Shaping Lives, Transforming Communities
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PROSPECTUS 2016/17 LEIGH SHAPING LIVES, Academies Trust TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES Welcome to Leigh Academies Trust Welcome to our Trust However, like all siblings, our academies share Prospectus for 2016/17. Please certain core values and ways of operating. You take time to browse through can learn more about the things our academies these pages, which will give share in common over the next few pages. you a sense of what Leigh Academies Trust does. We are More than anything, we are about shaping already one of the country’s children’s lives for the better through high- most successful multi- quality education and care. In doing so, we aim academy trusts. We are incredibly proud of our to transform the communities in which they live achievements – we hope you will see why. as children and will live as adults, so that the life chances of future generations are enhanced by a We are developing ‘clusters’ of academies across strong legacy handed down from those who have the South-East. Each cluster is no more than a gone before them. thirty-minute drive from end to end. Geography is important to ensure strong collaboration. If you are interested to find out more about us, please do get in contact. Whether you are a Our clusters contain all phases of education, from current or prospective parent of a child in one nursery to Post-16. Each one has a passionate of our academies, an employer keen to forge commitment to inclusion. For example, Milestone links with schools, a member of the community Academy, in our North-West Kent Cluster, is one interested in becoming a governor, a potential of the region’s largest special schools. Across employee or an educational establishment many of our mainstream academies, both primary interested in partnership with an already and secondary, we have designated centres for successful multi-academy trust, we would like children with special educational needs. to hear from you. Our academies are like siblings, not clones. We believe that innovation, creativity and autonomy are vital. These qualities cannot thrive in an environment where everyone is forced to do the Simon Beamish same thing. Chief Executive Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 3 Our values Leigh Academies Trust is dedicated in its aims to remove barriers and provide opportunities to achieve academic excellence for all. It has significant experience in running schools and today includes both sponsored academies and schools which have chosen to convert to academy status. Shaping Lives, Transforming Communities In order to achieve its aims, Leigh Academies Trust embraces a series of core values. Each value helps to shape the decisions we make and is integral to the vision of the Trust. What we stand for: What we value: What makes us distinctive: • High ideals, strong moral values • A ‘can-do’ attitude towards • Small-school, ‘human-scale’ and boundless ambition to achieve continuous improvement and education to personalise the excellence for all; innovation; educational experience; • Strong collaboration and teamwork • Creating confident young adults with • An enterprising culture to create so that we are much greater than the high levels of resilience and integrity. close partnerships with industry sum of our parts. and other educators. 4 Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 Sir Geoffrey Leigh Bob Findlay Founding Sponsor Chairman The Leigh City Technology College (CTC) opened Bob Findlay was born in Canada, but has lived in the in 1990 as one of the original 15 City Technology UK since 1965. He joined Morgan-Grampian in 1969 Colleges, through the generous personal and later became Managing Director of its main sponsorship of Sir Geoffrey Leigh. He became the operating subsidiary and a Director of the public- first Chairman of the College in 1990 and retired in holding company. In 1974, he left Morgan-Grampian 2006. to start Findlay Publications. When the CTC was first formed, Sir Geoffrey A strong desire to help address manufacturing’s was Chairman and Managing Director of Allied greatest constraint, its skills shortage, through London Properties PLC, a company quoted on the persuading young people to pursue careers in Stock Exchange, engaged in the development engineering, led him in 1989 to donate £400,000 of commercial, industrial, office buildings and and lead a £1.6 million project developing new housebuilding. Through his charitable work in curriculum programmes for the fledgling City education, business, and health, both in the private Technology Colleges Trust. Concurrently, he and public sectors, he has helped organisations to helped found and build the Kent TEC into a £30- grow, to become more effective and to raise large million success, delivering government-training sums of money for the benefit of their communities programmes. In 2006, he became Chair of Governors and the country. at The Leigh City Technology College in Dartford, which became Leigh Academies Trust in 2008. Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 5 Our academies London Dartford Canterbury Maidstone Ashford Royal Tunbridge Wells 6 secondary academies NORTH WEST KENT CLUSTER Dartford Primary Academy 7 Academy primary academies CENTRAL KENT CLUSTER SOUTH EAST 1 LONDON special CLUSTER academy 6 Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 The Trust was formed in 2008, when The first cluster was in North-West The Leigh Technology Academy and Kent, centred around Dartford, and Longfield Academy were linked under is almost complete. The other two one governing body. It currently existing clusters are in South-East encompasses more than 10,000 London (Greenwich and Bexley) and students, between the ages of 2 and Central Kent, between Maidstone and London 19, in fourteen primary, secondary and Tonbridge. special academies. When this project is finished, each of Dartford our clusters will include around ten Each year, we hold six schools, serving approximately 6,000 Principals’ Forums, allowing students from ages 2-19, and all will Principals from all of our have a highly-inclusive approach to education. They will be semi- academies to ‘openly’ Geographical proximity autonomous groupings with their own discuss and share ideas and Canterbury identities, but which subscribe to the between sites and their core values and distinctive features successes, helping the Trust Maidstone location along key of the Trust. Each cluster has its own to evolve and improve. transport routes ensure Executive Director, who leads the that each Leigh Academies cluster’s team of principals and reports directly to the Chief Executive of the Trust academy is within Trust. Ashford one hour’s drive of all the Royal Tunbridge Wells others. The latest academy is Langley Park Primary, which opened in September 2016. Cherry Orchard Primary Academy - the first school in the Ebbsfleet Garden City - will open in September 2017. The Trust has chosen to remain local and medium-sized. We believe in ‘earned autonomy’ for our academies. Those academies with a strong track record of improvement receive less monitoring and intervention than weaker ones. All of our current academies can be accessed within a one-hour drive of one another. We want to keep it this way. We are developing self-managing, self-improving ‘clusters’ of academies across the region. Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 7 Primary education ‘I was delighted to see that Hartley Primary Academy has been judged to be ‘outstanding’ in all areas by Ofsted.’ Dominic Herrington, Regional Schools‘ Commissioner The Trust operates seven primary academies. In The Trust is strongly committed to Our governing bodies are also linked. the next two years, we primary education. A successful Whilst primary academies all have have approval from the primary education generally leads to their own development groups, they a successful life afterwards. If things are governed by an Academy Board, Department for Education go wrong in primary school, some which brings together primary and to open more primary children never recover. secondary governors around one table. academies to meet the This enables governors to understand All of our primaries are linked to a the process of education from age 2 need for school places. nearby secondary academy. Strong through to 19 and is a powerful driver collaboration is encouraged at of collaboration between phases. the outset to provide additional opportunities for staff and students. Wherever possible, our primary These links help to break down the academies have their own nurseries. artificial divide between phases, so Currently, the Trust has six nurseries, that students’ transition is as smooth but this is likely to grow over the next as possible. Our secondary academies eighteen months. This helps us to allow preferential access under their get children’s development off to a admissions arrangements for students successful start from the moment they attending our LAT primary academies. enter formal education. 8 Leigh Academies Trust Prospectus 2016/17 Secondary education The Trust has six secondary academies, Business” across secondary academies, well-trained staff. Our students leave one of which is a UTC. Most of to link our schools firmly into the world school well qualified, ready to take their its schools have benefitted from of work. Our secondary-age students next steps into work, training or further significant rebuilding programmes over enjoy a business-mentoring scheme study. the last decade and enjoy splendid, and work placements and we are about new, state-of-the-art facilities for to launch our first set of advanced learning. Environments are technology- apprenticeship qualifications. Our secondary academies are rich, flexible and welcoming. Academy organised around a ‘human- staff take a business-like, yet caring, We have enjoyed much academic approach to achieve successful success at secondary level. Despite scale’ education model outcomes for young people. the fact that most of our secondaries in which each academy are high schools which operate in is organised into smaller We believe in fostering selective areas, our results are well entrepreneurship in our students.