{"id":240403,"date":"2026-01-20T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=240403"},"modified":"2026-03-18T10:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T10:37:15","slug":"dr-jenny-blunden-ceo-truro-and-penwith-academy-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/dr-jenny-blunden-ceo-truro-and-penwith-academy-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr Jenny Blunden, CEO, Truro and Penwith Academy Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Dr Jenny Blunden took the reins at Truro and Penwith Academy Trust<\/a>, one of the first things she was told was \u201cthe children from this estate are never going to be able to achieve much\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That opinion from a staff member triggered Blunden\u2019s fight against complacency and she has worked to boost expectations across the MAT. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has overseen the trust’s transformation from running three \u2018inadequate\u2019 schools dotted across the southwest, to it becoming one of the region\u2019s largest operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her influence has also grown as she sits on various national and regional boards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Blunden holds a \u201chealthy scepticism\u201d about the government\u2019s RISE school improvement scheme and believes Labour\u2019s vision for the sector has been \u201cmissing\u201d since it took charge of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr Jenny Blunden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And after it was announced trust inspections could start next year, she warned Ofsted must not homogenise England\u2019s MATs.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School visits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We meet at Schools Week<\/em>\u2019s London headquarters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a normal working week, Blunden spends half of her time at her trust\u2019s central base at a Truro business park, which counts architects, a pizzeria and the Women\u2019s Institute as its neighbours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blunden with her partner Adam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like to make sure that I\u2019m out visiting schools, meeting staff across our organisation,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s just to catch up, sometimes it\u2019s about being able to monitor some of our targeted support schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 49-year-old does \u201cquite a lot of system work\u201d with the likes of Cornwall Education Partnership \u2013 a group of education providers and stakeholders \u2013 for which she\u2019s led a project to boost attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s also a member of the Department for Education\u2019s southwest advisory board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservation work<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blunden spent her childhood in the New Forest. Her father was a civil servant, her mother a \u201chousewife\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She studied at the University of Surrey where she read a PhD in education and sustainable development. But despite securing her teaching qualifications while there, her first job after graduation was with advisory body English Nature, now Natural England. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For two years she worked as a conservation adviser, ensuring sites of special scientific interest were being managed appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 2002, she began teaching. First, Blunden worked at a land-based college in Hampshire, teaching countryside management and environmental science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then moved to Truro and Penwith College where she eventually became the director of its teaching school.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Blunden took the reins at the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust. It had three schools, all rated \u2018inadequate\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blunden pictured with a goat from her smallholding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She explains the schools were \u201call over the place\u201d geographically which she believes was because \u201cthe DfE just wanted to find someone who would take three broken schools and be able to support them\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it started as a turnaround trust, Blunden decided the MAT needed to bring in \u2018good\u2019 schools to \u201craise expectations\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that decision was partly driven by her colleague\u2019s claim that children from a particular estate would \u201cnever achieve much\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She adds: \u201cThat was the trigger for me to say, \u2018No, we\u2019ll fight that.\u2019 They no longer work at that school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building trust<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blunden assured the staff at incoming schools they would be \u201cvalued and not just told what to do\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of her heads had worked with her during her stint at the teaching school, so they \u201chad some trust in me that we really did believe in collaboration\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowly, Blunden says, staff began to feel differently about their schools, as they were \u201csurrounded\u201d with \u201cpositive thinking, people who have high expectations and are doing a brilliant job\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Blunden with her children, Poppy and Josh, after receiving an OBE in 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, Truro and Penwith Academy Trust runs 35 academies across the southwest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three joined from the troubled Adventure Learning Academy Trust<\/a> (ALAT) following allegations by a BBC Panorama investigation that the trust and sister trust Bright Tribe had falsely claimed building and maintenance grants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, six more schools are set to join next month following the completion of a merger with another chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second-home squeeze <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Two years ago, Schools Week<\/em> revealed<\/a> the trust was in talks to secure \u201cspecial case\u201d government funding to boost the viability of one of its academies, the Cape Cornwall School. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accounts show the secondary\u2019s deficit more than doubled last year to \u00a3671,000 due to a failure to balance the books amid declines in population caused by a surge in second-home ownership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blunden says negotiations \u201cfailed to get any support from the government\u201d for the \u201ctiny\u201d school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her trust has already \u201cdone everything [it can] educationally\u201d, having improved standards, secured an Ofsted \u2018good\u2019 rating and boosted its standing in the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She adds: \u201cWe want to keep the school open but it\u2019s a massive drag on our finances because it\u2019s got a deficit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think we\u2019d be able to get to a point where we can make sure the school is operating within its means. What it can\u2019t do is pay back a massive deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash strapped<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blunden admits the rest of the MAT has been feeling the pinch in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a prudent trust,\u201d Blunden stresses. \u201cWe\u2019re not spending money willy nilly \u2013 we\u2019re just struggling to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says the level of \u201csmall school relief\u201d offered by the government is not at the level set 10 years ago. Labour\u2019s decision to scrap the trust capacity fund (TCaF) has also had an impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
She has also has a number of dogs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The scheme was used to help MATs develop capacity and take on underperforming schools, particularly in left-behind parts of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truro and Penwith secured TCaF support to aid its rollout of iPads across the trust for year 5s and above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before taking on new schools, Blunden now worries \u201chow we\u2019re going to afford to do that piece of work\u201d if they\u2019re lacking \u201csignificant reserves\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then you layer on one of the big costs for all of our schools, [which] is special educational needs,\u201d she continues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a big gap between what comes in \u2013 for example, from EHCPs \u2013 and the provision that is being put in place in schools to have safe and good support, which is not affordable long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blunden says the trust is trying to \u201cthink differently\u201d to make finances work. It\u2019s seeking to market its school improvement services to other trusts for a fee and has also trialled \u201cnurture groups\u201d in its primaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are separate classes run by teachers or higher-level teaching assistants that \u201cchildren can access for part of a day\u201d for group work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is designed to put an end to TAs \u201ctaking out small groups of pupils to do interventions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blunden adds: \u201cWhere children need to access different provision or additional support, it\u2019s done in a more structured way in a separate class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford lots and lots of general TAs, but we can potentially have something that\u2019s more of a specialist provision that children can access \u2026 [and] still be part of their mainstream classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Blunden is critical of Labour \u2013 she says a wider vision for the sector has \u201cbeen missing\u201d since Keir Starmer moved into Downing Street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since taking office in 2024, ministers have launched the RISE school improvement programme, kicked off new Ofsted inspections and moved ahead with the schools bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a government white paper which is expected to set out plans for SEND still hasn\u2019t arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says: \u201cThe white paper needs to draw it all together into a coherent narrative. There should have been a white paper up front and then all of these changes introduced after.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blunden sits on a RISE operations group as a representative for the southwest. Dr Tim Coulson, the DfE\u2019s director general for regions group, is a member, along with other school leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her close involvement, Blunden has a \u201chealthy scepticism\u201d of the RISE programme. Whether it can deliver \u201creally strong, coherent impact over time will be the test\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also urges caution over planned Ofsted inspections of multi-academy trusts, which could begin from September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope that we recognise diversity is good and don\u2019t end up getting a very uniform [idea of] how a trust looks and feels in terms of context and shape,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we have at the moment is a really healthy diversity in the country. That helps with innovation and support for our schools.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Dr Jenny Blunden took charge at her Cornish trust, its three schools were \u2018broken\u2019. But in a fight against low aspirations, the CEO has added successful schools and continues to battle for them as budgets remain squeezed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":240254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[32,28,239,25,2478],"post-theme":[3420],"class_list":["post-240403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-profiles","tag-academies","tag-dfe","tag-education-policy","tag-ofsted","tag-rise","post-theme-profile"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t