Ormiston Academies Trust appoints executive principal for academies in West Midlands
Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT), one of the country’s leading multi-academy trusts, today announced Andrew Burns as Executive Principal of two of its academies in the West Midlands.
Andrew will serve as Executive Principal for Ormiston Forge Academy in Cradley Heath and
Tenbury High Ormiston Academy in Tenbury Wells, working closely with the senior leadership teams at both and sharing the benefit of his considerable expertise and experience.
Andrew, who is currently Principal of Ormiston Forge Academy, will work across both academies and with OAT’s Regional Director for the Trust’s West Region, Robert Pritchard, to support the schools build on their successes to date and to continue to go from strength to strength.
Tenbury High Ormiston Academy (THOA) joined OAT in September 2014 and has since been transformed under the sponsorship of OAT, confirmed in its first Ofsted inspection since joining the Trust, in September 2017, which saw the academy rated ‘Outstanding’ for personal development, behaviour and welfare and ‘Good’ in every other category – with an overall rating of ‘Good’.
In October 2017, THOA celebrated achieving outstanding results in the GCSE tables, which highlighted the progress students make while at secondary school. The academy’s score of 0.18 and equates to each student achieving on average, almost one-fifth of a GCSE grade better per subject than they had been expected to achieve when they joined the Academy. This is above the national average and was also up on the Academy’s 2016 mark, when it achieved a strong score of 0.14.
Andrew joins THOA as the current Principal, Adrian Price, who has overseen the academy’s rise, moves to lead another strong OAT academy, George Salter Academy, in West Bromwich, where he will take over from Pank Patel, who is retiring. Andrew will work closely with the senior leadership team at THOA to ensure a smooth transition.
Andrew joined OAT in 2012 as Principal of Ormiston Forge Academy, when the predecessor school first converted to academy status and joined the Trust. Under Andrew’s leadership, Ormiston Forge Academy has undergone a period of rapid improvement, which culminated in the academy being rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in April 2016 and it has subsequently been designated as a National Support School.
Andrew, who was appointed a
National Leader of Education (NLE) in March 2017, has more than 23 years’ experience in education, having started his career as a mathematics teacher in inner-city Birmingham. He has since worked in a number of different schools, many in challenging circumstances, working to improve outcomes for students and to ensure that they fulfil their potential.
OAT, which has been sponsoring primary and secondary academies across the country since 2008, champions the excellent academic achievement and all-round development of the 27,000+ young people it serves. With a central office in Birmingham, the Trust oversees 36 academies, which are clustered into North, East, South and West regions across England, with academies in each region sharing best practice and expertise under the leadership of a dedicated regional director.
Andrew Burns, Executive Principal of Tenbury High Ormiston Academy and Ormiston Forge Academy said:
“
I am excited to take up this new role, which will allow me to continue to work with the fantastic team at Ormiston Forge Academy supporting them to further raise standards and improve outcomes for students. I am also looking forward to supporting the, soon to be appointed, new Academy Headteacher at Tenbury High Ormiston Academy to do the same – ensuring that both academies are providing the very best education possible to all our students.
“
Both academies have undergone periods of considerable and sustained improvement over the last few years, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of staff, students and the wider community at both. I now look forward to supporting them to go from strength to strength, on their journey to becoming ‘Outstanding’.”
Robert Pritchard, Regional Director West at Ormiston Academies Trust, said:
“
We are delighted to announce Andrew’s new role as Executive Principal for both Ormiston Forge Academy and Tenbury High Ormiston Academy. Since he joined OAT as Principal of Ormiston Forge in 2012, the academy has been on a significant journey of improvement and Andrew has played a huge part in driving this.
“
Andrew’s passion and enthusiasm for school improvement and ensuring that all students fulfil their potential, regardless of their background or starting point, has helped to inspire students and staff alike at Ormiston Forge and in this new role Tenbury High will now benefit from his energy, dedication and considerable expertise, which will be a huge asset to the fantastic team there”.
Andrew was the first in his family to go to university and in his spare time is now a trustee of the Access Project working to give the children at his academy, and more widely, the same opportunities he was afforded, and the chance to study at a top university. Andrew also serves as the Chair of Governors at
Corngreaves Primary.
