Dear Parents and Carers
Yesterday we welcomed Karenjeet Kaur Bains back to Myton, who left in 2015 and has achieved great success as a British powerlifter, being the first Sikh woman to represent her country at both the European and World Championships. Karenjeet is the winner of three Gold and two Silver Commonwealth Powerlifting medals, the five times All England Powerlifting Champion and five times British Powerlifting Champion. She also holds the Guinness World Record for the “Most Bodyweight Squats in a minute” – so many achievements and she’s not finished yet! However, you may know her better as Athena from The Gladiators, which explained the excited staff running to find her and then leaving with signed photos, obviously for their kids. I am delighted that she visited us and will continue to do so, she is one of our very many inspiring students.
We also welcomed yesterday Andrew Warren, the West Midlands Regional Director (he represents the DfE for the whole West Midlands), Claire O’Keeffe who leads the Warwickshire part of that brief, Sarah Sheepy, Head of Coten End and Ranjit Samra, CEO of the Stowe Valley Multi-Academy Trust. We met to share our exciting vision for education for this part of Warwick and Leamington, to explain how Coten End and Myton merging with Stowe Valley Trust supports this vision and how we will work with other local educational partners to make it all happen. I am happy to say that our enthusiasm for this project did seem to land with the Regional Director who does have overall responsibility for educational standards in the whole of the West Midlands. He had visited Myton last Autumn, along with Baroness Barran, in the midst of the RAAC crisis. I am relieved to report he seems to bare no grudge given my behaviour in that particular meeting, you may recall it wasn’t the most harmonious of comings together.
In the background, our modular village is taking shape, you may have seen it and particularly the massive crane if you’ve been near the site. Absolutely gutted that neither I nor any of my colleagues have been allowed a go on that crane. Seeing them stack in each module as it arrives with that beast of a crane really is Lego for grown ups and the geek in me is desperate for a turn. However, best leave them to it and we will look forward to getting rid of the horrible temporary buildings we have been using as soon as it is ready.
Best wishes
Andy Perry
