If you are thinking of joining a Trust and would like to know the next steps, or are interested in having an informal chat about what joining our Trust would mean to you, please contact us:
Our experienced team will ensure your transition to academy/trust member status is hassle-free and successful by supporting you right through the consultation process, including:
Becoming part of Great Schools Trust means joining a genuinely supportive family of academies with many benefits including:
Our experienced CEO, Executive and team of Directors are available to provide personalised advice and guidance to your school leaders and governing bodies. A key function of the ‘Faculty for Education’ is to provide our academy leaders with the assurance that, within a continually changing political and legal landscape, they are keeping up to date with statutory requirements, school compliance obligations and management of risk.
Outstanding leadership from numerous National Leaders of Education, with significant experience as Ofsted inspectors (including HMI) in both Primary and Secondary and national reputations for sustained school improvement.
This highly skilled team of lead professionals have responsibility for the quality of provision, curriculum, teaching and assessment and curriculum-led financial planning and strategic leadership. Every school is an equal partner, and every principal has a seat and an equal voice on the Trust Leadership Team we work together to develop the best curriculum possible with fantastic resources available to enhance student learning.
Our expert team will be able to advise and guide your governors to ensure they can deliver their three core functions:
You will have access to training and development resources alongside an experienced clerk and with access to existing governing bodies within the Trust. Policies, schedules of business, and terms of reference are all provided as part of our comprehensive service.
We provide a customised service for you, which lifts the burden of financial compliance and keeps things simple. By managing this centrally we can take advantage of economies of scale, whilst ensuring we are fully compliant with the rules of the various funding and statutory bodies. Efficiencies in administrative functions and joint procurement programmes allow you to operate a financially sustainable organisation, characterised by exceptional Value for Money.
We have a fantastic weekly CPD programme providing inspired learning to all colleagues; regular networking events and conferences ensure that we remain cohesive and at the top of our game. Our colleagues work across multiple sites, sharing ideas and reactively developing our teaching methods.
The Trust provides a People and HR service that is personalised and helps your leadership team achieve their aims to improve and develop your school. Our HR policies are models of best practice; reflect the trust’s ethos and are structured to build a culture of continuous improvement and development. Our People team works closely with you to fit your individual needs.
High expertise and large savings, both in time and finances, for back office support including finance, HR, marketing and communications, IT and estates management leaves academies free to concentrate on developing the capacity of your leadership schools and teams and allowing these savings, in both time and money, to be redirected back into teaching.
As an EdTech ambassador trust, GST provides a comprehensive IT infrastructure; ensuring data integrity, security and platform flexibility to allow your school to develop its unique systems but within a secure infrastructure. Our experienced team will help with major projects and assist with strategy, procurement and installation, as well as providing advice and guidance.
Our experienced estates and technical services team will be able to support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. All to help you to ensure a ‘safe place’ for teaching and learning, and make the most of your estate assets. Where necessary we can help improve policies and procedures covering, for example, health & safety, site maintenance and regulatory compliance. We have a breadth of experience in delivering effective capital buildings programmes through to operational estate management, including CIF and major project developments.
The Personal Development Team have a proven record of the successful establishment and delivery of a wide range of leadership development programmes for both staff and students, including the establishment of 6 Cadet Contingents for each of our academies, one of the highest Duke of Edinburgh participation rates nationally, as well as annual leadership residentials for all of our students.
Our experienced Marketing & Communications team will support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. Our breadth of experience in delivering web design, web content development and ongoing maintenance of all website and digital/social media services ensures compliance with DfE/ESFA governance requirements. We have extensive experience of developing student recruitment campaigns, PR and reputation management strategy and delivering marketing training and support to school staff, whilst producing high quality design and artwork for marketing materials, prospectuses and newsletters.
As we operate across multiple local authorities in the northwest, to provide optimal time, resources and support to each academy, the trust’s ‘Faculty for Education’ operate as geographic ‘Hubs'.
This enables the necessary structural and capacity changes in governance and central services to ensure the continued effectiveness of trust systems. Furthermore, the hub model also generates efficiencies in the operational support provided to all schools with the MAT dividend benefit each academy (a lower central charge for better service).
The GST Hub model ensures for your academy that: