Lee Chapel Trust Growth Strategy
Lee Chapel Trust Growth Strategy
The Trust ambition is, over time, to create a family of Basildon Primary Schools working collegiately to meet the needs of learners in the area and beyond. We, therefore, have the ambition to increase the number of schools in the Trust, but in growing we will act in a timely and considered manner. We feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to expand when we have the capacity to do so. It is the responsibility of the Trust to build capacity as it develops.
When a school is proposed to be part of our MAT we consider:
- Moral Obligation
- Size of School and Designation
- Financial Position of School
- Distance between schools
- Ofsted category of the school
However, our moral obligation to raise standards and address underperformance remains the overriding consideration and this must be considered in terms of ensuring no existing children are at detriment. The Trust will serve a range of communities including those with relatively high levels of deprivation.
What we will not do:
- Put competition before collaboration
- Expand through sponsorship without all existing academies being in a strong position
- Nor do anything that would be detrimental to pupils, staff or schools in neighbouring communities
The Trust will apply these principles in context, not rigidly ruling out schools wishing to join who do not meet all of the criteria. In considering any application to join, the Trust will complete a careful due diligence process. Any new school joining the Trust will be asked to fully commit to the Trust’s operational model.
In time we aim to recruit further School Improvement Leaders to support schools joining the Trust and enhance the provision for SEND. The School Improvement Leaders will work closely with the CEO to develop the school improvement model ensuring that key cross phase elements such as teaching, learning, assessment and transition frameworks are highly effective.
The Trust also recognises the need to better support children for whom main stream education is not always the most appropriate route for that particular period in their life. This might involve a free school application or enhanced provision on a school site. Any new provision would cater for the needs of the most challenging young people in the borough for whom there are currently very limited options.
Geographical isolation of schools within the Trust will be avoided. The Trust has no current plans to expand outside of Basildon. Isolation makes it more difficult to reap many of the collaborative benefits of being in a MAT, as it becomes difficult for leaders and staff to work together in person, making it easier to communicate, share good practice, and maintain the common ethos across the Trust. Our belief is that pupils will benefit most from a Trust of between 7 to 10 Basildon schools (all within a 10 minute journey time of each other).
