This morning we were delighted to welcome the CEO of Diverse Academies, Chris Pickering, who joined us at our morning assembly.

Mr Pickering retires from the Trust in May this year, and is embarking on a farewell tour of all of the academies. He joined us at Yeoman Park today and talked about his 42 years working in education and his plans for his retirement. He is looking forward to gardening, spending time with this grandchildren and watching plenty of sport!

He also spoke to our children about the importance of being kind and good to each other, relating it to flowers in a garden making everything beautiful. Being horrible to each other is like weeds that make a garden a much less pleasant place to be. A simple but striking analogy.

At the close of the assembly, Mr Pickering was presented with a card from our pupils, containing a portfolio of brilliant work. From all at Yeoman Park, we thank Chris for his work with us and wish him all the best for his retirement.