Chief Executive Officer

Northern Star Academies Trust

As a family of schools we are committed to providing a high quality educational and learning experience for all.

Northern Star Academies Trust is a growing multi-academy trust comprising of four schools: Skipton Girls’ High School (Outstanding) and Harrogate High School (Good with outstanding leadership), New Park Primary Academy (Good) and Hookstone Chase Primary School (Good). This unique partnership is working to develop strong schools, able to serve their local communities by providing high quality learning for children, young people and staff in all roles. The trust currently has academy orders for a further two secondary schools and is in discussion with a further primary school. 

Vision

The prime objective of Northern Star is to support and benefit its member academies in providing an excellent education whilst celebrating the individual identity and locality of each school. NSAT is also working to improve the educational standards of underperforming schools in North and West Yorkshire. We will achieve this through Joint Practice Development, by sharing the expertise, resources and best practice already available within the MAT. We will raise standards and develop innovation in teaching and learning by introducing new school improvement structures that successful MATs have already shown support the retention of quality whilst a MAT scales up.

A specific theme of NSAT’s vision is to create a cross-phase MAT with at least one primary school hub of 4 or 6 primary schools and a secondary school hub of 4 to 5 secondary schools by 2018/19. A cross phase MAT requires greater resources to support school improvement structures compared to a MAT operating across a single phase of school i.e. purely primary or purely secondary. However, we believe greater student progress can be achieved by working together with both primary and secondary colleagues. The cross-phase MAT will use the school improvement structure to reduce the divide between primary and secondary provision in pedagogy, assessment and the curriculum. The trust executive believe end-on provision and seamless transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 will improve the progress achieved by students. 

Looking ahead, the MAT is working to build on the strong working relationship with representatives of local universities, the NSAT Science Hub, STEM network, Northern Lights TSA and other education sector representatives to develop excellence in teaching and learning across the primary and secondary age range. NSAT’s further ambition is to develop innovation in teaching and learning through research based joint practice development across the primary and secondary phases. In doing so, the trust will continue to improve the life chances of the children and young people in its schools and retain an outstanding workforce.

In summary Northern Star academies will work together to: 

• Provide excellent learning and outcomes - achieved through strong leadership, professional collaboration and innovation in teaching and learning 

• Diminish the difference between the outcomes of disadvantaged and others

• Improve the cross-phase learning of students and staff between KS2 and KS3 

• Ensure all Northern Star academies are inclusive

• Provide effective Joint Practice Development across hubs and phases – effective staffing and leadership pipelines to build leadership and teaching capacity

• Achieve economies of scale through a centralised service for HR, Finance, site maintenance, procurement, ICT.

NSAT School improvement model and capacity building:

• We believe successful MATs have made a significant resource commitment to building an effective school improvement team. We will initially direct this funding on the core subjects in order to retain quality whilst scaling up. This funding will support the extension of the small team already in place. With the extended team in place the trust will be well prepared to take on a sponsor project and or a re-brokerage of an academy that has failed to improve. This funding will support the introduction of the core subject School Improvement Directors including those for primary. This team will be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of all schools within the MAT and other under-performing schools, giving colleagues career development opportunities and the chance to make a difference beyond their own contexts

• The executive team brings extensive experience of school improvement. There is a four stage school improvement process led by a range of senior colleagues with identified specialist skills and experience. Senior and middle leaders within NSAT schools can both benefit from this support, and provide support to others. 

• The current NSAT executive team will lead the intervention work required by a sponsored project(s) and the development work required in convertor schools. The executive team is comprised of: Andrew Bayston, CEO; Jenn Plews, Deputy CEO who has recently gained NLE status and once again SGHS is an NLE support school; John Barker, Finance Director; Sally Cocker, Operations Director; and Gill Fisher, Director of School Improvement. This executive team is resourced by the surcharge from Year One of the MAT and a previous sponsor capacity award made to SGHS in 2013/14. As a small MAT it has only been possible to create a team of part time contributions. As the trust grows the Trustees are aware of the need to appoint a full time CEO and full time school improvement directors. This will be sustainable from Trust funds when the number of schools and student head count increases. The sponsor capacity grant will support this essential development in part from 09/17 and enable the trust to build capacity just before it’s required.

• Directors of Subject Improvement: we are now ready to create a structure of subject directors with high level teaching and leadership expertise in the core subjects as follows: 

· at primary phase 1 Literacy and 1 Numeracy School Improvement Director (SID)

· at secondary phase 1 English, 1 Maths & 1 Science School Improvement Director (SID). 

· Working alongside the Executive team and head teachers these positions will drive the first line support and intervention team for a sponsored school or re-brokerage project and will also coordinate the improvement work across good schools. 

· The school improvement team will also provide the seed bed for the trust’s leadership pipeline

Andrew Bayston and Jenn Plews

CEO and Deputy CEO

Northern Star Academies Trust

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