Welcome from the Chair of The BOARD OF TRUSTEEs, Bert Suer

On behalf of the Trustees, welcome to The Bridge Academy.

It is an honour to be appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees at The Bridge Academy. I have been a trustee at the Academy for ten years, for the last five as link trustee for SEND. So I know what a great school it is.

I am also very fortunate to lead a strong governing body of Trustees, including parents and members with deep knowledge of the local community, who bring a huge amount of diverse experience and deep expertise to guide our school forward.

So what do Trustees do? Our role is to set the strategic direction of the Academy, and to support and complement the work of the Principal, teachers and staff in delivering on the Academy's mission. That mission is to ensure that, by focussing on excellence, care and innovation, every student can succeed at a good university or equivalent, thrive in their chosen field and live a great life. And how do Trustees do that? As trustees we take responsibility for the strategic development of the school by monitoring progress, by challenging the school leadership team to maintain the excellent conduct, ethos, and performance expected at Bridge, and by ensuring resources are spent wisely.

We are very lucky to have Mr Brown as our Principal - he brings exceptional, dynamic and passionate leadership to the Academy, and is supported by an able and committed teaching and non-teaching team. We are also very lucky to benefit from the partnership with UBS, a firm which provides financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients. UBS founded the school nearly twenty years ago as part of its long-term vision to raise educational standards in Hackney, and the partnership continues to provide opportunities and initiatives - around for example, music, careers, work experience, reading clubs, mentoring and counselling to name but a few - for students and staff at Bridge, and more broadly for the wider Hackney community.

The Bridge is a wonderful Academy and all of us who serve as Trustees are immensely proud of the tremendous achievements of its students and staff. We would like to thank parents for their ongoing interest and support and for maintaining our strong partnership with the local community. We wish your child every success and happiness during their time at The Bridge Academy and beyond!

On these pages of the Academy website you can find out more information about the school, the Trustees and the work that we do, and we can always be contacted through the school office by emailing the PA to the Principal: TBannister@tbah.uk or by telephone: 020 7749 5256.