Stories About our People

At Red Kite Learning Trust, our people are at the heart of everything we do. Below we celebrate the dedication, passion, and expertise of our staff across the Trust, sharing inspiring stories that highlight how investing in our people helps us create supportive, thriving school communities.

Red Kite Day 4: A Celebration of Primary Science and Sustainability

Held on Friday 15th November 2024, at Harrogate Grammar School, Red Kite Day 4 brought primary colleagues together from across Red Kite Alliance for an inspiring day focused on science, sustainability, and outdoor learning. With an emphasis on vulnerable learners, the event highlighted our commitment to inclusive, future-facing education. Keynotes from Professor Leigh Hoath and Dr. Geoff Mackey framed the day, while workshops offered hands-on, practical strategies for the classroom.

Primary Collaboration

Read the full summary here

Rethinking CPD at Templenewsam: Staff-Led Research with Real Impact

At Templenewsamhalton Primary School, Headteacher Lisa Seton has led a bold rethink of professional development. Moving away from traditional performance management, the school has introduced a self-directed, research-based CPD model where staff chose projects based on the needs of their pupils, subjects, or school priorities.

From improving reading confidence to embedding key skills through baking, the projects have already led to tangible changes across the school, demonstrating the power of staff-driven innovation.

This approach has not only enhanced outcomes for pupils but also empowered staff and celebrated their strengths. Plans are already in place to extend the model to the wider support team next year.

Read the full case study here

Crawshaw Leader Nears Completion of Doctorate in Teaching and Learning

Kirsty Clarke, Associate Assistant Headteacher at Crawshaw Academy, is approaching the final stages of a five-year, self-funded Educational Doctorate (EdD) in Teaching and Learning. Her research focuses on the pressing issue of teacher attrition, explored through an autoethnographic approach that draws on personal and professional experience.

Kirsty’s commitment to lifelong learning and self-development has been a consistent thread throughout her career. This year, the school has supported her journey by providing flexible working arrangements to help her complete her thesis, which is due for submission in September.

Her work reflects both a deep passion for education and a desire to help create sustainable, supportive environments for teachers in the profession. We’re incredibly proud of Kirsty’s dedication and look forward to seeing the impact of her research in the future.

Whitkirk Primary Invests in Early Years and Staff Development with New Nursery

Whitkirk Primary is delighted to announce a £147,000 investment secured through the School-Based Nurseries Grant to open a brand-new 26-place nursery in September 2025. This exciting expansion marks a significant step in enhancing early years provision for local families.

Full time flex - Finding Innovative Strategies to Promote Wellbeing

Being part of the 'Flexible Working Ambassador MAT School', or FWAM for less of a mouthful, Harrogate Grammar School has tried hard to find ways to allow our collegues to have a bit more flexibility in their working patterns. This isn't just about those working part-time, there are more than 50 teaching colleagues who do this, it is about finding opportunities for everyone, to have just a little bit more flex in their work patterns, which we hope ultimately will support amazing teachers to continue to work in the profession.

The school finishes early on a Wednesday afternoon and colleagues were able to take this PPA time 'off-site' this year, meaning they could leave at 2:40pm – time enough to collect a child from school, or make that dentist appointment and work the time flexibly. In addition to this colleagues could apply for other 'Off-site' PPA sessions – there were 77 periods of these pre-exam leave and 136 post Y11 and Y13 being on study leave. This gave opportunities for colleagues to do end of year exam marking at home or to have blocks of time off-site to work on curriculum developments without being disturbed.

201 days of Time off in Lieu have been granted. Much of this is time for exam marking, for which no cover will have been generated and so no learning missed. If a colleague marks for the exam board, they can take the equivalent of 3 days of time, at a time when they are not teaching, to do this off-site. This has brought much expertise back into the school, as collegues who have marked, feedback from the exam with the expert examiner lens, providing CPD for all colleagues.

Harrogate Grammar School has also allowed 5.5 trade ‘trade-to-flex’ days and 4.5 are already booked in for next year. This is when a colleague does have some lessons to cover, but do some swapping with their team members, so lessons get covered by specialists, and they pay this back at another time. Any lessons which can’t be covered in this way, are paid back as cover lessons at another point.

All of this is in addition to the discretionary time offered to attend nativities, sports days, graduations and important family events. All of which support the wellbeing of our colleagues and show that we value them and want to try to provide some of the opportunities to work flexibly, enjoyed by other sectors.

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