Pupils and staff prepare to say farewell to longstanding DLT school leader

Djanogly Learning Trust pupils and teachers are preparing to say farewell to a longstanding senior leader.

Liz Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, is retiring in August 2023; the end of this academic year.

During the last 18 years, Liz has held senior teaching roles at the Trust, which is based in New Basford, Nottingham.

Liz was Headteacher of Djanogly Northgate Academy before she was promoted to Executive Headteacher, which involved having responsibility for all of the Trust’s primary schools.

She rose up the ranks and in 2018 was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Trust, which has more than 3,000 pupils, 200 teaching staff and 270 support staff across nine schools.

During her tenure, Liz has seen the Trust’s family of schools grow and she has supported headteachers and their staff to achieve impressive progress as recognised by some great Ofsted reports.

Liz was made a National Leader of Education, based on her work with Djanogly Northgate Academy and Djanogly Strelley Academy, both of which are Ofsted graded ‘good’.

Meanwhile, during the last few years the Trust has opened a newer school, Djanogly Sherwood Academy, to respond to growing demand and the need for more primary places.

Liz has overseen the Trust’s expansion to nine academies as its expertise has been in demand to support other schools in the East Midlands.

In terms of challenges, and in common with schools nationally, one of the most significant points of her career involved managing the Trust’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reflecting on her career, Liz said: “Our aim in creating Djanogly Learning Trust was to enable like-minded professionals and schools to come together to ensure that our academies served their communities and helped children to be the best that they could be.

“We wanted children in less advantaged communities to have the same experiences as all pupils and for them to know that they were just as good and could achieve just as much.”

All of the Trust’s academies have higher than national numbers of children eligible for free school meals. Across the Trust’s schools, more than 35 languages are spoken.

Liz continued: “All of our academies share the same ethos to support our children to thrive and succeed in education and life and I am really proud of what has been achieved.

“I feel that we have made a difference and continue to do so. I want to pay tribute to our fantastic staff and thank our families and local communities for their support along the way.

“I will take some wonderful memories with me including two boys who were inseparable as friends from the age of five. They have now completed their university degrees as the first in both their families to go on to higher education.

“Another former pupil who had a challenging background returned years later to tell me he was assistant manager at a top restaurant.

“Likewise, it has been very rewarding to see staff who joined us in the first part of their careers move on to senior management and headteacher roles with our support.

“It has also been good to see the support staff whom we have inspired return to education themselves and gain a degree to further their own careers.”

Tim Slade, Chair of Djanogly Learning Trust’s Board of Trustees, said: “Liz has always put pupils first, driven by a deep conviction that all our pupils deserve to develop the confidence and belief to achieve thereby helping ensure they can realise their remarkable potential.

“Liz also understands the demands of the teaching profession and support staff and has worked hard to ensure the wellbeing of the Djanogly Learning Trust team including a real commitment to training and development for the whole team at DLT. She has been central in the expansion of our family of schools including turning around previously underperforming schools that are now very well established and thriving.

“Under Liz’s leadership, our Trust is now a first choice for families delivering significantly improved pupil outcomes. We are immensely grateful to Liz for her lasting contribution and very proud of what she has achieved. We wish her all the very best for her retirement and the start of an exciting new chapter.”