BATLEY TRUST
We are a trust family of schools who firmly believe that every young person, regardless of their background or starting point deserves a first class education coupled with high-quality care, guidance and support. Our schools sit at the very heart of our community, all geographically linked, each being a mere 5 minute drive from the other.
Our family of schools covers the full age range from 2 year old provision through to post 16, plus our brilliant Yorkshire Rose Teaching Partnership provides excellent ITT, ECT and NPQ training, as well as leadership training programmes for our associate staff.
We see learning as a lifelong journey for all of us, holistic education being the key to unlocking an individual’s true potential and ultimately building a stronger local economy, resulting in a stronger community. Community makes us, and the unity in community is key.
Our trust mission, vision and values are shared across our family of schools, and we believe a great trust is based on collaboration for collective efficacy. All our schools are aligned to the trust’s mission, vision and values, but they are each unique as well. So instead of clones in a family, our schools are like siblings in a family.
Each school has their own individual specialism and expertise, but each one shares an unequivocal and relentless focus on providing that great education for all our young people, because that is what they deserve.
Our guiding principles are:
Our children deserve the best
No child left behind-ever
Every school a great school
Creating remarkable people
Young people are the future of our society and we must inspire them to be the best version of themselves each and every day and to be ambitious for what their future can hold if they are willing to work hard to achieve their goals. We teach all our young people to not simply tolerate others different to themselves, but to respect and celebrate cultures different to their own.
Batley has a rich cultural heritage and the curriculum our trust family of schools provide celebrates the diversity of our town, and the rich tapestry of life from the people who live and work here. As the African proverb states; “It takes a village to raise a child” and every member of our community plays a key role in supporting the holistic education of all our young people - our staff team, our families, members of our local community, and most importantly our young people themselves.
Why is inclusion and well-being important to you - and your setting?
Inclusion for us means that no child is left behind-ever.
Why should no child be left behind-ever? Because equity in education is essential to a young person’s future success and happiness. Our family of schools serves a very deprived community, with high levels of poverty, third generation unemployment and domestic violence in the home on the increase both post pandemic, and in the wave of the current economic challenges all families face. These young people are coming from a lower starting point than many of their peers across the country. Many are also EAL, and SEND however they are certainly not all low ability or unambitious. Quite the opposite - many of our young people can, and do, go on to great further education institutions, and have great careers. This is because our family of schools helps them to believe that they can! From our early years ‘Hear My Voice’ programmes where our youngest learners build confidence and self esteem to our adult training programmes, we provide learning and curriculum enrichment for all members of our community. Many neurodiversities just mean young people need to access the curriculum in a different way - our job is to make our curriculum inclusive, accessible, make it engaging and challenging, and make it relevant. The best learning takes place when you are slightly out of your comfort zone. For many of our young people, they don’t know what they don’t know! We have to show them the way to a brighter future, and help develop that strong moral compass so they make positive choices, and are positive members of our local community. All members of our community share the spirit of genuine collaborative partnership, and egos are left at the door.
The well-being of everyone in our learning communities matters enormously to us-every adult and every young person. Wellbeing has to be more than a strategy, it is a way of working each and every day. We believe that People Make Places and our staff team have devised a Batley Ethical Leadership Charter and Batley Workload Charter, written by our staff for our staff. Ethical leadership is the bedrock of our approach to wellbeing. We are all leaders-young people are leaders of their own learning, and every adult is a leader. All members of our community share the spirit of genuine collaborative partnership, and egos are left at the door.
We also refer to ourselves as a trust, rather than a MAT, as we are built on a culture of mutual trust. We have a collaborative culture built on openness, honesty, integrity and respect, and collaborating for collective efficacy for all.
We believe schools are the social glue that holds communities together.
Why did you choose the GEC as your solution?
“We chose GEC because it offered something no one else did. We wanted to shape and enhance our People Make Places work, and further develop our offer to ensure every school in our trust family offered a genuine EEDI (equity, equality, diversity and inclusivity) strategy.
We were desperate this wasn’t simply an action plan that was revisited termly, RAG rated and reviewed, but that it was at the very heart of the lived experience of everyone in our learning community-every adult and every child.
We were looking at intersectionality and the impact of this particularly for our young people, but also our staff.
We met Nic Ponsford via Forum Strategy and were instantly inspired by her passion, enthusiasm and commitment.
The GEC tools are accessible to everyone, well crafted and very highly quality, plus the resource bank is continually being developed and expanded.”
Sam Vickers, CEO of Batley Trust
How has this benefitted you?
“The initial survey has provided us with key staff feedback where everyone has a voice.
The survey is well crafted, detailed and thorough and has provided a strong baseline for us to shape and build our trust wide EEDI strategy.
Our model is to develop the “you said, we did” approach so everyone knows we value their feedback, their views and their ideas and we shape our EEDI strategy together.
After all,
‘Education does not transform the world. Education changes people, and people change the world.’
Paulo Freire.”