About Cheshire Academies Trust

Cheshire Academies Trust is a mixed primary and special school multi academy trust spanning Wirral and Cheshire. We currently have 10 primaries and one special school and will be expanding in the future towards 20 schools. Alongside our Trust we retained our Teaching School and have created a SEND hub to provide ongoing CPD and support to schools. 

Our Purpose

Care  – A higher standard - Our lens: our barometer

We use extremely careful approaches to ask challenging questions about our provision; why is that there? Who is it for? Does that work? It is vital we seek to better understand our schools, by assuming less and enquiring more; investigating, understanding and explaining how provision links to learning, links to progress, links to outcomes, raises standards within our unique academies. We will seek the truth behind the outcome, match this with what we see within practice to identify and share excellence across the Trust. We will equally seek trails for those areas, in each academy, that do not serve our children well, repairing systems and structures with with a laser like attention to detail alongside our leaders who share the same values. We have examples of excellence in all areas somewhere in the Trust; in order to secure a great education for all children it needs to cease to matter where, by who, or how, you are educated within our Trust. We care about excellence for all.

Our lens for disadvantaged and SEND allow us to see a truth about the effectiveness of our provision. It is through these that we will judge our impact, our capability, our capacity to make a difference, beyond that which may be attributed to advantage or need. It is for this reason that we choose disadvantage and SEND over other groups, because these are our litmus test; the indication that we are moving the dial. We will continue to accelerate these strategies to secure greater impact and improvement that better serve all learners. We will actively preference and privilege disadvantage and SEND, seeking greater equity and more effective, inclusive provision.

Ultimately the attainment, progress and attendance of disadvantaged and SEND children is the key measure for Cheshire Academies Trust and each academy; as an indicator of the effectiveness of provision for those who most need it.

Collaboration  – Deep Investment in what matters

We know that what all children need, particularly now, is Expert Teaching; this is what really matters. The quality of the educational provision secured through outstanding professional development will raise standards across the Trust. We also know that all pupils thrive when teaching is effective; it is evident in our own and global research. We  invest deeply in our staff and collaborate widely, so that teachers have the opportunities to learn from our best innovators and educators but also from outside our trust as well. We will have stronger preferences and opinions on the teaching and pedagogy that matters, particularly for those presently experiencing disadvantaged based on the latest educational research. Empowering, recognising and publishing those ideas that make a difference to all pupils so that we can all learn what works. We will speak the language of Expert Teaching (based on the 7C model) and create the conditions for success so colleagues can develop professionally.

Creativity – Powering free thinking leadership

Leadership is the enabler that will improve standards and create the conditions for expert teachers to thrive. The decisions we make as leaders determine the standards we drive and that which we accept. The quality of our senior teams through to middle and subject leadership determine and are responsible for the quality of provision across each academy. The maturity of CAT and the experience and expertise of our leaders should be having greater impact on the quality of provision and be securing a better education for our pupils. We will continue to build effective leadership at all levels supported through our system leadership programmes, our knowledge hubs as well as our research and development units. We are seeking to build leadership capacity thereby increasing unity and autonomy. Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment continue to be our focus, particular to ensure the intent, implementation and impact is secure; the connection between and development of these is what delivers excellence.

Our Tribe

• Each school has its own unique character and ethos, reflecting local communities and their needs and priorities
• The Trust establishes collective and collaborative agency where the drive for excellence comes from within the schools, to the benefit of all schools in the Trust
• The relationships within the Trust ensure genuine and impactful joint accountability – the outcomes for all of the pupils in all of the schools matter to everyone
• Schools continue to take responsibility for their own performance and character within a Trust context which provides both support and challenge.

To learn more about who we are and what we believe in, visit our Trust website: www.cheshireacademiestrust.co.uk