A day of staff development which saw nearly 1,300 members of our staff join together has been hailed a success.

The Trust’s annual ‘Unity Day’ took place on Friday at Thomas Gainsborough School and Wells Hall Primary School.

Staff from across all our schools were given the chance to take part in a variety of workshops and seminars throughout the day, which started with a keynote speech from Tom Bennett OBE on the ten principles of behaviour.

Other keynote speakers included Lord Simon Woolley, Principal of Homerton College, who gave an inspirational talk about his life and career and Alex Green, from Let’s Go Zero, on developing a green culture in schools.

Wellbeing sessions – ranging from African drumming to axe throwing, therapeutic art workshops to yoga – were also held to give staff a chance to network in an informal and relaxed setting.

One of the day’s many highlights was Unity’s Day’s always-popular choir which ‘popped up’ to entertain a large crowd at lunchtime, following a small practice session in the morning.

Each staff-led session was based around seven key themes to help empower staff and make remarkable change happen.

Sarah Garner, Deputy CEO of Unity Schools Partnership, said: “Unity Day is always a great chance to show our staff, and beyond, that together we are stronger.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who ran a session or workshop and to everyone who worked so hard behind the scenes to make Unity Day such a success.”