Welcome to the latest edition of the Beacon

This edition of The Beacon is a celebration of all that our pupils and staff have achieved - from the classroom to the stage, the sports field to school trips, important changes behind the scenes, and everything in between. It’s a chance to pause, reflect, and feel proud.

Over the past year, our staff have shown remarkable resilience, achieving great things despite our increasingly challenging circumstances. Financial pressures that have demanded doing more with less and we have worked hard to continue to put pupils first by finding creative solutions and striving for high standards of teaching and support. We know these pressures will continue and what we have achieved this year is a testament to the dedication, passion, and ingenuity of our school communities. We will need to continue to adapt and work together over the next few years, and I know our staff will support school leaders as we navigate changes and new ways of working.

It has also been very busy, on top of the day-to-day school activities;

• Three new schools have joined Lighthouse Schools Partnership, with another joining on 1 August 2025. The creation of the Bristol hub has been a milestone for LSP and we look forward to welcoming Horfield CofE Primary to our Trust. 
• We held our first trust-wide conference back in February with 1000 of our staff undertaking CPD around one of our key priorities: Advancing Equity, Unlocking Potential, focussing on provision and support for our disadvantaged and priority pupils. The key themes, including ensuring we are giving priority to those who need it most, were also presented to our Operational Leaders at the Operational Away Day on Tuesday 8 July.
• 14 Ofsted inspections have taken place this academic year! Even for a Trust of our size, this is a significant number impacting on many of our staff. Thank you to all those who supported these inspections. You can read more about the latest outcomes from these inspections below. 
• Six headteacher recruitment processes have taken place. We are delighted to be welcoming some new Headteachers into (or back to) the Trust, but I am particularly proud that we also have existing colleagues who will be taking on new responsibilities within the Trust, from September and beyond. Another of our priorities is to develop and retain great staff and these appointments are great examples of this. You can read more about some of the other CPD and staff development opportunities we have below. 
• We have tendered for a number of key contracts, with the aim of ensuring greater effectiveness and affordability. You can also read more about these below.

As we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our schools and pupils, there have also been significant changes in the central team and the levels and types of support given to schools. These changes are designed to strengthen our ability to serve schools effectively, manage our finances efficiently and streamline support to create even greater impact in the years ahead. 

We have developed into a mature multi-academy trust, with many things to celebrate. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all: our staff who make all of this possible. Your time, creativity, and commitment make a real difference.

I wish you a restful, enjoyable and very well-deserved summer break. 

Gary Lewis

Chief Executive Officer

In Spring 2024, I had an approach from Prof Alf Coles and some colleagues from the University of Bristol about setting up a practitioner research community in our Trust.  Their idea was to offer teachers an opportunity to pursue an enquiry into their own or their school’s practice within  the structure of a one year programme.  The word community was also really important in Alf’s idea as we would be working together as peers and able to offer encouragement and critique as we developed our projects.

I was able to call on Dr Harriet John at Chew Valley School and Dr Rachel Hardwidge from Hannah More & Grove in Nailsea to help me run the community and we have had very generous participation from Alf and his colleagues, Dr Tracey Helliwell and Dr John James.  We decided to use the Chartered College of Teaching’s Certificate in Educational Research and Enquiry as our structure and this also gave us access to online academic libraries.  We recruited 11 community members from across our 5 hubs and they have each had supervision from Harriet, Rachel or me.

The meetings have been just brilliant.  Our researchers have had great ideas and they have supported each other with warm and intelligent challenge.  They have also led us into some fascinating discussions about what we do as educators.  More than that, the experience has been brilliantly professionally validating.  So many of the participants have loved the change in perspective that research has given them and their professional identities have positively shifted too.

Dipping our toes into this sea of thinking has confirmed that we really want to plunge in further.  I hope to offer the programme again next year and I’ll be sharing how and when to get involved in the autumn term.  If anyone would like to flag early interest, please drop me a line: glewis@lsp.org.uk.

Gary Lewis, Chief Executive Officer

At Lighthouse Schools Partnership, our Estates and Trust Services teams work across all of our sites, with the aim to ensure a safe, healthy and effective learning and working environment for pupils and staff. Part of this involves developing and implementing long-term strategies that will help take us into the future as effectively and sustainably as possible. 

Recent months have seen some exciting plans begin to come to fruition and we're very pleased to be able to share some of them with you:

With our current Management Information System (MIS) contract expiring in 2026, we took the opportunity to explore other MIS systems that are available to schools/trusts to ensure we are getting the best possible service for our schools. 

With the help of a working group, including representatives from our schools, Governors, and the Central Team, we completed a robust selection and procurement process, and are pleased to share that we have appointed Bromcom as the new MIS provider for the Trust.

The working group attended product demonstrations from suppliers and the evaluation and scoring from these presentations unanimously supported this decision. We're excited for the added functionality and improved usability offered by Bromcom, which should deliver improvements and efficiencies for all our schools. The negotiated Bromcom contract also offers significantly better value for the Trust. 

Thank you to the working group for their valuable input in the decision-making process for this important trust-wide contract. 

Following a full competitive tender, the Trust-wide grounds maintenance contract has been awarded to Cornish Garden Services Limited for a three-year term with an option to extend. Cornish Garden Services are a local family business and their passion and dedication to ensuring the trust estate is maintained and enhanced shone through in their bid and presentation. The new contract with Cornish Garden Services includes a commitment to the use of more environmentally friendly and sustainable machinery and improved technology.

Bobby Cornish - an ex-Backwell Secondary School pupil - will be returning to the family business following his graduation from university this summer and will be the Contracts Manager for the LSP contract.

Work is ongoing to rebuild Yatton Infant School following the fire that happened in May 2023. The build has been a great opportunity for pupils at the school to learn all about the construction industry, as well as a source of excitement for pupils and staff alike. 

The work is currently on schedule to be completed in Term 1, and we are pleased to be able to share some current photos of the site below.

We will continue to update you as the build is completed and opens its doors to staff and pupils! 

As part of our plan to be a more sustainable Trust, we have undertaken a Trust-wide LED lighting programme. Stage one of the plan has included retrofitting the primary schools, looking to improve the educational environment as well as saving energy and money, while Stage Two has included updating lighting in our secondary schools.

Estimated savings to date are projected to save 56 tonnes of CO2e, and over £200,000 for schools. With educational finances under so much pressure, this will be a much-needed saving that not only supports schools but also supports our overall journey to be more sustainable.

We wish to congratulate and thank the following people for the contributions they have made to our Trust: Elizabeth Warren – Churchill Primary – 20 Years & Retired Ruth Beadle – Churchill Primary – 20 Years & Retiring Natalie Gumm - Backwell School (25 years service) Charlotte Foley - Chew Valley School (25 years service) Frances Dawes – Churchill Academy – 25 Years & Retired

----------------------------------------------- A big thank you and farewell also to Liesel Howe, who will be leaving Churchill Academy & Sixth Form after 27 years of service! Thank you for your dedication!  ----------------------------------------------- We would also like to say thank you and farewell to Jon Nunes, Headteacher at Backwell School. We are so grateful for all he has done for the school and community during his 33 years at Backwell School and wish him all the best for his upcoming retirement!  ----------------------------------------------- Finally, we would also like to say thank you to all the staff, trustees and governors who make such a positive difference to our schools and pupils. We are so grateful for you all.

THANK YOU so much to all colleagues who completed Staff Surveys back in May. We really appreciate the time and effort taken to provide us with valuable feedback. 

Your feedback and comments have been shared with Headteachers and Trustees so they can be considered as part of school development and CPD scheduling.

We'd like to say a big “Thank You” to all our Lighthouse Business Partners who have supported us this year! As always, your support is very much appreciated and we look forward to working with you next year! 

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What does a Lighthouse Business Partner do?

Our Business Partnership builds effective and meaningful relationships with businesses.

Businesses have identified a number of reasons for working with schools, including helping to close the gap between their needs, and education provision.

Employer engagement is a key aspect of our Business Partnership. This can include: mentoring activities, work experience, guest speakers, links to alumni, careers fairs and networking events. 

Since the last edition of The Beacon, in May, a number of our schools have been inspected by Ofsted. These most recent inspections highlight the great work colleagues are doing in schools for our pupils.

St Andrew's CofE Primary were also inspected in June and, at time of writing, we are awaiting publication of their Ofsted report. 

(Note: Since September 2024 one-word Ofsted judgements have been removed for all new graded inspections)

We are proud to offer our colleagues a vast, comprehensive offer of professional development opportunities including NPQs, Apprenticeships and a wide-range of networks via Lighthouse Learning.

Click below for our Lighthouse Learning CPD Booklet for 2025/26.

Lighthouse Learning CPD and Networks Booklet 2025/26

Our NPQ programme continues to grow from strength to strength, with over ten cohorts now having completed qualifications in:

• Leading Teaching

• Leading Behaviour and Culture

• Senior Leadership

• SENDCo

• Headship

• Executive Leadership

NPQs offer high-quality professional development at all stages of your career, delivered by practising teachers and school leaders. Our first cohort has just completed Leading Teaching, with LSP staff passing with flying colours!

We are currently awaiting DfE confirmation for Cohort 9. If you would like to register your interest, please do so here:

The West 100 programme is a unique leadership development initiative, and we are proud to be one of its founding partners. So far, four of our colleagues have completed the programme (two of who are now headteachers), supported by our central professional development fund.

Lucy James, Deputy Headteacher at Churchill, is our most recent graduate, and next year three more colleagues will join the third cohort of this regional programme.

Find out more

If you’d like to find out more or apply for the 2026 cohort, please contact Janine Ashman.

We believe that for children to flourish, staff and schools must flourish too. That's why we are thrilled to be partnering with the National Foundation for Education Leadership to deliver the Flourishing Programme.

This holistic professional development pathway supports everyone from Early Career Teachers to Trustees, offering a clear and supportive route for career progression.

We’ll be sharing full details in September – please look out for these exciting development opportunities.

Planning permission has been granted for a brand new 3G pitch at Backwell School.

Whilst the school already has a great range of sports facilities, including vast fields, tennis courts and sports halls for pupils a pitch, that can be used in all weathers, is something that has been on the school’s wish list for the past 20 years or so.

Finally, following funding from the football foundation, local sports clubs and North Somerset Council, a 3G pitch will be built on the school site. It should take around 12 weeks to construct and we hope this will be completed by the end of this calendar year.

Mark Middleton, Backwell Hub Estates Lead: “This is amazing news for Backwell School. It is an essential resource for pupils, giving them an additional specialised PE space to use, especially in winter. It will also be available for hire to the community outside of school hours so local groups can make the most of our new pitch, We are really excited for the building work to begin to get this project underway.”

On Saturday 21st June, staff and students from Gordano School showed their mettle and community spirit by taking part in the Great Community Abseil down St Peter's church tower. Thanks to everyone who came along, abseiled or supported. There was a fantastic turnout and over £10,000 was raised for Clevedon District Foodbank and Christian Aid's Middle East Crisis Fund. 

A huge well done to all those who participated, donated, or supported in any way.

On Thursday 6 March, World Book Day gave our schools the opportunity to celebrate their favourite books and literary characters.

Here are just a handful of the wonderful outfits that staff and pupils across Lighthouse Schools Partnership donned in celebration of World Book Day: 

Churchill Academy and Sixth Form

Churchill Academy & Sixth Form’s 2025 Academy Music Festival was a massive hit, bringing together students, staff and the upcoming Year 7 students for three unforgettable days of music in the sunshine.

Audiences were treated to an incredible variety of performances, showcasing the talent and hard work of the Academy’s students and staff. From bands and ensembles to solo performances, every act lit up the stage. A special highlight, as always, was the staff band, which proved to be a student favourite once again with the headteacher, Mr Hildrew, rocking the guitar!