WDT hosts major Challenge Partners event

We were delighted to host the Challenge Partners Trust Leaders' Network visit earlier today, welcoming senior leaders from Trusts across the country.

Challenge Partners describes Trust Leaders' Network events as 'a practitioner-led space where trust leaders can connect, share challenges and gain insight into effective approaches to trust development.

Bringing together trusts at different stages of maturity enables leaders to learn from peers facing similar challenges or those further along in their journey.'

In his welcome, Gary Kelly shared our Trust's journey to ten schools, serving more than 6,250 pupils and 650 staff across Halton, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens, all of which had been fuelled by one central mission: A Commitment to Excellence.

Simon Corner (Director of Secondary Education) and Juliet Brown (Director of Primary Education) opened the first session, focusing on the relationship between engagement and attendance, in addition to alignment and autonomy.

The afternoon session, led by Shane Ierston and Ben Barker, from the Great Schools Trust, explored emerging priorities for the sector, including the evolving role of AI, information systems and workload reduction.

The event, which was the second Trust Leaders' Network of the year, provided a great opportunity to exchange fresh ideas and share in the drive to raise standards even higher across the board.