One of England’s biggest trusts is sending a team of teachers thousands of miles to a remote tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Delta Academies Trust has partnered with the only secondary on St Helena, the British territory where Napoleon was exiled after the Battle of Waterloo.
Three of the 63-school trust’s staff will work on the island, which sits over 1,200 miles from Africa, its nearest continent and 4,500 miles from England, for a year.
Delta CEO Andy Barnett said: “I am excited about the opportunities it will bring. Firstly, to the children in St Helena and, secondly, to the staff selected to experience a different way of life.
“It is a powerful demonstration of our commitment to develop colleagues and another benefit of being part of a large trust which is prepared to offer these experiences.”
‘Unusual’ approach
The English, maths and science specialists will fly to the island – which has a population of 4,500 – in September. They will take up “advisory teacher” roles.
Phil Toal, St Helena Secondary’s head, said the trio will help to strengthen teaching, support curriculum development and build “sustainable capacity within our school”.
His school “would face challenges in meeting curriculum demands across its core subjects” without the support.
Delta executive principal Chris McCall noted that the trust works with “many” schools across the country – but the “approach from Saint Helena was certainly unusual”.
He added: “We are extremely focused on developing our staff through our workload policies, our staff benefits platform and our leadership pathways initiatives.
“The St Helena partnership allows us to give our staff a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity while simultaneously developing their leadership skills and boosting the life chances of young people.”
More trips planned
The school “broadly follows the UK national curriculum”, according to the St Helena government’s website.
At GCSE and A-level, it follows exam board specifications “where we are able to choose the subjects most suited to our needs”.
The curriculum is also “integrated with some online learning in specific areas which cannot be taught on-island”.
McCall confirmed that “all costs” are being met by the island school. The trust has “has simply facilitated a secondment”.
Another trip is planned for next year. Delta expects there to be “at least four places” available to staff, but this depends on the school’s needs.
It expects this to be the start of a “long-term relationship”, with trust staff “sharing resources and facilitating access to CPD” in the UK.
Trusts look overseas
This is the latest in a string of examples of trusts establishing international links. Schools Week revealed last year how delegations from Australia have visited academy chains such as Ark, Trinity and Twyford with a view to launching their own trust system.
Major trusts have also looked overseas for new recruits. The Harris Federation has hired scores of specialist teachers from Jamaica.
A government-backed report found overseas teachers have played a “key role” in helping fill schools’ vacancies in England.
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