Press release archive

Archived releases

Articles are listed by date, most recent first.

SSAT responds to White Paper  |  01 Jul 2009
SSAT's Chief Executive, Liz Reid, responds to the White Paper 'Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future'.

New strategic director appointed by SSAT  |  30 Jun 2009
Chris Montacute has been appointed as the Strategic Director for Partnerships and Performance Networks at the SSAT.

A school quality standard for parental engagement  |  17 Jun 2009
A quality standard that accredits schools for the work they do to engage parents in their children’s learning, is being rolled out nationally this week by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT).

SSAT sponsors the Outstanding Adult Learner Award  |  01 Jun 2009
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) is delighted to sponsor the Outstanding Adult Learner in a Specialist School award for the second year in 2009 as part of Adult Learners’ Week. This award celebrates the outstanding achievements of adult learners in specialist schools and academies and highlights how education can broaden horizons and transform lives.

SSAT appoints Nick Stuart as its new chairman  |  28 Apr 2009
Nick Stuart takes over as chairman from Sir James Hill who has chaired the SSAT board since December 2007.

Celebrating schools that add value at GCSE  |  06 Apr 2009
Specialist schools and academies from around the country were recognised at an awards evening this week for adding value to their students’ GCSE achievements.

Academies share ideas to transform lives  |  24 Mar 2009
Six academies opened their doors to showcase how they transform the lives of young people and their communities as part of SSAT's academy coach tour 2009.

Sixth formers should study university modules  |  11 Mar 2009
More sixth formers should have the chance to study sections of university courses to prepare them for their future studies.

High performing schools recognised by SSAT  |  11 Mar 2009
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has held a celebration dinner to recognise schools that have achieved high performance in their 2008 GCSE results.

Business & enterprise colleges lead promotion  |  06 Mar 2009
The Minister for the Third Sector Kevin Brennan today addressed over 250 teachers in Birmingham on the importance of social enterprise in Britain’s business community, highlighting the growth of alternative and ethical business models.

New online tool to help schools raise standards  |  06 Mar 2009
A new online tool that allows schools to access detailed data and analysis about their own performance and compare it with other schools across the country has been launched by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

Microsoft and SSAT announce IT Academy Program  |  04 Mar 2009
Microsoft has today announced an agreement with the SSAT to help schools deliver IT qualifications designed to meet the needs of students, employers and the 21st century school.

Celebration recognises the most improved schools  |  24 Feb 2009
Specialist schools and academies that have significantly improved their GCSE results have been recognised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust at a celebration dinner in London.

Students learn the importance of China  |  09 Feb 2009
Students are to be given the opportunity to listen to leading experts on China and learn about the country’s economy, history and environmental policies.

SSAT response to research on specialist schools  |  23 Jan 2009
SSAT statement responding to research on specialist science colleges by Professor Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson from the Centre for Education and Employment Research, University of Buckingham

The SSAT announces the winner of its 2009 Sponsor  |  23 Jan 2009
The Peter Harrison Foundation has been recognised for its outstanding contribution to education.

SSAT receives award for Confucius Classrooms  |  22 Dec 2008
SSAT’s Confucius Institute has been recognised for its high performance in encouraging the teaching and learning of the Chinese language and culture in English schools.

Schools open longer to support students  |  25 Nov 2008
The traditional school week is being redesigned by school leaders who are increasingly operating a longer school day and setting up Saturday classes for students, according to an SSAT survey.

More Confucius Classrooms created  |  10 Nov 2008
The SSAT Confucius Institute has created seven more Confucius Classrooms, taking the total to 12 and providing more students with the opportunity to study the Chinese language and learn about the culture.

How SSAT can support extended schools programme  |  06 Nov 2008
Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the SSAT, spoke at a joint SSAT, DCSF and TDA event on extended schools.

SSAT statement on national tests  |  14 Oct 2008
Elizabeth Reid, SSAT's Chief Executive makes a statement following today’s announcement by Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

Schools rise to food and farming challenge  |  13 Oct 2008
Five schools across England have won national awards for improving student understanding of where the food they eat comes from and how it is grown.

SSAT welcomes NCEE recommendations  |  03 Oct 2008
Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the SSAT, comments on recommendations announced today by the National Council for Educational Excellence.

Schools recognised as the heart of the community  |  29 Sep 2008
The SSAT’s 2008 Futures Vision Tour Awards (FVTA) will run from Monday 29 September until Wednesday 8 October, and will celebrate the important role teachers and students are playing in placing their schools at the heart of the community.

Primary to secondary school: easing the transition  |  01 Sep 2008
As thousands of students across the country take their first step into secondary school this week, the SSAT has issued 10 top tips for secondary schools to ease the transition.

Students fly in for Olympics trip of a lifetime  |  31 Jul 2008
Students from across England will fly to China to witness the opening of the Olympic Games and take part in the final stages of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s (SSAT) ‘Towards the Olympics’ project.

What it takes to be an academy principal  |  10 Jul 2008
Academy principals need to be entrepreneurial, innovative and passionate, research from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust shows.

Schools rewarded for food and farming challenge  |  07 Jul 2008
Students at nine schools across England have been recognised for improving their knowledge of food and farming after taking part in a Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) competition.

Link to spark students' interest in science  |  03 Jul 2008
Specialist science colleges are helping ignite students’ love of science, increase the take-up of the subject and find the next generation of teachers through their innovative approaches and links with universities.

Prime Minister delivers SSAT’s 12th Annual Lecture  |  27 Jun 2008
Nearly 500 school leaders, educationalists and business sponsors gathered in London to listen to the Prime Minister deliver the SSAT’s 12th Annual Lecture on 23 June 2008.

Teachers gather for innovative education show  |  20 Jun 2008
Over 1,000 school leaders have attended the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s (SSAT) first ever Achievement Show.

79 schools awarded specialist status  |  18 Jun 2008
A further 79 schools have achieved specialist status, it has been announced today. 92% of all maintained secondary schools are now specialist and 33 local authorities are one hundred percent specialist.

Reforming the school workforce raises standards  |  10 Jun 2008
New research shows that school staff don’t have to just keep working harder to raise achievement – there are other things that can be done.

Full-time Mum goes back to school and wins award  |  13 May 2008
Marie Theresa Harvey, aged 46, from Birmingham, has escaped an abusive background by taking literacy and numeracy courses and become a role model to her 8 children.

Educational organisations link to boost learning  |  08 May 2008
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has partnered with an innovative all-through schools organisation to help school children’s development.

Data key to allowing teachers to know pupils  |  01 May 2008
Good data can be as important as good leadership and good teaching in helping low-attaining schools to improve their results, a Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) report has found.

Schools rewarded for value-added success  |  25 Apr 2008
Specialist schools and academies have been recognised by the SSAT for adding value to students’ GCSE achievements. The awards coincide with the publication of the SSAT’s Educational Outcomes report.

Recognition for services to education  |  07 Mar 2008
Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Education in recognition of her services to education.

Most improved schools recognised for their achieve  |  27 Feb 2008
Specialist schools and academies have been recognised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) for making outstanding improvements to their GCSE results in 2007.

89 schools awarded specialist status  |  04 Feb 2008
Comment by Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust on the announcement by Schools Minister Andrew Adonis that a further 89 schools have been awarded specialist status.

SSAT announces winner of Sponsor of the Year 2008  |  21 Jan 2008
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has presented Leo Noe with its 2008 Sponsor of the Year Award.

SSAT appoints new Board and new Chairman  |  20 Dec 2007
Following a review of its corporate governance, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has appointed a new Board which elected Sir James Hill to be its new Chairman.

Children's Plan  |  13 Dec 2007
A comment on the Children’s Plan, launched by DCSF on 11 December 2007, by Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

Sir Terry Leahy urges the teaching of Chinese  |  31 Oct 2007
Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco, will today urge schools to provide students with the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of Mandarin and Chinese culture to help UK business compete in the global economy.

Statement on official GCSE statistics  |  18 Oct 2007
Comment by Philip O'Hear, Principal of Capital City Academy in Brent, speaking for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, on today's official GCSE results.

SSAT welcomes Public Accounts Committee report  |  18 Oct 2007
The SSAT today welcomed a new report from the Public Accounts Committee on the Academies Programme.

Academies recognised for innovation  |  28 Sep 2007
Academies will be opening their doors to welcome business leaders, education experts and Government representatives, after being recognised for their innovative approach to boosting pupils’ achievement.

Winning students celebrate competition success  |  27 Sep 2007
Five students from Greenford High School travelled to Beijing to celebrate winning a national competition and learn about Chinese culture.

Learning in a globalised world  |  20 Sep 2007
School leaders from around the world will meet in China this week at SSAT's 4th iNet International Conference to drive forward an agenda that ensures all students are equipped to live, learn and work in a globalised world.

Young film enthusiasts put their work on display  |  16 Jul 2007
Budding film directors will be putting their talents on display as they take part in the BBC’s 3rd Young Film Makers festival.

Student attainment linked to parental engagement  |  06 Jul 2007
Parents’ active engagement with their children’s learning is the most important long-term influence on academic success and behaviour, research shows.

Confucius classrooms to boost teaching & learning  |  04 Jul 2007
Five schools have become the first Confucius Classrooms in the world, providing them with official approval to support other schools in the teaching and learning of the Chinese language and culture.

Students visit China ahead of Olympics  |  02 Jul 2007
Students from England will be visiting schools in Beijing as part of an educational Olympics project that will involve the sharing of culture, language and sporting activities.

Teachers share knowledge at humanities conference  |  11 Jun 2007
Teachers from across the country will be taking part in a humanities conference to share teaching methods and look at new ways of bringing important issues to the classroom.

Teachers look at the future of SEN  |  08 Jun 2007
A conference that will bring together Special Educational Needs teachers to discuss the future of SEN and its growth as a core and second school specialism will be held in Nottingham on 7 and 8 June.

Inspiring Britain's Scientists, Annual Lecture  |  25 May 2007
Securing our next generation of scientists and the improving the teaching and learning of science in our schools were the main themes of the SSAT's 11th Annual Lecture, held at the Royal Society on 24 May.

Toolkit to help schools develop  |  16 May 2007
An innovative toolkit to help schools redesign the way the National Curriculum is taught to their students has been released by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT).

New qualification boosts standards in maths  |  26 Apr 2007
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Edexcel have launched a new mathematics qualification that will provide students with the opportunity to learn maths within a vocational context.

Celebrating innovation within education  |  25 Apr 2007
The 2007 Futures Vision Awards, which reward schools that make a difference to student learning through innovative and creative activities, have been launched to all academies and City Technology Colleges across England.

Young chamber - the voice of young people  |  16 Apr 2007
A new initiative that gives young people a ‘voice’ in the process of business engagement is to be launched at the British Chambers of Commerce National Conference on 17 April.

RM supports 100 schools to become specialist  |  03 Apr 2007
RM, the leading supplier of ICT software and services to UK education, is to sponsor 100 schools applying for specialist status.

SSAT discusses key issues at The Education Show  |  23 Mar 2007
The Education Show 2007 promises to be an excellent opportunity for those in the education sector to discover a wide range of solutions to the challenges they face.

Positive impact on teaching & learning of language  |  12 Mar 2007
The SSAT welcomes the final report of the Dearing Review into language policy, published today, and believes it will have a positive impact on the teaching and learning of languages.

Specialist schools deliver long-term improvements  |  02 Mar 2007
Analysis of the 2006 GCSE results, published today, shows that the specialist schools programme is having a positive long-term impact on secondary school achievement...

Elizabeth Reid receives Icebreaker Award  |  19 Feb 2007
On 15th February 2007 Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, was presented with an award from the 48 Group Club for her pioneering steps to expand the learning of the Chinese culture and language in schools.

20 years of SSAT and rise in standards continues  |  23 Jan 2007
Statistics announced at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s 20th anniversary celebration at the Guildhall, London, show that specialist schools and academies continue to raise standards and outperform non-specialist schools.

Inspiring the next generation of engineers  |  16 Jan 2007
Inspiring the next generation of engineers and preparing schools and students for the launch of the specialised diploma in 2008 are two of the topics to be discussed by teachers in Wiltshire this week.

Student's artwork to appear on Christmas card  |  11 Dec 2006
A student from Queen’s Park High School in Chester has had her GCSE artwork chosen to be the design of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s 2006 Christmas card, which will be sent to schools and organisations across the world.

Parents engage with schools to raise achievement  |  04 Dec 2006
A national campaign to encourage and support school leaders to harness the untapped energy of parents to help raise student achievement will be the focus of the workshop Every Parent Matters at the SSAT’s National Conference in Birmingham this week (29 November).

PM speech: education is the most precious gift  |  01 Dec 2006
In his speech to the National Conference, the Rt Hon Tony Blair, MP, the Prime Minister reflected on the progress schools have made in the past decade and some of the key issues in education today...

Teachers reshape schooling for the 21st century  |  28 Nov 2006
Teachers will meet in Birmingham this week to discuss how schooling can be reshaped for the 21st century to ensure standards continue to rise and all students experience a first class education system.

Students encouraged to be enterprising  |  16 Nov 2006
To help prepare students for the workplace and to ensure they have the core skills needed to succeed, schools across the country will be holding a wide range of events and activities during Enterprise Week.

International education conference  |  02 Nov 2006
An international conference to bring together educators, policy advisers and Governments to address how school leaders can raise achievement and promote sustainable innovation, will begin in Boston, Massachusetts today.

International student teams to design websites  |  17 Oct 2006
UK Students aged 9 to 19 are being encouraged to collaborate with their peers across the globe and create educational websites as part of ThinkQuest UK, a competition launched today (16 October).

Chinese schools join international network  |  02 Oct 2006
Partnerships between schools in China and those from other nations have been strengthened following the launch of an international network of schools in China and the signing of a formal agreement between the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and UNESCO Beijing, an organisation responsible for promoting international understanding in Beijing schools.

School bus tour celebrates creativity & enterprise  |  29 Sep 2006
Leaders from the world of business, industry and education will be visiting schools across the country as part of a two-week bus tour, starting on 2 October.

Student conference run by students, for students  |  29 Sep 2006
Over 200 students from 50 schools gathered on Wednesday (27 October) to share learning and school experiences and to look at ways of improving their education. The conference was arranged by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust but designed and run by the students themselves.

Damien Hirst announces winners of Arts Competition  |  01 Sep 2006
A new, annual exhibition and competition profiling Britain’s rising arts talent is launched at Christie’s by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

100 more specialist schools – Knight  |  04 Jul 2006
Specialist schools continue to raise standards, said Schools Minister Jim Knight today as he congratulated the 100 schools across the country that have been successful in their bid for specialist status.

London's students have their say  |  28 Jun 2006
Nearly 200 students from 56 London schools will gather in the Capital on Wednesday to share learning and school experiences and to look at ways of improving their education.

New Zealand schools join international network  |  19 Jun 2006
Schools across New Zealand gathered this week to discuss the challenges of 21st century education and attend the launch of iNet New Zealand, part of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s international arm iNet.

Adding up to a lifetime  |  13 Jun 2006
Adding up to a Lifetime, an initiative by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and supported by Prudential plc, introducing financial capability into the curriculum and preparing students for different stages of their life.

A celebration of the arts in education  |  16 May 2006
Schools are raising standards across the curriculum through the arts, with innovative activities and productive partnerships between schools, business and the community leading the way.

Statement by the Council  |  26 Apr 2006
The Council of the SSAT, at its meeting on Monday 24 April 2006, discussed the recent press coverage concerning a former SSAT Council member and agreed to make a press statement.

Specialist schools outperform non-specialist  |  07 Apr 2006
Specialist schools continue to transform secondary education and perform better than non-specialist schools on every comparison, says a new report published.

North Pole expedition to raise cool million  |  07 Apr 2006
Graham Howe, the Chairman of Promethean, is preparing to walk 100 miles in 10 days for children with learning difficulties

Schools join international network  |  08 Mar 2006
Schools gathered in Cardiff today to celebrate their achievements and to attend the launch of iNet Wales, a network of highly innovative schools...

Schools celebrate specialist success  |  03 Feb 2006
More students will benefit from better opportunities in education following yesterday’s announcement by the government that a further 123 schools have been awarded specialist status...

Trust & LSDA bring the industry into vGCSEs  |  17 Jan 2006
The Trust and the Learning and Skills Development Agency are supporting GCSEs in vocational subjects through a series of workshops in February.

First cohort of vocational schools confirmed  |  16 Jan 2006
The first cohort of 46 trailblazing vocational specialist schools has now been confirmed. Vocational innovation and excellence will be celebrated and championed by these schools as well as the Trust.

Trust to play full part at BETT show  |  10 Jan 2006
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust will play a full part at BETT (Olympia, 11-14 Jan). As well as unveiling a new partnership with Sciencescope, the Trust is hosting seminars and running presentations...

Dame Mary Richardson becomes a Fellow  |  12 Dec 2005
A special presentation saw Dame Mary Richardson become a Fellow of the Trust

Conference brings schools and universities closer  |  05 Dec 2005

Response to Youth Matters Green Paper  |  15 Nov 2005

Weston Foundation gives £1m grant to the Trust  |  01 Nov 2005

SSA Trust launches vocational learning website  |  27 Oct 2005

SSA Trust welcomes education white paper  |  25 Oct 2005

Advice on school admissions for specialist schools  |  04 Oct 2005

Trust extends support for academies programme  |  28 Sep 2005

Award tour celebrates schools using ICT  |  22 Sep 2005