Our Ethos & Values
Our Beliefs
We believe in and value what we do to transform the life chances of our students. This is reflected in our motto:
'Credo - Credimus'Latin for:'I Believe - We Believe'
We believe that all students can reach their potential and to make this happen we must all behold the highest of expectations.
We believe that our academies exist to shape the life chances of all our students so that they can attend the best universities or places of employment in the years to come.
We believe that the best way to prepare individuals for the future is through ‘Leadership’ and our academies will intentionally develop the character and skills required to contribute positively to their wider communities.
Our Ethos & Values
Our ethos permeates the daily life of each of our academies by:
Offering all the advantages of an independent education but free of fees and selection - a family of independent schools for the state sector. Great Schools Trust academies are not just schools. They are values-driven organisations with a strong sense of moral purpose and mission.
Our Vision
At Great Schools Trust, we aim to challenge educational and social disadvantage by serving as a catalyst for social and geographical mobility, so that each of our students has opportunity and choice over their future destination.
Our vision is
Our Values
Our ‘seven pillars of character’ are bound together through the constant use of the acronym:
A | aspiration and achievement – not only the highest of aspirations but also the drive and determination to achieve those aspirations |
S | self-awareness – a greater understanding of themselves as a person as well as their strengths and, perhaps more importantly, the areas in which they need to develop |
P | professionalism – adopting a professional approach to their behaviour, which includes attending daily, being punctual, dressing well, and presenting their work to the highest professional standards |
I | integrity – being true to their beliefs, upholding them at all times and committing themselves as young leaders |
R | respect - respecting their ability, respecting the differences in others, their background, faith and culture, and caring for our planet and its limited resources |
E | endeavour – being focussed on the task in hand, tackling it conscientiously and diligently, and having the perseverance and determination to keep going when others start to give up |
Our Mission
Our mission encapsulates the Trust’s core practices and processes which guide our everyday actions, reactions and decisions. It is:
In simple terms, our mission is to empower each of our young people to lead a happy and successful adult life, but in reality it is much more. Our mission can be broken down into four pillars, which collectively form the foundations for a ‘successful citizen’:
Academic Skills
We spend more time in school than most other trusts through an extended school week, providing students with the equivalent of a 6-year key stage 3&4. We provide a high-quality, inclusive curriculum which is vocabulary-led, knowledge-rich, broad and balanced, with a very high uptake of the English Baccalaureate; over twice the national average.
Intellectual Habits
To transform life chances we have to transform habits. The Trust’s educational model actively shapes habits of daily punctuality and attendance together with a highly positive attitude to learning so as to maximise the time available to develop a strong core of academic skills.
Qualities of Character
The trust’s ASPIRE code provides a values-led decision-making framework which helps students codify their behaviour and gain a better perspective of life
Qualities of Leadership
The development of character through the vehicle of leadership is the cornerstone of our specialism through a plethora of leadership and character-building opportunities to broaden their horizons and engage in a wider range of co-curricular experiences.
Our Mission in Action
The Great Schools Trust educational model emerged from a seven-year study of successful Charter Schools in the United States and the best practices found in the independent sector. We believe that if young people come to a school where they feel valued and safe, and where teachers have their best interests at heart, they will commit themselves fully. This commitment will lead to them believing in themselves, which will enable them to attend regularly, work harder when in school every day, suffer fewer distractions, become more motivated and achieve more. This is the A-B-C model, our educational blueprint ensures that our students ‘attend’ every day, ‘behave’ every lesson and have daily access to a great ‘curriculum’.
In the short time since King’s Leadership Academy Bolton opened in 2019, it has quickly become one of Bolton’s most oversubscribed schools. Given ours and the Great Schools Trust's success with attendance and behaviour outcomes, it has been chosen as one of the select few National Behaviour Hubs.