of talents and experiences to motivate and support children along their educational path. Through coaching, mentoring and high-quality action research, we are developing and modelling a research partnership which allows staff to continue their professional development. Belonging to a multi academy trust only enhances our training opportunities, allowing staff to learn about teaching in a variety of settings.
Pearl Hyde
Pearl Hyde Primary school is an exciting, friendly and supportive school based on the East side of Coventry, near Junction 2 of the M6 and adjacent to the Coventry University Hospital. We began serving the community in September 1974 and converted to Academy Status, joining the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust in September 2019.
There are 310 places in our school which we organise into 10 classes, working tirelessly to provide a stimulating environment, which invites enquiry. Our aim is to make sure every child is able to access the fabulous learning opportunities available to them, that they are enthusiastic, independent, curious leaners always ready to ‘have a go’. All the team in our family work diligently to provide the very best education they can for all children in school, nothing is too much for them. Indeed, we all go the ‘extra mile’ to make sure all aspects of a child’s learning socially, emotionally and educationally are secure.
We are very proud of them all and of what they achieve both academically and personally. Everyone in the Pearl Hyde family works collaboratively to ensure all children are given every opportunity to enjoy learning and to thrive in our happy, stimulating and vibrant community school. This approach is enhanced even more though our work with the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust, developing the Co-Construction model across all the schools in the organisation.
Visitors to our school, along with parents and carers and staff, have reported to us that they feel like they have come home when they come to our school. We are immensely proud of our family feel, the environment and the opportunities we provide for the children in our school.
We hope you find all the information you are looking on our website and you gain an insight into the life of our school
If you want to find out more about how we foster our young people’s desire to aim high and to achieve the very best they can, in all they do, you are welcome to visit our school and see learning in action.
Lillington Primary
Lillington Nursery and Primary school is an exciting, friendly and supportive school based on the North of Leamington Spas, Warwickshire. The school has been on a really exciting journey over the last 18 months and we continue on this journey into becoming a beacon of excellence in Warwickshire. Lillington converted to Academy Status, joining the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust in January 2021.
Lillington Nursery and Primary school is an amazing place for children to learn. As a team, we have created a safe, inspirational and exciting learning experience for every child, built around our values of building RESPECTFUL, RESILIENT, RESPONSIBLE and REFLECTIVE learners. These values form the core of everything we do and we refer to them every day.
Core learning is the foundation of our curriculum and we place a high emphasis on this. Being confident in reading, writing and using numbers opens so many doors and gives your child access to the widest opportunities in learning. No matter what ability your child is working at, we ensure they have the right resources, the right level of challenge and the right support in order to develop an absolute love of learning.
Being inspired, excited, and having a real sense of curiosity is also key to children loving school and wanting to learn new things. As part of our team of staff you will create interest, spin curiosity, develop reflection and open doors through which children may choose to enter later in life, while never losing sight of the standards they need to achieve or accepting anything less than their best effort.
Being part of the Lillington family will allow you to further develop your skills and talents. Through co-construction work and high-quality action research, we are developing and modelling a research partnership which allows staff to continue their professional development. Belonging to a multi academy trust only enhances our training opportunities, allowing staff to learn about teaching in a variety of settings.
We hope you find all the information you are looking on our website and you gain an insight into the life of our school.
Governors
Governance at Finham Park MAT
At Finham Park Multi Academy Trust our Members, Trustees and Local Governing Body governors play a hugely important role in the effective running of our schools. They support our school leaders to make sure that the educational experience of the children in our schools is the best it can possibly be.
Commitment to being a Governor or Trustee can involve attending 2-3 meetings per term, but also involves taking an active role in being an ambassador for our schools, staying abreast of changes in Education and of course, supporting the exciting and varied activities on offer for young people. The rewards of volunteering time and expertise are evident in the thriving communities of our schools – this is what it’s all about.
We are proud to have on board a team with a wide range of skills and expertise from our diverse local communities which contribute to the ethical, effective and safe running of our schools and help us achieve our aim of delivering a ‘World Class Education’ to the children of Coventry and Warwickshire.
Our Trust is growing and new governors from all backgrounds are always welcome – if you feel you have a passion for education and skills that would be useful to one of our LGBs in areas such as; Legal, Finance, Community Engagement, Health and Safety, Training, Education and Policy Implementation, please do get in touch: Register Your Interest
MAT Central Services
Finham Park MAT’s central services offices are based in offices on Torrington Avenue, which is located in the west of Coventry. Our modern offices offer a fabulous working environment and are conveniently located to maintain close links with all of our schools. There are various rail and bus links that provide easy access to nearby towns and cities.
Our dedicated and professional team provide specialist business and educational support to all of our schools, each of whom are encouraged to celebrate their own unique identity. With a focus on Finance, HR, IT and School Improvement, we aim to reduce the burden of these services for our
Headteachers so that they and their Local Governing Bodies can focus upon the education of their pupils.
By joining our small and passionate team, you will play a key role in positively changing young people’s lives and will receive great support, excellent training and enhanced benefits.
I became a senior school leader as I wanted to make people’s lives better. The privilege of being a headteacher is that in a very real way, you can actually do that both for the staff and the students you serve.
September 2015 with 120 students and are growing year on year until we reach our full size of 800, including 6th form, by 2021.
A huge strength of our school is the warmth and kindness that is at the very core of everything that we do here. We live and breathe our school values – Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Enjoyment, Discipline – and you will see that the committed and talented team of people that surround me, embody these values which they actively pass on to the children in our care.
Pearl Hyde Primary school is an exciting, friendly and supportive school based on the East side of Coventry, near Junction 2 of the M6 and adjacent to the Coventry University Hospital. We began serving the community in September 1974 and converted to Academy Status, joining the Finham Park Multi Academy Trust in September 2019.
Visitors to our school, along with parents and carers and staff, have reported to us that they feel like they have come home when they come to our school. We are immensely proud of our family feel, the environment and the opportunities we provide for the children in our school.
offices are based in offices on Torrington Avenue, which is located in the west of Coventry. Our modern offices offer a fabulous working environment and are conveniently located to maintain close links with all of our schools. There are various rail and bus links that provide easy access to nearby towns and cities.