Term 1 Newsletter – Latest News and Updates
Catch up on all the latest news, achievements and activities from Mulberry Academy St Leonards in our Term 1 newsletter.
Discover what our students have been up to this term.
Archive for year: 2026
Mulberry Academy St Leonards celebrates strong GCSE improvements
Students and staff at Mulberry Academy St Leonards are celebrating a significant rise in GCSE outcomes, with provisional results showing strong improvements across a range of subjects.
The proportion of students achieving passes in both English and mathematics has increased by 12 percentage points compared with last year, while the academy’s Attainment 8 score has risen by around four points, reflecting stronger performance across the wider GCSE curriculum.
The academy has also reported its strongest English and mathematics results to date, alongside record pass rates for students with special educational needs.
School leaders say the scale of improvement compares favourably with previous performance data for schools across East Sussex and represents an important step forward for the St Leonards academy.
A number of students achieved the highest GCSE grades, including grades 9, 8 and 7, while the academy has also highlighted the progress made by students who joined the school during their secondary education.
Jon Francies, Principal at Mulberry Academy St Leonards, said:
“We are incredibly proud of our students. These results represent an important step forward for our academy, but more importantly, they represent the hard work, resilience and determination of our young people.
“We also welcomed a number of students who joined us during the school year from other local schools, and we are particularly proud of the work undertaken to help them secure positive outcomes.”
Drew Greenall, Head of Academy, said:
“There is much more that we want to achieve, but today is about celebrating our students, thanking our staff and families for everything they have done to support them, and recognising just how far this year group has come.
“So many of our students have achieved fantastic individual results, including a large number of grades 9, 8 and 7. Every result represents an individual story of hard work, determination and progress.”
The academy will now support Year 11 students as they move on to sixth form, college, apprenticeships and employment.
School leaders say the improved results form part of a continued drive to raise aspirations, strengthen academic outcomes and create further opportunities for young people across St Leonards and the wider Hastings community.
Connect #25 celebrates growth, community and achievement across Mulberry
This summer term has seen schools across our Trust celebrate a wide range of achievements, opportunities and moments of success, showcasing the talent, ambition and commitment of our students, staff and wider community.
Mulberry Schools Trust has recently made an important step in the growth of our East Sussex Hub, with Mulberry Bexhill Academy becoming the sixth East Sussex school to join the Trust. We are excited to continue strengthening connections between our schools and continue to create opportunities for students and staff to collaborate and learn from one another. Over the past term, CEO Alice Ward visited schools across the Trust and was proud to see the fantastic work taking place across our school communities.
There has been plenty to celebrate across our schools, from students taking part in our Mulberry Changemakers programmes in STEM and the arts, to sporting successes, student leadership opportunities and achievements recognised at a national level.
We are also delighted to share the landmark moment of an ‘exceptional’ Mulberry College of Teaching Ofsted inspection, as well as proudly celebrating five years of our East London Teaching School Hub.
This edition of Connect brings together some of these stories, highlighting the experiences that take place every day across our Trust, from inspiring classroom practice, learning and creative opportunities to partnerships that help broaden horizons for our young people.
Together, these achievements demonstrate the dedication and ambition that runs through our schools and the commitment of our communities to helping every student thrive.
We are delighted to celebrate the contributions of our students, staff, families, trustees, governors and partners and we hope you enjoy reading the Connect #25 newsletter.
