TRUST NEWS
PRESS RELEASE: New CEO gets cracking at Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust
21st January 2021
Highly-regarded education leader Dan Morrow began his role as CEO of Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust earlier this month
Dan Morrow is the new CEO for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), a family of 17 Primary and Secondary schools across Devon.
Dan, a highly-regarded education leader with a national reputation, joins DMAT having previously been the Trust Leader and CEO for Woodland Academy Trust, an educational charity serving several thousand children in South East London.
The new CEO has kicked things off quickly to do everything possible to support their pupils during these difficult times. Since the beginning of January, DMAT have greatly increased their remote learning provision for all pupils and have been working closely with the Department for Education to provide digital devices to disadvantaged pupils so they can fully access their remote learning.
The Trust has also partnered with Vodafone to provide SIM cards to pupils who do not have broadband access at home. The SIM cards will help pupils get online using their phone or tablet.
As well as tackling the current challenges presented by COVID-19, Dan is working with his team on developing long-term plans for the Trust and the communities they serve. Dan is a strong believer in breaking down barriers and providing pupils with opportunities to fulfil their ambitions and achieve their potential. As they look towards the future, they want to ensure that they are thinking about ensuring a positive and sustained impact for their pupils and communities.
Already work is underway to strengthen the engagement and provision for the whole community and the Trust have launched an exciting new initiative called fellowship passports, which will provide pupils with a clear framework for how they can continue to be motivated and committed to their learning.
The Trust’s schools are also benefitting from other recent key staff appointments. Ed Finch, Rebecca Mullins and Gareth Smith began their roles as Trust Champions this month.
The new Trust Champions joined the Trust’s Educational Services Team and are now working across senior leadership and respective local school improvement teams to boost educational provision and opportunities for pupils. The team are supporting at the frontline of operations whilst also helping to craft a framework of resources and support for children and families within DMAT and across the community more widely. Veronica Lloyd-Richards will also join the Trust as a Trust Champion later in the year.
Dan Morrow, CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:
“I have spent a lot of time in Devon previously and have always been stunned not just by the beauty of the landscape but also by the strength and bonds of community. I wanted to find a role that I can really invest in and one in which positive change could be made as a community, therefore the opportunity to work in Devon really is a privilege.
“It has been a challenging first few weeks of term for everybody, but I cannot explain how proud I am of the manner in which every pupil, staff member and parent has conducted themselves. They are a testament to themselves and the Trust. Together I have no doubt we will overcome these difficulties and come out the other side stronger.”
Highly-regarded education leader Dan Morrow began his role as CEO of Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust earlier this month
Dan Morrow is the new CEO for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), a family of 17 Primary and Secondary schools across Devon.
Dan, a highly-regarded education leader with a national reputation, joins DMAT having previously been the Trust Leader and CEO for Woodland Academy Trust, an educational charity serving several thousand children in South East London.
The new CEO has kicked things off quickly to do everything possible to support their pupils during these difficult times. Since the beginning of January, DMAT have greatly increased their remote learning provision for all pupils and have been working closely with the Department for Education to provide digital devices to disadvantaged pupils so they can fully access their remote learning.
The Trust has also partnered with Vodafone to provide SIM cards to pupils who do not have broadband access at home. The SIM cards will help pupils get online using their phone or tablet.
As well as tackling the current challenges presented by COVID-19, Dan is working with his team on developing long-term plans for the Trust and the communities they serve. Dan is a strong believer in breaking down barriers and providing pupils with opportunities to fulfil their ambitions and achieve their potential. As they look towards the future, they want to ensure that they are thinking about ensuring a positive and sustained impact for their pupils and communities.
Already work is underway to strengthen the engagement and provision for the whole community and the Trust have launched an exciting new initiative called fellowship passports, which will provide pupils with a clear framework for how they can continue to be motivated and committed to their learning.
The Trust’s schools are also benefitting from other recent key staff appointments. Ed Finch, Rebecca Mullins and Gareth Smith began their roles as Trust Champions this month.
The new Trust Champions joined the Trust’s Educational Services Team and are now working across senior leadership and respective local school improvement teams to boost educational provision and opportunities for pupils. The team are supporting at the frontline of operations whilst also helping to craft a framework of resources and support for children and families within DMAT and across the community more widely. Veronica Lloyd-Richards will also join the Trust as a Trust Champion later in the year.
Dan Morrow, CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:
“I have spent a lot of time in Devon previously and have always been stunned not just by the beauty of the landscape but also by the strength and bonds of community. I wanted to find a role that I can really invest in and one in which positive change could be made as a community, therefore the opportunity to work in Devon really is a privilege.
“It has been a challenging first few weeks of term for everybody, but I cannot explain how proud I am of the manner in which every pupil, staff member and parent has conducted themselves. They are a testament to themselves and the Trust. Together I have no doubt we will overcome these difficulties and come out the other side stronger.”
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust: Supporting our Communities through Lockdown
15th January 2021
Our Remote Learning Provision
Despite schools across the Trust remaining closed, except to children of key workers and vulnerable learners, the education for our students has continued thanks to the hard work and diligence of staff, parents and more in the community.
We are continuing to provide remote learning for all students and have improved both our online provision as well as students’ access to it, to ensure our students remain fully engaged with their education throughout this lockdown. Steps we have taken to guarantee our students remain connected with their education include:
Free School Meals
In order to support our students and families who are eligible for free school meals through the latest national lockdown, we are currently working with the local partners and the DfE to provide families with food vouchers. The vouchers will be worth £15 and can be spent at local registered supermarkets. The Trust has now issued physical vouchers to all schools to distribute to eligible parents, and your school will be in contact with further details very soon.
Supporting You
We appreciate what a challenging time it currently is for families and students. If you need support or advice, then please know you are welcome to contact your schools. We have also drawn together a list of organisations and charities who you can turn to for support which we will also share on the Trust website, and wanted to reiterate the importance of us all working together to make it through this challenging period.
Our Remote Learning Provision
Despite schools across the Trust remaining closed, except to children of key workers and vulnerable learners, the education for our students has continued thanks to the hard work and diligence of staff, parents and more in the community.
We are continuing to provide remote learning for all students and have improved both our online provision as well as students’ access to it, to ensure our students remain fully engaged with their education throughout this lockdown. Steps we have taken to guarantee our students remain connected with their education include:
- We are now providing an increased number of live lessons to students, as well as access to a range of engaging educational activities which can be found online here. Part of this includes rapidly setting up shared resource areas to ensure great ideas can spread just as they would across the school if it were open.
- Alongside the Department for Education, we are also providing digital devices to all disadvantaged students to help them access remote learning and are working extremely hard to ensure every child can access their education.
- We have been delighted to work with Vodafone to provide a number of SIM cards for students which will enable those without broadband to access the internet using their phone or tablet.
- Additionally, all our schools will remain open to the vulnerable learners and children of key workers throughout the current period of school closures if required, but parents and carers should keep their children at home if they can.
Free School Meals
In order to support our students and families who are eligible for free school meals through the latest national lockdown, we are currently working with the local partners and the DfE to provide families with food vouchers. The vouchers will be worth £15 and can be spent at local registered supermarkets. The Trust has now issued physical vouchers to all schools to distribute to eligible parents, and your school will be in contact with further details very soon.
Supporting You
We appreciate what a challenging time it currently is for families and students. If you need support or advice, then please know you are welcome to contact your schools. We have also drawn together a list of organisations and charities who you can turn to for support which we will also share on the Trust website, and wanted to reiterate the importance of us all working together to make it through this challenging period.
- GOV.UK
- Food banks
- Domestic violence
- Debt and financial concerns:
- Support for Carers
- NHS Support
- Mental Health Support
- Older relatives:
- Bereavement
- SEND Support
Sarah Jones, Principal at Tavistock College, on BBC Radio Devon
13th January 2021
Sarah Jones, Principal at Tavistock College, was interviewed on Gordan Sparks' BBC Radio Devon show on Wednesday 13th January. Listen below from 2:08:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0922f6l
Sarah Jones, Principal at Tavistock College, was interviewed on Gordan Sparks' BBC Radio Devon show on Wednesday 13th January. Listen below from 2:08:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0922f6l
BBC Radio Devon and BBC Spotlight
7th January 2021
Our CEO, Dan Morrow, and Holsworthy Community College Headteacher, Andrew Sweeney, were interviewed on Gordan Sparks' BBC Radio Devon show on Thursday 7th January. Click the link below and you can listen at 2:34 (Dan Morrow) and 1:51 (Andrew Sweeney):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0919tsn
Andrew also made an appearance on BBC Spotlight, watch from 18 minutes, below:
BBC iPlayer - Spotlight - Evening News: 07/01/2021
Our CEO, Dan Morrow, and Holsworthy Community College Headteacher, Andrew Sweeney, were interviewed on Gordan Sparks' BBC Radio Devon show on Thursday 7th January. Click the link below and you can listen at 2:34 (Dan Morrow) and 1:51 (Andrew Sweeney):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0919tsn
Andrew also made an appearance on BBC Spotlight, watch from 18 minutes, below:
BBC iPlayer - Spotlight - Evening News: 07/01/2021
December 2020
Click below to read our Trust Christmas Newsletter 2020 in full
Click below to read our Trust Christmas Newsletter 2020 in full
MR DAN MORROW | PRESS RELEASE
“Revealing the Champion within”
2nd December 2021
From January 2021, Dan Morrow will be arriving as the new CEO for the Dartmoor Multi Academy trust, a family of 17 Primary and Secondary schools within Devon.
Already a highly regarded Education leader with a national reputation, Dan is currently the Trust Leader and CEO for Woodland Academy Trust, an Educational Charity serving several thousand children in the South East of London and employing 350 staff. He is passionate about removing as many challenges as possible for children to believe and achieve following his own experience of being a free school meal pupil who went on to be the first in his family to go to University, reading History at the University of Oxford. Speaking as to why the post attracted him, Dan said: “I have spent a lot of time in Devon previously and have always been stunned not just by the beauty of the landscape but also by the strength and bonds of community. I wanted to find a role that I can really invest in and one where we can make a change together- having such a strong community as a basis really is a privilege.
Dan already has big plans for the schools within the Trust to reach out even further to the communities that they serve. His favoured metaphor for talking about the children in his care involves ‘invisible backpacks’. Inside those backpacks are all the negative experiences and difficulties children have faced which need to be unpacked; no child leaves their bag at the door when they come into school under Dan’s leadership. Children are at the heart of all that Dan does and he noted, “I was a bit lost as a child myself; nervous, anxious and often not confident to speak out. I may have grown past that but we must always remember that every child is gifted and talented- it’s our job as the adults in charge to find what that is for each and every unique learner.”
Dan recognises the most valuable and valued resource under his leadership is his staff. Listening to what staff teams needed ensured Dan created a framework that would allow children to believe and achieve, while also ensuring staff can grow and develop. This supports a climate and culture based on excellence for all. Additionally, he reflects that it can often be that one adult or teacher that can make a difference for a child-“without the belief and support that teachers gave to me throughout my own journey, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you now.”
Building on the superb support that Dartmoor MAT has given to the community throughout the pandemic, January looks like a truly exciting time for the direction of our schools and for the future of our children. Under Dan’s leadership, the Trust is confident 2021 will be a much better year for us all.
“Revealing the Champion within”
2nd December 2021
From January 2021, Dan Morrow will be arriving as the new CEO for the Dartmoor Multi Academy trust, a family of 17 Primary and Secondary schools within Devon.
Already a highly regarded Education leader with a national reputation, Dan is currently the Trust Leader and CEO for Woodland Academy Trust, an Educational Charity serving several thousand children in the South East of London and employing 350 staff. He is passionate about removing as many challenges as possible for children to believe and achieve following his own experience of being a free school meal pupil who went on to be the first in his family to go to University, reading History at the University of Oxford. Speaking as to why the post attracted him, Dan said: “I have spent a lot of time in Devon previously and have always been stunned not just by the beauty of the landscape but also by the strength and bonds of community. I wanted to find a role that I can really invest in and one where we can make a change together- having such a strong community as a basis really is a privilege.
Dan already has big plans for the schools within the Trust to reach out even further to the communities that they serve. His favoured metaphor for talking about the children in his care involves ‘invisible backpacks’. Inside those backpacks are all the negative experiences and difficulties children have faced which need to be unpacked; no child leaves their bag at the door when they come into school under Dan’s leadership. Children are at the heart of all that Dan does and he noted, “I was a bit lost as a child myself; nervous, anxious and often not confident to speak out. I may have grown past that but we must always remember that every child is gifted and talented- it’s our job as the adults in charge to find what that is for each and every unique learner.”
Dan recognises the most valuable and valued resource under his leadership is his staff. Listening to what staff teams needed ensured Dan created a framework that would allow children to believe and achieve, while also ensuring staff can grow and develop. This supports a climate and culture based on excellence for all. Additionally, he reflects that it can often be that one adult or teacher that can make a difference for a child-“without the belief and support that teachers gave to me throughout my own journey, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you now.”
Building on the superb support that Dartmoor MAT has given to the community throughout the pandemic, January looks like a truly exciting time for the direction of our schools and for the future of our children. Under Dan’s leadership, the Trust is confident 2021 will be a much better year for us all.
Ed Finch
NEWLY APPOINTED TRUST CHAMPIONS! | PRESS RELEASE
20th November 2020
Local Trust announces new roles to drive innovation across schools
Exciting changes are underway for a wide range of Devon schools in the coming months.
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), which has 17 schools across the region, is bringing in new leadership and ‘Trust Champions’ to help spur opportunities for learning for all the Trust’s pupils.
The four new Trust Champions will use their improvement expertise to elevate the curriculum, invigorate teaching practice and promote positive change across the schools to impact on every child’s learning experience.
The Trust’s recently appointed CEO, Dan Morrow, officially joins in January, however he is already working closely with leaders to put into place a number of initiatives to begin transforming educational outcomes and aspirations across the schools.
As the Trust’s incoming CEO, Dan will focus on building the role of the Trust in the local community, developing strong partnerships across the schools and with organisations in the local area for the benefit of the whole community.
To help drive this, the Trust Champions will be joining the Trust’s Educational Services Team, working across senior leadership and respective local school improvement teams to boost educational provision and opportunities for pupils. They bring with them a wealth of varied educational experience and will each add their own unique perspective on how to drive positive change across the Trust.
The Trust Champions, who will be starting over the coming months, are a key step in the fostering a collaborative community across the Trust. Today’s announcement, and the introduction of their new CEO Dan Morrow in January, provides DMAT with a real opportunity to make a genuine impact on their community and ensure students are receiving the highest possible education.
Ed Finch, Trust Champion and one of TES’s top 10 most influential people in education in 2019, said:
"I'm very excited to join Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust and get to know about all the great things going on in our schools. It will be my challenge and my privilege to seek all the bits of brilliance that are happening and connect us together so everyone gets to join in and see the benefit. I just can't wait to get started.”
20th November 2020
Local Trust announces new roles to drive innovation across schools
Exciting changes are underway for a wide range of Devon schools in the coming months.
Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust (DMAT), which has 17 schools across the region, is bringing in new leadership and ‘Trust Champions’ to help spur opportunities for learning for all the Trust’s pupils.
The four new Trust Champions will use their improvement expertise to elevate the curriculum, invigorate teaching practice and promote positive change across the schools to impact on every child’s learning experience.
The Trust’s recently appointed CEO, Dan Morrow, officially joins in January, however he is already working closely with leaders to put into place a number of initiatives to begin transforming educational outcomes and aspirations across the schools.
As the Trust’s incoming CEO, Dan will focus on building the role of the Trust in the local community, developing strong partnerships across the schools and with organisations in the local area for the benefit of the whole community.
To help drive this, the Trust Champions will be joining the Trust’s Educational Services Team, working across senior leadership and respective local school improvement teams to boost educational provision and opportunities for pupils. They bring with them a wealth of varied educational experience and will each add their own unique perspective on how to drive positive change across the Trust.
The Trust Champions, who will be starting over the coming months, are a key step in the fostering a collaborative community across the Trust. Today’s announcement, and the introduction of their new CEO Dan Morrow in January, provides DMAT with a real opportunity to make a genuine impact on their community and ensure students are receiving the highest possible education.
Ed Finch, Trust Champion and one of TES’s top 10 most influential people in education in 2019, said:
"I'm very excited to join Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust and get to know about all the great things going on in our schools. It will be my challenge and my privilege to seek all the bits of brilliance that are happening and connect us together so everyone gets to join in and see the benefit. I just can't wait to get started.”
Veronica Lloyd-Richards
Also joining Ed as a Trust Champion is freelance education consultant Veronica Lloyd-Richards, who said:
“I feel very honoured to be working with Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust as a Trust Champion. Having worked in a range of schools in different parts of the country over the course of my career as a teacher and leader, I am especially excited to be able to make a contribution to the work of our schools in my local community. My interest is in teaching and learning and school leadership, and I can't wait to meet teachers and leaders from across the Trust and help support the great work they do in our schools.”
“I feel very honoured to be working with Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust as a Trust Champion. Having worked in a range of schools in different parts of the country over the course of my career as a teacher and leader, I am especially excited to be able to make a contribution to the work of our schools in my local community. My interest is in teaching and learning and school leadership, and I can't wait to meet teachers and leaders from across the Trust and help support the great work they do in our schools.”
Gareth Smith
Gareth Smith, who joins as a Trust Champion on a two-term secondment from DMAT’s Tavistock College, is equally looking forward to getting started. He said:
“I am excited about starting as a Trust Champion as I have always enjoyed working with people to improve outcomes for young people. I am looking forward to getting involved in planning school improvement and working alongside teachers to make this happen. I have worked within Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust since its inception and share the cooperative values and principles it was founded on.”
“I am excited about starting as a Trust Champion as I have always enjoyed working with people to improve outcomes for young people. I am looking forward to getting involved in planning school improvement and working alongside teachers to make this happen. I have worked within Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust since its inception and share the cooperative values and principles it was founded on.”
Rebecca Mullins
Trust Champion Rebecca Mullins will also be joining, bringing her years of teaching and leadership expertise to DMAT. Rebecca is also studying towards an MSc in Human Resource Management at Exeter University Business School. Rebecca has worked in a diverse range of school settings around the country and she will bring a wealth of experience in helping teachers to develop their practice and potential.
Dan Morrow, incoming CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:
“We are delighted to announce our four new Trust Champions today – this is a really exciting moment for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust as we continue to go from strength to strength as we look to drive improvements for all our schools and pupils every day.
“I am really looking forward to officially joining the DMAT team in January and working closely with the new Trust Champions to see the positive impact we can make for everyone involved with the Trust and our local communities.”
Dan Morrow, incoming CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:
“We are delighted to announce our four new Trust Champions today – this is a really exciting moment for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust as we continue to go from strength to strength as we look to drive improvements for all our schools and pupils every day.
“I am really looking forward to officially joining the DMAT team in January and working closely with the new Trust Champions to see the positive impact we can make for everyone involved with the Trust and our local communities.”
