CET News

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CET News

You will find all of CET’s latest news stories below.

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CET Hosts Senior Education Leaders from Australia

17th December 2024

Cumbria Education Trust (CET) proudly welcomed senior Victorian and Tasmanian educational leaders for a knowledge-sharing visit focused on the operation and impact of groups of schools working together as a Trust. The Australian delegation came to learn from CET’s successful model and discover how a strong trust structure benefits both staff and children. The group was led by The Hon Jo Palmer MLC who is the education minister for Tasmania. The visitors also included senior officials from the Department for Education and staff from the Susan McKinnon Foundation and the Grattan Institute. The visit began at the North Lakes Hotel, with a welcome from Lorrayne Hughes OBE, CET Chief Executive and Matt Hood OBE, CET Trustee. They introduced CET and

TWA Eighth Most Improved School In UK

17th December 2024

The incredible improvement trajectory at The Whitehaven Academy (TWA) continues, with the latest data showing that the academy is the 8th most improved mainstream school in the UK. According to the recently released 2024 Key Stage 4 results from the Department for Education, TWA’s Progress 8 scores place it among the top ten schools nationwide for improvement. What is Progress 8? Progress 8 is a key value-added measure used to evaluate a secondary school’s performance by assessing how much progress its pupils make from the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) to their GCSEs. Unlike traditional measures such as the percentage of top grades in English and maths, Progress 8 offers a more comprehensive view by focusing on the

CET Southern Hub Science Christmas Event

16th December 2024

The Queen Katherine School (QKS) was proud to host around 100 primary students from local schools for a CET Southern Hub Science Christmas event. Students had the chance to carry out lots of different Christmas themed activities including making chemical baubles, LED Christmas trees, creating Christmas cactus cuttings and investigating party poppers. All of our visiting primary students demonstrated some excellent scientific skills. The Year 10 QKS senior students did a brilliant job of supporting them with all of the activities.

CET Schools Shine Again with FFT Attendance Recognition

13th December 2024

Once again, we are thrilled to announce that several CET schools have been recognised by FFT for their outstanding attendance achievements. This recognition highlights the commitment of our students, families, and staff with engagement and dedication demonstrated within our schools. It is a testament to the collaborative efforts across our Trust to ensure that every child attends, achieves, and thrives. Primary Schools Castle Carrock Primary School Top 10% of all primary schools Top 10% of similar primary schools Caldew Lea Primary School Top 25% of similar primary schools Newtown Primary School Top 25% of similar primary schools Tebay Primary School Top 25% of all primary schools Secondary Schools Kirkby Stephen Grammar School Top 10% of all secondary schools Top 25%

KSGS Joins CET

2nd December 2024

Joint statement from Kirkby Stephen Grammar School and Cumbria Education Trust Cumbria Education Trust (CET) is thrilled to announce its official partnership with Kirkby Stephen Grammar School (KSGS). This exciting development marks a new chapter for KSGS, with a focus on enhancing student outcomes, investing in staff development, and expanding resources for the entire school community. This transition also signals the start of a new Southern Hub for CET, which will consist of a network of schools within Westmorland and Furness Council. KSGS is the first of four schools set to join CET this academic year. By expanding into southern Cumbria, CET aims to further its vision of providing an inspiring and enriching education for all young people across the

Anti-Bullying Week 2024

21st November 2024

Safeguarding Update from CET’s Head of Safeguarding, Gill Creighton “Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see” – Mark Twain. Imagine a world where respect and kindness thrive – it’s not just a dream, it’s in the choices we make. Anti-Bullying week (11th to 15th November) and World Kindness Day (13th November) were celebrated in all CET schools. Random acts of kindness were carried out and a range of activities and adventures were enjoyed by all. The aim was to empower children and young people to be kind and not to resort to bullying, even when they disagree and to remind adults to lead by example, online and offline.

CC Totally Rock in National Times Tables Competition

15th November 2024

The pupils and staff at Castle Carrock Primary School (CC), part of Cumbria Education Trust, are celebrating a fantastic achievement after securing third place in England Rocks – a national times tables competition organised by the internationally renowned, award-winning app and learning platform, Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS). Over 4,543 schools across England participated in the competition, which challenged children to correctly answer as many multiplication and division questions as possible, giving their class and school a chance to top the leaderboard. The competition was fierce, with an incredible 201,618,322 questions answered collectively by 384,658 pupils! CC delivered outstanding results—on average, pupils answered 5,808 questions correctly each, with the top-performing pupil answering an astonishing 13,036 questions correctly. What an incredible

Caldew Lea Primary School Welcome Julie Minns

14th November 2024

Caldew Lea Primary School were delighted to welcome our local MP Julie Minns on Friday 8th November, to talk to the Key Stage 2 children about becoming an MP and her experience of growing up in Carlisle. The children really enjoyed a Q&A session with Julie and asked some brilliant questions. Julie explained about how the voting system works in the House of Commons and talked about what the day-to-day aspects of her job involve, both in London and in Carlisle. The children were really keen to talk about how democracy works, both in the Houses of Parliament and in their school; two of the Year 6 pupils, Ama and Riley, spoke about how Year 6 run weekly ‘pupil voice’

CET Christmas Card Competition 2024

13th November 2024

All students across CET are invited to submit designs for our Annual CET Christmas Card competition. We would like the card to showcase CET’s values – Respect, Responsibility, Resilience – as well as reflecting on key events and achievements from across the year, truly embodying the meaning of Christmas. How to enter: Design your card on a piece of A4 paper using any textiles Take a photo of your design Email it to card@cumbriaeducationtrust.org. ⏰ Please submit your design by Friday 6th December 2024 The winning design will be printed into CET’s official Christmas card! There will be two winners: one primary entry and one secondary entry. There are also prizes available. Good luck!

CET Inclusive Sports Event

29th October 2024

On 21st October, all Cumbria Education Trust (CET) secondary schools gathered to compete in the inaugural CET Inclusive Sports Event, hosted by William Howard School (WHS). Tracey Croucher, Inclusion Lead at WHS, along with Debbie Davies from Panathlon facilitated the event, bringing the Panathlon Xtend Multi-Sports activities and training a group of WHS Year 9 Sports Leaders to manage each of the eight stations. Seven teams participated in total: two from The Whitehaven Academy, two from Workington Academy, and three from William Howard School. For several hours, students rotated through the various activities, accumulating points for their teams under the guidance of the Sports Leaders. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and encouragement as students cheered one another on. All