Summer Newsletter 2025
We are delighted to share with you our first Governors' newsletter!
In this newsletter we are bringing you
- Introductions from Castle CE Federation’s Chair of Governors and Executive Head
- Updates on finances, sustainability, safeguarding, English, and diversity, equity and inclusion
- Who is on your board of governors
From your Chair of Governors ~ Elaine Bunn
I am pleased to introduce Castle Federation’s first governor newsletter towards the end of a busy and exciting year at Victoria and Thomas Coram, and one that has seen some significant changes. Not only in the look and feel of our schools and their curriculum schemes, but also in the composition of our governing body, and the way we fulfil our roles.
Who are your governors, and what do we do?
The Castle Federation governing body is responsible for Victoria and Thomas Coram schools. It is made up of 16 governors including Victoria and Thomas Coram’s heads of schools Mrs Freeman and Miss Hill, our executive head Mrs Roberts, and the rector of St Peter’s Church Father Stuart. There is also a staff governor, two parent governors, a local authority governor, eight foundation governors who have strong links with the church, and three associate members who provide specific expertise and support.
Our role is strategic and designed to complement and support the operational roles of the senior leadership team and staff, and help to formulate a sustainable and financially certain long-term future for Castle Federation. We are tasked with being a ‘critical friend’ to our school leaders, and take strategic decisions as a collective.
Victoria and Thomas Coram benefit enormously from working in such close proximity and partnership with an overarching governance structure. It ensures a seamless transition and smooth curriculum sequencing from nursery to Year 6, delivering an excellent quality of education throughout.
So, what have we been talking about?
One of the main topics this year has been the national issue of falling writing standards, which we have been dealing with in a proactive and ambitious way at Castle Federation with the implementation of fantastic new writing schemes.
Ofsted is another topic that gets a lot of airtime in our meetings as we are once again in the window for a reinspection at Victoria, and are confident that the school is in a much stronger position than before, thanks to the diligence and hard work of our leaders. The changes at Victoria since the last visit are beyond brilliant, with an impressive turnaround for the phonics and reading standards of all our children. We are grateful to Mrs Freeman who has worked tirelessly to identify areas for improvement and implement effective changes to the strategic and operational running of the school.
It’s also vital that all our staff are well supported, so we review what is actually going on within our schools with more than 50 governor drop-in visits a year, working with staff and leaders to complement what they do in the classrooms and make the most of their precious time.
And another key feature of almost every meeting is the need to continuously find good people to recruit as governors. As far as demanding yet rewarding roles go, it’s right up at the top of the list.
We would like to wish all our leavers, pupils, families and staff the very best for the next steps along their educational journey, or future endeavours, and all those staying with the Federation, a well-earned break over the coming summer months.
With thanks and warm wishes,
Elaine Bunn, Chair of Governors
From your Executive Headteacher ~ Ms Roberts
I am not exactly sure where this year has gone but I am so incredibly proud of everything that we have achieved in both schools this year. Miss Hill and Mrs Freeman are two of the most hardworking people I know! They are supported by the rest of their dedicated teams, to ensure that we are providing the best possible experiences for all our children, personalising the learning for all children. We continue to work in partnership to ensure that the children at the Federation have a progressive, seamless and sequential journey across the two schools.
Leaders have worked with our governors throughout the year, who have been a highly effective critical friend. We have continued to shape the strategic direction of the Federation following our whole stakeholder review by creating a five-year strategic plan. The four main areas of focus are:
Additional details regarding the plan can be found on the Castle Federation website. We are very excited about seeing the impact of its implementation as the Federation goes from strength to strength.
Leaders have also done an incredible job in balancing the budgets in both schools despite the national issue of falling birth rates and increasing financial pressures on schools. We have not compromised on staffing levels and resources for effective delivery of the curriculum.
We have worked consistently to share with prospective parents and the wider community why Victoria and Thomas Coram are exceptional places to allow your children to thrive and excel.
We have also revamped our websites and increased our social media presence. This is an ongoing process but we have worked hard to listen to feedback and share all the amazing enrichment opportunities we have offered the children in both schools over the year.
Thank you so much for all your support and entrusting us with your amazing children.
Ms Roberts, Executive Headteacher
Finance Update
Castle Federation’s governors oversee how Victoria and Thomas Coram’s money is spent, and we are pleased to reinforce Ms Roberts’ point that both schools remain in a strong financial position.
Currently 60% of schools are struggling to balance their budgets and we, like many, are dealing with falling pupil numbers driven by lower national birth rates.
Despite this, due to prudent financial management, robust strategic planning, and the unwavering support of you, as parents, our schools have maintained healthy finances.
Between them, they still had around 20% of their annual budgets left over by the end of the financial year and this is enabling Castle Federation to continue to invest in what matters most: delivering an outstanding education.
For example, we have allocated extra funds to boost provision in Years 5 & 6 at Thomas Coram. At Victoria, where smaller class sizes impact the funding we receive, we have still been able to balance the budget and due to exceptional parental support, upgraded the nursery playground.
We will continue to review our spending plans to ensure we deliver an excellent educational environment, whilst also being financially resilient, and thank to you all our parents who continue to be a cornerstone of this success, both in terms of fundraising and fostering a vibrant school community. Your contributions have a direct impact on our ability to provide exceptional opportunities for our children.
Tim Trailor, Finance Lead
Sustainability Update
Governors also take a strategic view on how we can spend now to save in the future. So I’m pleased to report that sustainability has been a key focus across Victoria and Thomas Coram, with a commitment to environmental responsibility in their daily operations and longer-term planning.
For example, at the same time that Thomas Coram’s Eco Council has led several successful initiatives helping the school maintain its Eco Schools status, it is actively reviewing its heating and power systems, with a view to ensuring they are both financially and environmentally sustainable in the future.
Victoria also has an ambition to achieve Eco Schools status, and staff and volunteers have made excellent use of the school allotment this year to enhance outdoor learning opportunities. This includes engagement with the Berkhamsted Butterfly Project, supporting local biodiversity and enriching the environment around the school.
Anthony Boden, Sustainability Advisor
Safeguarding
Another important responsibility of the governing body is understanding how we keep our pupils, staff, and visitors safe, and reviewing the measures and practices to protect their health, wellbeing, and safety.
Given this priority, all new governors undergo safeguarding training to understand what is expected of them. We also appoint a designated safeguarding governor who stays up to date with the latest information, visits both schools each term to review their records and practices and reports back regularly to the other governors. This helps us keep the leadership team accountable.
Safeguarding includes teaching children about healthy relationships, personal safety, and how to seek help. I’ve seen this achieved through assemblies and well-designed PSHE and online safety curriculums which, given the rapid changes in the digital world, are also regularly reviewed and kept up to date.
I’m also impressed by the filtering and monitoring tools in place to ensure the children have safe access to the internet and are kept safe from harm, with any use of trigger words at Thomas Coram now generating an alert to the school’s safeguarding leads.
We know that parents place their trust in our schools to keep their children safe, and that happy and nurtured children will be best placed to flourish in their learning. That is why safeguarding remains integral to everything we do. It is a collective effort, and everyone in Castle Federation’s community is playing their part.
Vicky Harris, Safeguarding Lead
Reading & Writing
As the ‘link governor’ for English, I act as a bridge between Castle Federation’s governing board and Victoria and Thomas Coram’s English leads, supporting oversight of curriculum intent, implementation, and impact for reading and writing.
This role involves constructive challenge and support; asking questions about curriculum design and delivery, checking that approaches meet pupils’ needs, and ensuring equitable access to high-quality English provision, including for those with additional needs.
Since taking on the role in 2024, it’s been encouraging to see both schools make huge strides.
At Victoria, the school took swift action to improve literacy following its Ofsted inspection, most notably through the successful implementation of the Little Wandle phonics scheme. This has delivered greater consistency, improved assessment and a glowing report from our school effectiveness advisor who said:
“the current phonics scheme has been well chosen, applied with fidelity and is impactful in terms of progression and outcomes… The leaders and staff team deserve recognition for their commitment and determination to demonstrate high quality standards in this critical area of learning.”
The introduction of a new writing scheme in September 2023 has also brought more structure and text-based teaching, with collaboration, targeted support and better assessment contributing to growing confidence and signs of improvement.
At the same time, reading provision and writing performance have been strengthened at Thomas Coram by its new reading and writing schemes, and our latest spelling, punctuation and grammar results show clear improvement across the school.
There are also termly oracy weeks, which give pupils extra chances to develop their speaking and listening skills, and regular author visits from writers like Andy Griffiths, Hannah Gold, and Jennifer Bell.
Developing my understanding of the curriculum and teaching practices has been a learning curve, so I’m grateful to our staff for their openness, insight, and collaboration in helping me and the other governors understand their work. Their commitment to continual improvement is having such a positive impact on all children and I’m looking forward to how these developments continue to take shape in our classrooms.
Ian Davies, English Link Governor
Castle CE Federation Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement
I’m pleased to see Castle Federation fully understands and embraces the fact that everyone it supports and interacts with is different. In ways that can be seen and in many, many more ways that can’t.
Diversity is fact, and is everywhere, but inclusion is an act and always needs to be worked at and strived for. The Federation’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies and practices and procedures aim to ensure its places and spaces are as accessible and inclusive as possible. This includes inclusive design standards for its physical buildings, websites and digital communications.
The approach has been to ensure it meets the Federation’s legal and regulatory requirements whilst always striving for best practice, which helps our schools to be even more inclusive by design and in what they deliver and achieve.
Castle Federation’s equality scheme also ensures it captures, monitors and utilises relevant equality data and information and helps it to understand impact and progress. And training requirements for staff, governors and others ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities and how we can support all to flourish in learning and love.
Victoria and Thomas Coram are there for everyone and this inclusive thinking practice is at the heart of everything they do, aligned fully with their values of Kindness, Resilience, Respect and Truthfulness.
A larger version of the statement can be found here.
Nick Goss, Chair of Admissions Committee
Governors June 2025
