The courageous and inspiring story of a Leeds man who became successful despite the worst childhood trauma, plus a respected advisor to the Princess of Wales through the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Years, were the keynote speakers at Ebor Academy Trust’s first whole trust staff training event at The Barbican in York.
Richard McCann’s mother was the first woman to be killed by Peter Sutcliffe and Ed Vainker is head of the Reach Foundation and acknowledged by the education sector as one of its most talented leaders.
Ebor comprises 25 primary schools in York, Selby, Hull and the East Riding and on the Yorkshire Coast and its “Ebor Together” event was held on the first training day at the start of the new school year, to launch its Year of Our People initiative. It also emphasised the importance of all staff irrespective of their role, said Gail Brown, chief executive. “We have just marked our tenth anniversary,” she said, “and thought this would be a fitting way to welcome our second decade of service to our children by explaining our key priorities – early years, community and children’s wellbeing.
“The Barbican was a superb setting for more than 650 staff who travelled in and they witnessed a memorable and inspirational event.”
Richard McCann spoke eloquently about his life which began in Leeds in poverty, his early trauma and yet how the support of his teachers helped him to success. Ed Vainker told how regularly engaging with parents and the community helped schools and pupils make the most of their opportunities and created new ones.
One of the attendees said afterwards: “To see the scale of the trust and how it has grown in one room was really powerful. It was brilliant to hear the values that we teach daily be applied to staff and be highlighted throughout the guest speakers’ sessions – it was really powerful. The importance in purposefully building the sense of community both within our schools and within the trust as a whole was definitely the key take away for me.”
Ebor’s director of people and culture, David Wheeler, explained how the human resources function was now much more progressive and forward thinking in organisations such as Ebor. He launched self-service HR via a staff section on the Ebor website and explained the trust’s people strategy and its employee journey.
The event was introduced by outgoing trust chair Rachel Totton and ended with closing remarks from new chair, Debbie Clinton.
Much of the cost of the event, which took a year to prepare, was paid for through sponsorship. Principal sponsor was Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation with further financial support from suppliers to the trust.
Richard McCann, top; our audience of some 650 staff; Ed Vainker
