David Lowbridge-Ellis MBE

On His Royal Highness' Not-So-Secret Services to Education

Just published! Catch my essay on The Prisoner in this very special book, celebrating 60 years since the existentialist spy series was first broadcast. Get your copy here: amzn.eu/d/0eUJsTH7

We are thrilled to announce that Matrix Academy Trust has been shortlisted for Trust of the Year & CFO of the Year at the MAT Excellence awards presented by Optimus Education, celebrating the impact we have on our communities. Read More - loom.ly/RusD_VM

We’ve hit an incredible milestone - £10,000 raised for @PAPYRUS_Charity. Since October, staff & pupils across have gone above & beyond. The energy & commitment from our community has been inspiring. Let’s keep the momentum going! Donate here: bit.ly/matrixpapyrus

It’s encouraging to receive such positive feedback from our recent reading conference, delivered through the universal RISE offer in partnership with the Department for Education.

Big cat sighting! A pair of lions, seen by Year 12 students from their safari vehicles in Kruger National Park #TuringSouthAfrica #TuringScheme #BornFree

Yesterday, we held our first People Strategy Conference, where we explored how to attract, retain, develop, and empower our staff across the Trust. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us.

📍South Africa Up early for a dawn safari🦓🦒 #TuringScheme #MatrixInternational

📍South Africa Year 12 students first taste of safari and they got to see elephants!🐘 #TuringScheme

Our sixth formers are on their way to London Heathrow where they will board a 12 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. #TuringSouthAfrica #TuringScheme

You said, we did! Students have requested a greater variety of graphic novels. We now have a range of classic literature texts in graphic novel form. The iCentre is open at break and after school for students to borrow any of our books.

Try one of Barr Beacon SCITT’s Teaching internships for a valuable insight into the world of teaching.

Great to see such positive feedback from our recent writing webinar, delivered as part of the universal RISE offer with the Department for Education. You can see a schedule of upcoming sessions here - loom.ly/yos8kec

A helpful and detailed summary of autumn term absence.

It’s been a year since a winning design was selected for the LGBT+ armed forces community memorial: “An Opened Letter.” Here artists from Abraxas Academy explain the design created to honour LGBT+ service personnel, past, present and future @RAF_LGBT @RN_LGBTQ @ArmyLGBT @oeogovuk

Congratulations to all the pupils who got their Mensa test results back today. All of our pupils did really well, with six pupils achieving in the top 2% and so were invited to become a member of Mensa.

🌍✈️ Just one week to go! This time next week, a group of our Year 12 students will be on their way to South Africa for an incredible 16-day experience 🇿🇦 A massive thank you once again to the Turing Scheme for making opportunities like this possible for our pupils and students.

🎶 Take the Spotlight! 📣 It’s that time again! The Trust Wide Talent Competition is open for entries. Show us what you’ve got - solo or group acts welcome! Send your performance snippet to your teacher by 13th February for a chance to perform on the big stage in Birmingham! ✨

This morning, our chosen Community Champion pupils from across the trust joined on Teams . During the session, pupils discussed this year’s community and fundraising projects and were given time to develop ideas for events and activities that can take place throughout the year.

One week to go! Join us for our first Reading Conference - A whole school approach to reading. We’ll explore reading across the curriculum, effective interventions, and building a strong reading culture, all adaptable to your school’s context.

"Smestow Academy is proud to announce the results of its latest Ofsted inspection, which highlights a remarkable turnaround for the school since joining Matrix Academy Trust in January 2023🎉🙌🎊..." Read more: bit.ly/4jy7CqK