Broomfield School joins Enterprise Cooperative Trust to further build life opportunities for children
Broomfield School in Arnos Grove has become the latest member to join Enterprise Cooperative Trust (ECT), to further strengthen the goal of providing the very best opportunities for all children in Enfield and help set them up for life.
Broomfield is a diverse secondary school community filled with students with great character, a thirst for learning and ambition to do well. Teaching and learning are focused on making sure every child aims high and reaches their full potential. From classroom learning through to enrichment activities and community work, Broomfield believes every child can succeed with the right encouragement and support.
While Broomfield’s strong existing relationship with West Lea (founders of ECT) already brings benefits to its students and staff, headteacher Adele Christofi, saw similarities between themselves and ECT, and how it could help create even more opportunities for the children.
After attending ECT’s launch event in June 2022, Broomfield School has now decided to become a partner of ECT, as Adele explained:
“Every child deserves the very best outcomes. Yet sadly, some children can be overlooked if they don’t have the skills required in today’s day and age. We are constantly looking at ways in which we can help our pupils grow into competent, confident and considerate young people, who are equipped for learning and life in the 21st Century. ECT seemed like the perfect fit and the next natural step to help us build our offering, without losing the school’s identity.”
As a partner of ECT, Broomfield will continue to run as it is, but the school will have access to greater opportunities, including work experience for students, training for staff, and even possible funding that often comes with being part of a wider partnership. Adele continued:
“The partnership gives us an opportunity for pupils at both schools (as well as other partner schools) to meet, mix and learn about one another, helping us to create an even more inclusive community. We will be able to share classroom space and resources offered within each ECT partner school. It will also empower staff with greater access to training as well as advice, guidance and support, particularly when it comes to meeting the needs of those students with SEN.”
ECT’s current members include West Lea School (the founders); Enfield Council; Learning for Life Charity; Co-operative Schools Network; the College of Haringey, Enfield, and North East London (CONEL); Love your Doorstep; theatre company, Chickenshed; and now, Broomfield School.
Melanie Bignold, Director of Education at West Lea and member of ECT, said:
“We are delighted that Broomfield School is joining ECT. The idea of the cooperative is to create the strongest offer for children in the community so that together, we can improve prospects across Enfield and really make a difference. We provide both education-related provision as well as work and life experiences, to make sure students gain practical skills and understand the valuable role they can play in the community.”
ECT’s work and training support includes setting up students with running their own coffee carts, upcycling furniture, working in charity shops and working in warehouses. Providing access to work experience and paid employment – including supported employment for those with specific needs – helps these students build skills, develop independence and end up in meaningful employment that they may otherwise not have had access to.
Now that Broomfield has joined the partnership, all the schools will shortly meet to discuss the plans for how they can best work together and identify which particular projects they might be able to build on, to enrich the offering for students and staff.
Janet Leach, Chair of ECT, said:
“This is a very exciting time for ECT, as we bring together more like-minded schools and organisations to help us achieve our mission. Since our launch, it’s encouraging to see how much support we have from the community, including from Bambos Charalambous MP. We are undoubtedly still in our infancy but being able to build our foundations and work together is going to be vital to the Trust’s success, and to the success of every child in our community.”