Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) is delighted to welcome Shelley Flanagan to the trust from 2 June 2025 as new headteacher at Walliscote Primary School in Weston-super-Mare.

Shelley Flanagan is a highly experienced senior leader in education, bringing over ten years of headship experience to the role. She previously served as Director of Education in an academy trust in Bristol. Her extensive experience and background in educational leadership will be a valuable asset to Walliscote Primary School and the wider ELAN community.

In January 2025, Shelley underwent a rigorous two-day headteacher interview process. During this time, she engaged with ELAN trustees, Walliscote governors, staff and children to gain a good understanding of the school, the community and the trust as a whole.

Shelley is a Fellow of Chartered College of Teaching (FCCT), a recognition of her commitment and achievements in the teaching profession. This prestigious fellowship marks her significant and sustained contribution to education and expertise as a dedicated teacher and leader.

“I am really excited about starting as Headteacher at Walliscote Primary school. I have enjoyed my time in school getting to know the pupils, staff and families. The children are warm and welcoming and a credit to the school. The staff are very dedicated and make Walliscote a fun place to learn. I look forward to working with the team at this special and unique school and the wider ELAN family. “

Chair of Governors, Caroline Reynolds said, “I was extremely impressed with Shelley during her interview and am excited to be working with her. We have met since, less formally and I feel sure that she has the enthusiasm and ability to drive our school forward.”

We know the whole community will welcome Shelley warmly as she gets to know everyone and settles into her new role.

We’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Acting Headteacher, Sarah Stacey for her dedication and commitment to Walliscote. As Deputy Headteacher, Sarah was able to step up to lead the school following Heidi Hudd’s move to Windwhistle in December 2023.

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On Tuesday 20 May 2025, special guests and pupils from the nine Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) schools gathered for the second Opening Worlds Curriculum Symposium at The Bistro, Weston College.

As a trust, we are committed to providing an extraordinary education for all pupils and in 2023, following much research and testing, we adopted the Opening Worlds (OW) curriculum for humanities: geography, history and religion written and designed by Christine Counsell and Steve Mastin. Our schools have been blown away by children’s knowledge, ability and willingness to write and talk about all of the topics within the curriculum and this event showcases this in an exciting and unique way. This year, we were extremely lucky to welcome both Christine and Steve to the symposium, along with OW pioneer James Page, Chief Executive of Haringey Education Partnership.

A symposium is described as “a formal occasion when specialists in a particular area meet to discuss a subject of interest to them”… and that’s exactly what it was!

Children and special guests enjoyed a lovely two-course dinner, prepared and served by the incredible catering and hospitality students from Weston College (providing them with an additional opportunity to support their own studies and show off what they could do). Over dinner, children entertained their table with amazing stories, facts and knowledge about some of their favourite subjects. The enthusiasm was boundless!

The second half of the evening saw an interactive and rather competitive quiz pitting schools and their wisdom against each other – no adult input allowed and absolutely not required. It was edge-of-the-seat action and very tightly fought with the overall winners Oldmixon Primary School taking the trophy for the second year running!

We’d like to offer huge thanks to Weston College for the venue, catering and hospitality. It could not have happened on such a scale without Tracey White, Jenna Ratcliff and their team who provided children with an incredible experience and great hospitality for all guests.

Huge thank you to our very own Kerri McArdle and Penny Boardman who decided that ELAN pupils deserved such an event and to the ExtendEd team, and ELAN school staff that made the magic happen.

We’d also really like to thank our special guests including Planning and Service Access Leader for North Somerset Council, Sally Varley; ELAN members and trustees Julian Baldwin, Claire Williams, Eloise Huxor, Malcom Davey and Steve John; Danny McGilloway, Principal of Broadoak Academy; Matt Randle, Principal of Winterstoke Hundred Academy; Reverend Jon Ormrod; friends of ELAN Justine Gregory and Sarah McGahern and our amazing ELAN staff and of course, all of the amazing children who are our reason for doing all that we do.

National Pet Day pounces onto our calendars on 11 April, celebrating the joy, love, and friendship that our furry, feathery, or scaly friends bring into our lives. Whether you’re a devoted dog parent, a caring cat lover, or have a collection of pets, this special day is a time to honour the bond between humans and animals.

To celebrate National Pet Day 2025, ELAN (Extend Learning Academies Network) has been appreciating a whole menagerie of pets who stay home whilst their owners head off to work each day.

But, amongst these amazing animals are an elite group of dogs, who have been trained to work in schools, as ‘official employees’.

In schools, dogs provide a valuable role in supporting pupils’ academic, emotional, and social development and at ELAN, five special dogs are a very important part of school life. We would like to introduce you to Dot, Mouse, Buddy, Luna and Hattie - the school dog team!  

Dot is rather famous within the Mendip Green Primary School community. As a timid four–month old pup, Dot began her training back in 2021 over the summer holidays when school was empty and now, four years on, has become one of the most popular member of Mendip Green staff. Nurturing Dot, provides a listening ear to readers, delivers the post and provides love and cuddles to children when they feel sad or anxious. She is an excellent therapist to both children and staff and sister to Mouse.

Buddy is a springer spaniel and has chosen to work at Locking Primary School. Following his successful employee induction, Buddy is currently completing his training and is fast becoming a real asset to the school. Buddy is an excellent listener which has proven to be a real support with helping children read. Not all children are confident to read out loud but Buddy listens without prejudice or interruption and this gives children more confidence as well as growing their skills.

Mouse lives with Dot. Mouse heard about the role of school dog from her sister Dot and wanted in! She began her apprenticeship at Mendip Green in the summer of 2024 and is growing in confidence each day. Mouse has learned to listen to readers and loves it when the children stroke her and give her attention. Perhaps Mouse’s best asset is that of making everyone smile, because of how daft she can be, but spreading happiness regardless. Dot and Mouse's 'Top Dog' stickers have become the stickers of choice when children visit the office to share their work and the most popular members of staff in the office. 

Mead Vale Primary School’s Luna, full name Luna Firey topaz, is a TV star, having appeared in Channel 4’s Puppy School which aired back in 2019. Luna is an experienced school dog and one of her best skills is providing therapeutic support to children who are feeling sad or anxious. She works hard helping children with their reading, providing cuddles and showing off her tricks – which the children love!

Hattie is the newest member of the Mead Vale Primary School dog family. Luna and Hattie work as a job share as Mead Vale's school dog. Luna works at the beginning of the week and Hattie covers the end of the week, although just recently both dogs worked the same day which enables a better workload dog-team handover for both dogs. As well as training Hattie on the job, Luna has been very good at sharing her toys and treats with Hattie.  Hattie is a terrier crossed with a springer spaniel and is full of energy. She absolutely loves a cuddle! Hattie loves to be taken for a walk or hanging out in The Cottage. She runs around and around in circles on Mead Vale's school field and loves all the OPAL play equipment. Hattie loves coming to school and spending time with the children and all the adults. She has quickly become a firm favourite at Mead Vale.

Having a school dog is not for every school, but our schools have undertaken rigorous planning, training and assessment of risk to make sure the school environment is right for the dog and that the individual dog is right for the school. Both pupils and staff love it when a dog is around and the benefits are huge. The human-dog bond can change lives and our schools’ dogs are there for when children are both happy and sad, providing warmth and security, reducing anxiety, providing a listening ear, helping with emotional regulation and improving behaviour and attendance. These dogs embody the spirit of National Pet Day, not only as well-loved pets at home, but as working members of staff in their school communities. Thank you to Buddy, Dot, Mouse, Hattie and Luna and your human assistants for all the joy and support that you bring to schools.

For the second year running, Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) have just welcomed Dave Parvin from DrugSense UK to the trust.

Vaping is currently high on the news agenda with single-use vapes becoming illegal this year and as we prepare our Year 6’s to move on to secondary school it is recognised that when these children move on to secondary school they will be exposed to a whole range of potential unsafe situations; including vaping.

Over 100 ELAN staff attended an initial workshop and event before over 400 children attended Dave's workshops in which he educated children on the potential dangers of drugs and vaping and helped to build their confidence in exit strategies and being able to say no.

Following the recent visit, Dave wrote

“I have just spent two fantastic days working with Year 6 students (not something I have targeted before in respect of Drugs Education) but I was invited along to speak to Year 6 students from nine primary schools who are ELAN (Extend Learning Academies Network – North Somerset). We had a fantastic couple of days focussing on just vaping. It is often difficult to decide on what would be practical topics for this year group but I have to say they were very much on board with the culture around vaping and asked lots of practical questions relating to this.

Year 6 (or sometimes older) are what I would class a ‘priority group’ in so much as they are moving up to secondary school or the ‘big school’ as they like to call it. And as such will inevitably come into contact with older students that vape and potential take other things. So it does make sense to give them an insight into the culture surrounding vaping and the addiction and health issues they pose. It also offers the opportunity to discuss Exit Strategies they can employ if they are in situations in which vapes are being offered or used.”

Teachers comments:

“Learning about the different types of vapes that are available now, seeing the impact of vaping, especially on young people. Just a general refresher on what is on the market at the moment, how easy it is to get hold of and how it is impacting health.”

“The images as this really helped pupils to understand the different types of vapes and products that could be available to them. The photographic images of burns as this further helps to support all pupils understanding of more of the dangers.”

“Explanation of the different types of vapes and what can be mixed with them which causes all the dangers. Also, the new legislation that is coming in.”

Children's comments 

"The workshop was very helpful about why you should not vape"

"Knowing the difference between different vapes is really helpful"

"It was interesting to learn about different types of vapes and why they have been designed"

"I was surprised that vapes were designed as if they were for kids"

“I'm going to try and convince my parents to give up vaping.”

“I can't believe that is inside a vape.”

“They are never aimed at adults, look at how they look”.

“I learned that vapes can be made to look like toys and can be aimed at young people like the highlighter and milkshake. Vaping can really hurt you and your lungs. If you start vaping, it might be really hard to stop as it is addictive.”

“I found it really interesting - you know how scary and dangerous it is out there"

It was helpful because lots of people in the assembly didn't know vapes could be that dangerous"

"It was life changing because know we know what vapes can do to you”

A huge thank you to all who took part in workshops and supported this opportunity to hear from an expert and help educate many children and adults.

After months of careful planning, Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) has taken the strategic decision to move its school catering services in-house.

The move reflects the trust’s commitment to both children and staff. For pupils, the new service promises greater quality and, in the future, opportunities to have the curriculum enhanced with cooking lessons and curriculum-themed menus. Kitchen staff will benefit from greater ownership, increased training and career development opportunities.

All nine schools within the trust will be enjoying in-house catering arrangements from September 2025. The move enables ELAN to have greater control over menu planning, ingredient sourcing and meal preparation. 

Sarah Edwards, Business and Governance Lead at ELAN, said: ‘This is a significant shift in operations for our trust. Our schools have enjoyed a strong relationship with external catering providers for many years but, inevitably, these companies must also achieve a profit margin. Our intention is to create a sustainable model, where all of the funding we receive for meals, as well as any revenue raised from meal sales, will go directly onto plates and into maintaining high-quality environments for our children and staff to eat and work in.’

Many ELAN schools operate in areas of high socio-economic deprivation and school dinners are incredibly important for their health and wellbeing. Having greater control over what we offer means we can be sure they are receiving the very best. Clive Farmer, Estates Lead, outlined the wider benefits of a move to in-house catering: ‘We hope that this move will be transformational for our catering teams too. They are brimming with creativity and enthusiasm – some have already spoken about how they might be able to develop themed menus to support the curriculum. Catering teams make such an important contribution to school life and it’s great that they will soon be ELAN employees alongside their other school colleagues.’

James Oakley, Executive Headteacher, added: ‘This move was born out of a trust-wide commitment to ensuring that every child, in every school, has access to a delicious, filling and nutritious meal, every day. By using local providers where possible, we are not only securing excellent produce for our children but we also take another step on our journey to greener solutions – something that we take very seriously. Our schools have always stood for more than just SATs. One of our values is to ‘Do the right thing’ and we feel this move very much aligns with our core purpose. We are so excited for the months to come.’

The team have been working hard on systems and processes, meaning that there will be minimal disruption to families. ‘We are aware that families need to be able to make informed choices about meals and pay for them (where appropriate) in a quick and efficient way’ explained Andy Berry, Chief Financial Officer. ‘With this in mind, we will be using existing platforms, such as ParentPay, so that families don’t need to add another system into busy lives.’

Consultations with staff are ongoing on the approach to a formal TUPE process later in the year, with further information expected for school communities after this point.

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Extend Learning Academies Network will be held at Mendip Green Primary School on Tuesday 4 February 2025 at 5:00pm for the following purposes:

1 Elect Chair for the meeting
2 Welcome, apologies and quorum
3 Disclosure of interests
4 Approve minutes of the previous AGM 06.02.2024
5 To receive the annual accounts of the company for the period to 31 August 2024
6 Any proposed changes to the Articles of Association
7 Any changes to the Funding Agreement
8 Appointment/retirement of Members, Clerks or Directors since September 2023
9 Appointment of external auditors of the Company
10 Trust business update from the CEO
11 Any motions which the Members wish to debate
12 Any business which the Trustees have asked the Members to consider
13 Any business the community has asked the Members to consider

All associated documents will be available in advance of the meeting. If you would like the Members of the Multi Academy Trust to respond to questions at the AGM, please submit these in writing to the Company Secretary at least 4 days prior to the meeting

By order of the Board
Sarah Edwards
Company Secretary
Email: office@extendlearning.org

Extend Learning Academies Network
Registered Address: 13 Lime Close, Weston-super-Mare BS24 8BH

Please let the Company Secretary know if you will be attending by emailing office@extendlearning.org.

Today we were fortunate to welcome our newly elected Weston-super-Mare member of parliament, Daniel Aldridge MP and his Chief of Staff Jane Murch to the trust as they met with CEO Adam, Comms Lead Laura and headteachers Marie Berry and Roxanne Simpson.

We had a very productive morning talking about some serious issues, including lack of education funding and the impact that it has had, and continues to have across our region, disadvantage and deprivation, early years provision, the importance of early intervention and SEND (special educational needs and disabilities). 

However, aside from the serious nature of the meeting, our morning was filled with much delight as we toured two of our schools; Bournville and Locking primary schools.  We could have spent all week visiting all nine but sadly there wasn't time. Dan and Jane did have plenty of time however to enjoy playing with wooden blocks, talking to staff, chatting with children, looking at our indoor and outdoor learning environments, enjoying Hairy Maclary and generally immersing themselves into school life! 

Dan and Jane have worked within the early years and SEND education worlds themselves and so it didn't take them long to get back into the swing of things! 

We have a lot more to talk about and some more visits to make and are really looking forward to a positive working relationship with both Jane and Dan and working together towards instigating change and reform where needed. 

Huge thank you to the amazing children and staff at both Bournville and Locking primary schools: you were all so welcoming and engaging and radiated warmth, positivity and pride.

On the evening of Monday 22 October, members of the central services team became temporary detectives and joined Avon and Somerset Police Cyber Protect Officers Felix Lester and Megan Haldane in trying to crack the codes needed to solve a high-profile cybercrime case.

This Cyber Escape Room put the team's investigative prowess to the test in a twist on the classic escape room experience, having just thirty minutes to clear the name of a colleague who had been targeted by cyber criminals.

It sounds like a lot of fun, and it was. Stressful against the clock but fun! But on the serious side, it showed just how easy it was to become the target of a criminal organisation by being careless with personal information and/or oversharing on social media and how difficult it could be to undo.

Along the way, the teams uncovered top-notch cyber security tips to safeguard themselves and the organisation from the ever-looming threat of cybercrime. Felix and Meg had some great advice around actions we could all take to protect ourselves and talked about reporting.

Thank you so much to the Avon and Somerset Police Cyber Protect Team. This was an extremely valuable learning exercise!

Thank you to Locking Primary School for lending us your school hall.

Windwhistle Primary School have received a very special visit from Labour Councillor for Weston-super-Mare South Ward James Clayton, and Active and Sustainable Travel Officer for Schools and Communities Abbie Edbrooke, who came to present students with the certificate for their National Modeshift STARS ‘Good Travel Plan’ award.  The award recognises schools that do excellent work to encourage a reduction in car journeys to/from their site.

The children were very proud of their achievement and spoke enthusiastically about how walking, cycling, scooting (and even roller-skating!) helps to keep them active, and gets their hearts and brains healthy and ready for learning.

To achieve this fantastic award, the school has done lots of work to find out how it’s community are travelling. They are working to encourage more walking wheeling scooting and cycling by completing challenges like the Living Streets ‘WOW Challenge’ where children self-report on how they get to school and win badges by walking to school at least once a week every week for a month.

Headteacher Heidi Hudd and Pastoral Lead Nicole Vinton explained how last academic year Windwhistle worked with the community and North Somerset Council to introduce the School Street scheme, a proactive solution for school communities to tackle air pollution, poor health and road safety outside schools. A School Street is a road outside a school with a temporary restriction on motorised traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times. The restriction applies to school traffic and through traffic. The result is a safer, healthier and pleasant environment for everyone. At Windwhistle, this is designated by eye-catching pencil bollards at each end of Kingsley Road that mark the School Street zone.

Traffic is reduced for an hour before and after school, preventing the danger and frustration that can accompany school pick-up and drop-off. In addition, Windwhistle has introduced ‘Park and Stride scheme’, where cars are parked further away in the local area and children walk the remaining distance to school, diffusing the traffic outside of the school. Windwhistle discussed their introduction of #WalkToSchoolWednesdays, which they hope to build into an even bigger initiative by using it to engage even more with the community in the future.

Abbie Edbrooke introduced the children to ‘Joan’, her bicycle, and talked about how proud she was of all the children, and how walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling to school each day can make a big difference to how we feel and help their minds and bodies just as much as it helps the environment. Councillor James Clayton was very enthusiastic about how much the children had achieved, and mentioned how walking to school in their school uniforms helps children show how proud they are to be pupils at Windwhistle. Councillor Clayton’s links to the local community run very deep, having seen his own children through the local school system and working with Windwhistle and Bournville primary schools for many years.

ELAN Communications Lead Laura Latham talked about how Windwhistle is making its mark in the community with local engagement such as these walk to school initiatives. James emphasised this, and described both Windwhistle and Bournville as ‘pinnacles of their community’, an ‘oasis’ in the area which needs these ‘vibrant schools’ to effectively tackle inequalities through education. Teaching children independence and self-belief by encouraging walking to school is just one of the steps Windwhistle is taking in building their reputation for extraordinary provision for the whole community, with children’s wellbeing and safety always at the forefront.

Congratulations to the community of Windwhistle Primary School.

This autumn, Mead Vale Primary School have opened a brand new nurture hub, The Cottage. A nurture hub is a tried and tested way of relating to children that helps them develop vital social skills, confidence and self-esteem, and become ready to learn.

The nurturing approach to education offers a range of opportunities for children and young people to engage with missing early nurturing experiences, giving them the social and emotional skills to do well at school and with peers, and to develop their resilience and self-confidence. It encourages pupils to take pride in achieving - addressing the social and emotional needs that can hamper learning. 

The Cottage provides a nurturing environment where children can develop essential skills and overcome barriers to learning whilst feeling emotionally safe. It provides space for up to eight children aged 4 to 11 years old and offers a bespoke learning curriculum based on the six principles of nurture.

• We learn to grow together
• Our classrooms are always safe spaces
• We listen and support each other
• We have words to communicate our feelings and ideas
• Our behaviour tells our story
• We talk and prepare for change in our lives

At Mead Vale, play and learning go hand-in-hand and children and staff have fully embraced OPAL Play (outdoor play and learning) to create more teaching time, improve behaviour and attendance, develop faster core skills development, support inclusion and improve happiness and wellbeing.

The Cottage is the latest addition to the academy-trusts growing portfolio of SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) bases which includes:

• The Cove, (Autistic hub) at Mendip Green Primary School,
• Hearing and Language Resource Base (HLRB) at Mendip Green Primary School,
• The Nest Nurture Hub at Bournville Primary School,
• The Den (autism resource base) at Milton Park Primary School
• Treetops Resource Hub (Moderate Learning Difficulty MLD) at Locking Primary School.