We enjoy operating as an autonomous academy within an environment where the trust vision ‘to ensure that all students in our academies are provided with inspiring educational experiences that lead to outstanding outcomes’, really plays out in our daily interactions with trust colleagues. We appreciate the freedom we have to make this work for our community and value the support and expertise provided by the central team. Being able to work with School Improvement Directors to improve teaching and learning in some key subject areas has been very helpful; it is also reassuring for us to know that support is easily available in a range of other business operations such as marketing, human resources, finance and data services. Challenge and support are offered in equal measure which we have greatly valued at Lord Grey.

The trust promotes an ethos of collaboration rather than competition that has brought many benefits to Lord Grey. It is good to know that any member of staff can contact their counterpart in another trust school to seek advice or to share ideas. This has helped in our own school improvement journey and we have felt encouraged to share and promote our successes and areas of expertise with others in the trust. There is no doubt that improvements at Lord Grey Academy have accelerated since joining the trust and we believe there is an exciting future ahead.

Jim Parker
Executive Principal
www.lordgrey.org.uk
Lord Grey Academy, Rickley Lane, Bletchley, Milton Keynes