COVID-19 Testing for Staff
In line with government guidance, we have started preparing for twice weekly testing of our staff so that we are ready to commence a testing programme once our test kits have been received from the Department for Education. All adults working within our schools will...
Annual Report 2020
The Mead Academy Trust's Annual Report for 2020 has been published. Instead of a document, this year we have produced the report entirely online. You can view it here.
A Ready, Respectful, Safe Reopening
As our schools prepare to expand their offer on Monday 8th June, we are so excited to see many of our families again, and looking forward to hearing all about what they have been up to at home.'Ready, respectful, safe' is a fundamental principle of life in our...
Update from Wiltshire School Nursing Service
Dear Parents, Carers and Young People, We are aware that it is a very anxious time and there may be concerns about where to access support in coming weeks should there be school closures or you needing to self-isolate. As a school nursing service we would like to let...
COVID Symptom App
The COVID Symptom App has been launched with researchers at Guy’s & St Thomas’ & King’s College to help slow the spread of #COVID19 and identify at-risk cases sooner by self-reporting symptoms daily, even if people feel well. You can download the app here. You...
September 2020 Teaching Vacancies
The Mead Academy Trust is now recruiting teachers for a September 2020 start. We have an opening for a creative and dedicated Resource Base teacher, based at Castle Mead School. Additionally, we are recruiting for class teachers to join the Trust (school placement to...
The Mead Primary School Rated GOOD In All Areas
We are absolutely delighted that The Mead Community Primary School has been rated Good in all areas after a rigorous two-day inspection across both our Hilperton and Wingfield sites. The inspection team said it is a school where there is a ‘strong can-do ethos’ and...
Consultation on the proposed Admission to Reception class for River Mead School
The Trustees of The Mead Academy Trust are consulting on the proposed Admission to Reception class for River Mead School, as determined by the School Admissions Code and The School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission Arrangements)...
Notice of Annual General Meeting
THE MEAD ACADEMY TRUST NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING DATE: THURSDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2019 AT 7.00pm - 8.00pm VENUE: THE MEAD COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL, HACKETT PLACE, TROWBRIDGE To view the agenda, click here.
River Mead and Castle Mead children create art installation
Children from River Mead School and Castle Mead School have worked together with children from Kingdown School in Warminster to create a stellar exhibition at Larkrise School. The multi sensory art show for people with profound and multiple learning difficulties, the...
Creating an Inclusive Generation
We are incredibly proud that our Year 6 teacher at Castle Mead School, Mrs Hogge, has had an article published by Grass Roots, a brand new publication from Action for Education. As well as teaching at Castle Mead, Mrs Hogge is also Chair of the Zoe Education Trust....
The Mead’s Wingfield School welcomes a new Head of Site
The Mead school at Wingfield is welcoming a new Head of site from September 2019. Neil Griffiths has been promoted from a leadership post at the school’s Hilperton site, to Head of Site at Wingfield, and brings with him a strong understanding of teaching in an...
The Mead Teaching School features in Professional Development Today
At The Mead Teaching School, we take research seriously – we recognise its value in influencing children’s progress, and in providing professional growth for our teachers. We are currently working on a number of research projects, which you can read more about here....
STEM Learning ENTHUSE Partnership launched
We are very excited, and rather proud, that The Mead Teaching School has joined forces with STEM Learning to become an ENTHUSE Partnership school for 2019-21. We have launched a new page on the Teaching School website, which gives all of the details about the...
Supporting adult education in our local area
We are delighted to be supporting a new initiative that has launched in our home town – Trowbridge Learning Community. This not-for-profit organisation has been set up to support adults in Trowbridge and the surrounding area to improve their skills, make new friends,...
CANCELLED – open evening on 31st January 2019
Due to the inclement weather that has been forecast from late this afternoon, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the event to ensure everybody can get home safely. We apologise for any inconvenience, and will publish an alternative date for visiting the...
Y4 Lesson Study Poster Available
Our Year 4 Maths Team completed a week of Lesson Study last week, and as with our previous Lesson Studies, everyone found it a valuable experience. The week was led by Mrs Fay Perdicchia, Maths Lead at Castle Mead School. Mrs Perdicchia said "Everyone was really...
Teacher & TA recruitment open evening
We are currently recruiting for Early Years and class teachers, and are holding a recruitment open evening on Thursday 31st January 2019 for anyone who is interested in finding out more about working for The Mead Academy Trust.You can come along for a tour...
Upcoming Train To Teach Event in Bath
Are you thinking about kick-starting an exciting new career in teaching? If so, our Train To Teach event in Bath on 19th January 2019 is the perfect opportunity for you to learn all you need to know about teacher training and how to apply. Who is this event for? Our...
Consultation on Admissions Arrangements 2020-2021, River Mead School
The Trustees of The Mead Academy Trust are consulting on the proposed Admission to Reception class for River Mead School, 2020-2021, as determined by the School Admissions Code and The School Admissions (Admission Arrangements and Co-ordination of Admission...
Annual General Meeting 2018
The next AGM of The Mead Academy Trust will be held on Thursday 29th November 2018 at The Mead Primary School. You can view the agenda of the meeting here.
Y2 & Y6 teachers from across the Trust take part in Lesson Study week
Lesson Study involves groups of teachers collaboratively planning, teaching, observing and analysing learning and teaching in ‘research lessons’. They record their findings and over a cycle of research lessons they may innovate or refine a pedagogical approach that...
Thank you to Schoolcare
The hosting for our website is kindly provided by www.schoolcare.co.uk
Polli:Nation Wins Prestigious National Lottery Award
We are delighted that a project championed in our schools, Polli:Nation, has been awarded the prestigious “Best Environment Project” in the 2018 National Lottery Good Causes awards. Learning Through Landscapes, the Hampshire-based charity that runs Polli:Nation, was...
The Mead Teaching School Annual Report now available
The Mead Teaching School's Annual Report for 2017-18 is available to view by clicking here. The report provides an overview of our activities for the last full academic year across four key areas: School to School Support Initial Teacher Training CPD (training...
Letter from Governors regarding budgets
The Governors recently wrote to parents regarding funding pressures. You can read the full letter here.
Children enjoy multi-sensory art project
Children from The Mead, River Mead, and Castle Mead Schools were lucky enough to visit Larkrise School recently, and spend some time in the multi-sensory art project children there have created with Becky Churchill, resident artist. The installation makes use of all...
Congratulations from Wiltshire Council’s Interim Director, Education & Skills
Following the news that Mrs Sheila Claridge, a teacher at The Mead for over 5 years, received an MBE in this year's Queen's birthday honours, we are thrilled to have received a letter from Alan Stubbersfield, Wiltshire Council's Interim Director, Education...
The Mead teacher awarded MBE in Queen’s birthday honours
Mrs Sheila Claridge, who taught at The Mead Primary School for 5 years before retiring in December 2016, has been recognised for her incredible contribution to children across the town with an MBE in this week’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list. As a Specialist Maths...
Nursery open sessions coming up at The Mead
The Mead's nursery and pre-school classes are holding a series of open sessions in June and July. If you are looking for a nursery place for your 3 year old from September 2018 onwards, this is your opportunity to have a look at the beautiful nursery provision at both...
CSL conference 2018
We were very pleased to join Headteachers and SENCOs from across the Trowbridge alliance yesterday, Wednesday 21st March 2018, for their annual conference. We came together at Wick Farm to spend the day considering SEND provision for children across Trowbridge and the...
Workload Challenge report published by DfE
In January 2017, The Mead Teaching School was successful in becoming one of a handful of schools across the country to receive funding from the National College for research into effectively and efficiently reducing teacher workload whilst maintaining or improving...
Nursery open morning at The Mead on 24th March
The Mead School are opening their new purpose-built nursery on Saturday 24th March 2018 from 10.30 – 11.30am for any prospective parents to come and have a look and the wonderful setting and provision we offer. You will be able to meet our highly qualified and caring...
Get into teaching 2018-19
We still have places available for General Primary and Early Years initial teacher training starting in September 2018. If you are thinking about applying now for a post in September, or are just interested in finding out more about what we offer for future...
Open evening for teachers and TAs
The Mead Academy Trust is holding an open evening on 1st February 2018 for teachers and TAs. This is an opportunity for teachers and TAs who are interested in working for the Trust to come along and meet the leadership team, teachers and pupils, ask questions, and...
The Mead Deputy Headteacher heads to Parliament for training
We are very proud that one of the Deputy Headteachers at The Mead, Mr Rob Cunningham, has been selected to attend a three-day training course at the Houses of Parliament. He will join 60 other teachers from across the UK, after 170 applied, to attend the Teachers’...
170 delegates join Pie Corbett for a day of Talk For Writing
The Mead Teaching School was proud to host almost 170 delegates at the Civic Centre in Trowbridge yesterday (Thursday 4th January 2018), for a full day focused on Talk For Writing. Pie Corbett hosted the day, and we can’t thank him enough for being such a brilliant...
Ofsted’s annual report 2016-17
We were delighted that our Executive Headteacher, Mrs Lyssy Bolton, was able to attend the launch of Ofsted's annual report in Westminster this week. Delivering her first report as Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman spoke on a range of topics, from 'intractable...
Looking for a reception place for 2018?
If you're looking for a reception place for September 2018, come and join us across our schools to find out more about us. You will be able to take a tour of the school and have the opportunity to meet staff and ask any questions you may have. We are very...
TD Days feature Phonics, Woodworking, Computing & Early Years Marketplace
Teachers and TAs from across our academy trust came together across two days on Friday 1st September and Monday 4th September for a variety of activities. On Friday, our Early Years and KS1 teachers and TAs attended a second day of Read Write Inc training, whilst our...
River Mead art goes on display in Salisbury
Wow! We are hugely excited and incredibly proud to have artwork created by some of the children at River Mead School on display at Exeter House School. Pots made by our children are currently on display as part of the Multi-Sensory Art Project. This wonderful...
CPD opportunities in 2017-18 with The Mead Teaching School
As we’re sure many of you are too, The Mead Teaching School is now firmly in 2017-18 and preparing for 1st September 2017 onwards! Dates of NQT and TA training for next year are now finalised, and both programmes are available to book. You can book online or via post,...
Amanda Spielman’s speech at the Festival of Education
Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, recently spoke at the Festival of Education, a two day conference of education advocates, practitioners of change, policy makers and educators. Amanda talked about a review of the curriculum and the importance of recognising...
Standing together against bullying
The River Mead School Council have been working on a fantastic series of posters to promote our Trust’s anti-bullying message, and we love what they have created. The School Council themselves came up with the messages, and are rightly proud of their achievements with...
Wonderful moments in time at The Mead’s Community Day
The Friends of the Mead hosted another fabulous Community Day on Saturday 13th May. The free Community Day follows the school’s subject focus each year, and this year it was all about art. The theme of the day was ‘A Moment In Time’, and it featured a whole range of...
The Mead Teaching School’s SLE case study published by Teaching Schools Council
Lindsay Palmer, our Head of Teaching School, recently wrote a case study for the Teaching Schools Council‘s library of case studies on Evidence Based Teaching, and advancing capability and capacity for enquiry in schools. The key focus of the enquiry was to explore...
River Mead Achieves Wiltshire Healthy Schools Accreditation
We are delighted to confirm that River Mead School has been awarded Bronze Level Accreditation by the Wiltshire Quality Assurance Group for Healthy Schools in Wiltshire. The Wiltshire Healthy Schools Standards have been developed to meet the health priorities and...
Gala evening celebrates The Mead’s pupils’ artistic talents
Over 200 people filled Trowbridge Town Hall on Thursday (27th April) to celebrate the varied artistic talents of The Mead’s pupils. Parents and pupils watched on proudly as current pupils and our alumni showed off their acting, singing, dancing and artwork across...
Castle Mead siblings help the homeless by turning home into pop-up café
We were very proud to see that two of our pupils from Castle Mead School, Brandon and Lottie, have been featured in the Wiltshire Times for their fantastic contribution to a local charity. As the article explains, our enterprising pupils turned their house into a...
Listen to The Mead Academy Community Choir
The Mead Academy Community Choir is a relatively new venture, and is already looking - and sounding - absolutely fantastic. Here is their beautiful rendition of 'A change is going to come' from the Spring Term: The choir runs every Tuesday evening from 8.00 - 9.30pm,...
Slippers at school – children explain the benefits
Children at Castle Mead School and River Mead School are allowed to wear their slippers at school, so we were very interested to see CBBC covering the topic on Newsround recently. You can watch their piece and hear children explain the benefits themselves on their...
Regional Schools’ Commissioner praises River Mead’s ‘exemplary practice’
The Office of the Regional Schools’ Commissioner works with school leaders to monitor the progress of schools where underperformance has been an issue in the past. The Deputy Director visited River Mead last week, and following his time at the school, wrote: “They are...
The Mead pupils raise £300 with Loose Change Challenge
The amazing Friends of the Mead hosted their annual fundraising event on 7th March, and we think it was one of the best and most successful of recent years, raising almost £300 for Friends activities. Children from Hilperton and Wingfield sites were asked to raid the...
Polli:Nation project buzzes in The Mead Academy Trust schools
The Mead Academy Trust is proud to be participating in Polli:Nation, the Heritage Lottery funded biodiversity and education project which is supporting pupils from 260 schools across the UK to turn their school grounds and other local walk-to spaces into pollinator...
River Mead pupils shine in dance festival
9 pupils from River Mead School, in years 3 through to 6, joined pupils from Castle Mead and The Mead to attend the West Wiltshire Dance Festival on Tuesday 22nd February. Everyone performed brilliantly, and after the fesitval a member of staff from another school...
The Mead Academy Trust is introducing Thrive
The Mead Academy Trust is delighted to announce that it is introducing the Thrive Approach across all of its settings. The Thrive Approach draws on insights from neuroscience, attachment theory and child development to provide a powerful way of working with children...
Proposal to open new free schools in East Trowbridge
The Mead Academy Trust is seizing the opportunity offered by the government’s free school programme by applying to open the new schools that are needed in Trowbridge. We have a strong track record of delivering outstanding primary education and opening new...
Castle Mead pair compete in Wiltshire School Games competition
Castle Mead Pupils Imran and Kenny represented the school on Thursday 12th January at the Wiltshire School Games County new age kurling competition. As expected competition was tough with 30 teams including secondary schools having qualified to take part. The morning...
The Mead features in Nursery World magazine
We are very excited that The Mead was chosen to feature in Nursery World's lead article about the allocation of funding to build, expand and refurbish nursery premises ahead of the 30-hour offer in September 2017. The magazine featured a number of quotes from The...
River Mead children welcome Dogs Trust for whole school assembly
On Tuesday 24th January, Dogs Trust came to River Mead to deliver a whole school assembly on how to stay safe around dogs. Children learned that they should always stay still if a dog runs towards them and to ask the owner if they can stroke a dog before approaching...
Teaching vacancies at The Mead Academy Trust
The Mead Academy Trust is recruiting for Class Teachers, Headteachers and a Deputy Headteacher across our sites. To find out more about all of these roles, we strongly recommend you come along to our open evening on 9th February 2017. At this evening, you'll have the...
Castle Mead pupils open new Co-operative store
A new Radstock Co-operative store opened its doors on a corner plot at the edge of Castle Mead last week, just 100 metres away from Castle Mead School. The store is the first branch of the society to open outside of Somerset and was officially opened on 18th January...
River Mead teachers start new year with teaching & learning breakfast meetings
As well as now cycling to work every day, Mr Matt Torrington – one of our teachers at River Mead School – has started the new year with a series of Teaching and Learning breakfast meetings. This week, the series kicked off with a discussion on how ‘Pose, Pause, Pounce...
The Mead Teaching School Train to Teach Roadshow
The Mead Teaching School will be at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel on 23rd February 2017 for the Train To Teach roadshow. Come along to meet Lindsay Palmer, our Head of Teaching School and Amanda Taylor, Director of the West Wilts Alliance. Both will be able to talk...
The Mead secures funding for new nursery
You may have read in the news an announcement by the DFE about £50 million being allocated to funding additional childcare places across the country. We are delighted to be able to tell you that this week we have been told that some of this money will be designated to...
Secretary of State Justine Greening recognises The Mead teacher’s contribution
We were delighted to come back after the Christmas break to a letter from Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Education, recognising the outstanding efforts made by Mrs Sheila Claridge during her distinguished career in teaching. Mrs Greening acknowledged in...
Hilperton cellist strikes right chord
Jessica was a pupil at the Mead Community Primary School. Please click on her image above to read about her in this article from the Wiltshire Times.
Rugby World Cup Advert
Megan Tate features in a television advert for the Rugby World Cup 2015. Click on her image above to see an article about her in the Bath Chronicle. Read the full article here.