Strategic Plan
2024 - 2030
Introduction from our Chief Executive Officer
Our strategic plan is a celebration of the incredible achievements that everyone at Transforming Lives Educational Trust has accomplished over recent years.
From supporting our pupils, students, and staff, through to welcoming new academies into our TLET family, and improving the performance of our schools. All made possible because of our collaborative ethos and determination to equip others for a world of possibilities.
Here we want to share the solid foundation that we have built as a team, all of which is based on our core purpose to transform tomorrow, today by empowering others to be the transformers of the future. This drives everything we do and I am so proud of every member of our team, who work tirelessly to enable our colleagues to thrive, so that our children and young people can flourish.
This Strategic Plan represents a new baseline for us to work to and expand on, for all those in the TLET family.
I am excited about the future for TLET. A future that we will navigate through the transformative values of courage, kindness, and loyalty, and that will see more schools join us so that even more children, staff, and communities can benefit by being part of TLET. In extending our reach, we will help others to achieve more and contribute meaningfully to society.
To do this, we will keep our TLET ambitions of nurture potential, inspire community, and deliver excellence at the heart of all
we do. They are the golden threads that connect every corner of our organisation and define ‘The TLET Way’. They represent our conviction to cultivate the agency of others and in the importance of using this to make a difference. It matters to us that everyone’s uniqueness is celebrated, that they feel like they belong, are confident, and equipped to strive for their bestand we mean it.
Achieving this means continuing to work in close collaboration with our staff and all our partners, knowing that we are stronger together. In doing so, every child and colleague will have the tools to aim high, champion themselves, achieve well, and make a difference to the lives of others.
We will transform lives and this plan will get us there.
James Higham Chief Executive Officer
Introduction from our Trust Board Chair
Our previous plan focussed on building a solid foundation for Transforming Lives Educational Trust, including the expansion of the Trust, so that we provide high-quality schooling at all primary and secondary school phases.
This plan represents the next phase as we position ourselves as a strong schools’ trust.
The Trustees and Executive team have worked in partnership to redefine our vision, values, and ambitions, engaging with our staff and pupil stakeholders to create ‘The TLET Way’
Our core purpose to be the transformers of a better tomorrow remains central to this plan and is the motivation behind the work of members, trustees, and local governors. They give their valuable time and energy to make this purpose a reality. Nothing has the power to transform tomorrow more than the provision of education centred on equipping all to strive to be the best version of themselves.
All good strategies are built on a clear understanding of the organisation’s strengths and challenges. This Strategic Plan has drawn on the Department for Education’s Trust Quality Descriptors and its five pillars of quality for multi-academy trusts are woven into our plan to ensure we’re a strong trust. We have used the Confederation of School Trusts’ Assurance Framework as an aspirational framing of trust excellence to help us to identify our most significant areas of strength and our challenges. And good strategies also need clear long-term goals and we have drawn from, and built on, the HM Government
White Paper (2022) in setting the level of our ambition over our planning horizons of one, three, and seven years.
Our TLET ambitions of nurture potential, inspire community, and deliver excellence define ‘The TLET Way’ and form the underlying structure of this Strategic Plan. They are central to the thinking of the Trust Board as they encompass our vision for high quality, inclusive education. The key results under each ambition provide us with insight into our performance. And, crucially, they guide us in how we engage with our stakeholders to inform the decisions that we make.
Our Strategic Plan is built on our clear vision and strong values, and it identifies what success will look like. Our plan prioritises our TLET colleagues, children, and young people – working in partnership to transform futures for generations to come.
Guy French Trust Board Chair
Four years of transformation
This Strategic Plan springboards from the considerable developments that have taken place across TLET under the previous plan. We are in a position of real strength, opportunity, and energy for our future as a strong schools’ trust.
We know this because of our commitment to accurate self-evaluation and impactful continuous improvement, as well as the way we invest in the people and resources that will make the ultimate difference to others.
Our culture has evolved as the Trust has developed but it has remained unapologetically ambitious for the futures of the children and staff of TLET and rooted in our values. From these we have built, and sustained, strong relationships throughout the TLET family, creating the right environment in which to flourish and thrive. We aim to be a Trust with one vision made up of many voices; where children and staff alike feel connected to our vision, represented by our ambitions, and inspired by our values – they belong. It’s through this sense of shared purpose and partnership that we can be transformative.
We have a highly effective system of governance that offers the right balance in support and challenge, leading to higher standards for all. Members, trustees, and local governors each make a critical and valuable contribution, empowered to fulfil the clear remit set out for them in our scheme of delegation and terms of reference. Collectively, they represent the voice of our Trust’s community and are central to decision-making. We are ‘…a trust that takes the importance of
effective governance seriously and there is a commitment to ensuring that robust and comprehensive governance scrutiny is being applied at all levels of the Trust’s governance arrangements.’ (M. Blois, National Leader of Governance)
Our staff, regardless of role, are the people who make the difference today for others’ tomorrows. They are our greatest asset and the deliverers of greatness across the Trust. They are supported by TLET HR and a range of benefits such as our trust-wide professional development programmes, and our universal Employee Assistance Programme. As a result, and despite the national challenges surrounding recruitment, the number of unfilled vacancies at TLET are low. This is increasingly attributed to our belief in equity of opportunity, our commitment to career development, and our dedication to improve workload and wellbeing. ‘I [feel] empowered to learn and develop and I come to work excited for what the day will hold.’ (TLET employee - Staff experience survey).
Our academies benefit from high-quality central services which enable school leaders to do what they love – supporting our pupils and students to have a second-to-none school experience. The implementation of a centralised approach to core services including finance, HR,
estates, safeguarding, and IT has ensured that all academies have equitable access to high-quality support and leadership in these areas, which now act as enablers for school improvement. The net saving of this process of centralisation has been invested in increased capacity for pastoral support and school improvement.
Our funding model has meant that we have been able to address some of the inequalities that exist in the education system. We believe strongly in equity of opportunity for all and that this should not be defined by the size of the school they attend, and our funding model has allowed us to start to remedy this. Our academies have started to benefit from our rolling programme to improve facilities, as well as curriculum-led staffing structures.
We have built strong relationships with our regulators who have confidence in our capacity to positively contribute to the education system. We’ve welcomed both primary and secondary schools into our academy family in recent years and, notably, successfully opened our first free school and proudly sponsored an historically underperforming school to a position of strength.
Ultimately, the improvements seen within TLET are leading to a better quality of education for our pupils and students, and a better work environment and career path for our staff. Each of our schools is on a clear and sustainable trajectory of continuous improvement. We are expanding the range of opportunities on offer for our pupils, students, and staff, in-keeping with ‘The TLET Way’, so that they have rich and diverse experiences that broaden their horizons and secure their future success.
“We are like a family and there’s nobody that wouldn’t help you...no matter what it is, they are always there to support you.”
TLET employee
Strategic Ambitions
In 2023, we launched ‘The TLET Way’ and, in doing so, we restated our core purpose and heralded the next phase in TLET’s evolution.
Building on the strong foundations of the previous plan, this plan redefines how we are going to transform tomorrow, today by delivering our Trust ambitions, signalling a new baseline as we continue to progress and improve.
NURTURE POTENTIAL
We flourish in the places we create together.
INSPIRE COMMUNITY
We champion each other to make a difference.
DELIVER EXCELLENCE
We strive to achieve our best.
In realising this Strategic Plan, TLET will be recognised as a strong schools’ trust, delivering a consistently strong quality of education and schooling experience for every pupil and student.
We will be a trust of choice for schools within Warwickshire and its surrounding counties, with academies of choice for the communities we serve, and as an employer of choice for our colleagues, as well as considered a key contributor to the education system more widely.
Strategic Ambition: Nurture
Potential
The core purpose of schools is to nurture the potential of others. At TLET, we believe that for children and young people to flourish, we must first create an environment in which our colleagues thrive.
Across the Trust, our colleagues must feel seen, heard, and prioritised, regardless of their role or position, so that they have a deep sense of belonging, feel empowered and capable and, ultimately, find fulfilment in their work. This will promote their sense of wellbeing and equip them to have the greatest impact on our children and young people.
We want every member of the TLET team to trust the Trust, making us their employer of choice.
To do this, and to realise our ambition to nurture potential, we will deliver our People Pledge
Our People Pledge will be a principles-led strategy, informed by what we know our colleagues need to thrive, as well as the opportunities they’ve told us they want from their employer and places of work.
These will be captured in the People Pledge’s key areas of:
Recruitment and Induction
Sector-leading, peoplecentred HR that will ensure every TLET employee and volunteer is well matched to their role and expertly prepared for their very first day, and every day, in our Trust.
Training
Our colleagues will learn from current research and leading practice that supports them to deliver their role-specific responsibilities to the best of their ability.
Career Pathways
Our employees will feel like they have a career and not just a job, whether it’s setting their sights on future promotion or wanting to be ever-more expert in their current role. Our Career Pathways, for teaching and non-teaching staff alike, will provide the building blocks for advancement, ensuring that everyone is wellprepared for their next career opportunity.
Appraisal and Pay
With a focus on appreciating professional contribution and growing greatness in others, the way we measure and reward performance will be equitable, empowering, and for everyone.
Workload
Our systems and approaches will actively reduce workload for our staff by generating efficiencies and avoiding duplication, such as by harnessing technology, sharing resources, and streamlining reporting.
Wellbeing
We will have a shared understanding of wellbeing, and everyone will be equally committed to promoting mental fitness, as well as making sure our colleagues are expertly supported when they are struggling.
Fundamentally, our People Pledge will define the way we nurture our employees and volunteers, so that they excel in their roles and deliver greatness for our children and young people. It will mark out the way we, as a Trust family, show the pride we feel in working with, and advocating for, our colleagues.
“A strength of the Trust is that they can spot talent...and build that in to succession planning so that we’ve got amazing staff that are fully developed.”
TLET academy leader
Nurture Potential: Indicators of success
We will know that we’ve nurtured potential because:
• Our People Pledge is anchored in the needs of our academies and the communities we serve, and decisions and behaviours across the Trust are visibly aligned with our core purpose, values, and ambitions.
• We have a very clear and coherent conception of quality, rooted in evidence, which all our TLET colleagues trust to keep them at the top of their game, regardless of their role. As a result, we are known as a knowledge-building organisation where collaboration and partnering across the Trust is the norm.
• Regulators and other schools recognise TLET as a strong schools’ trust with a system-leading offer of impactful staff development and professional growth. As a result, strong performing schools will want to join our Trust, and we will realise growth as a result.
• Our Trust has embedded a culture of professional curiosity, with equitable and encouraged opportunity for professional learning and growth. Trust leaders spot talent and expertise and enact effective succession plans. As a result, employee retention is high, and vacancies are low.
• Our Trust colleagues consider TLET to be their employer of choice because of a fulfilled commitment to manageable workload and inclusive working practice, equity, equality, and diversity, underpinned by a strong and consistent culture of line management.
• Governance across the Trust remains highly effective in supporting and challenging the delivery of our strategic aims because Members, Trustees, and Governors are invested into our sector-leading system of governance, which supports them to make a valuable contribution as a result.
Strategic Ambition: Inspire Community
We have the joy of working with the next generation, and the privilege of helping to shape the way they grow and mature into adulthood.
We believe in providing children and young people with a safe place in our academies, where we support them to be inquisitive, connect with their identity, develop their character, and discover their own agency.
It’s the power of one’s influence that is central to our understanding of how best to inspire community and it’s our core purpose to nurture those who will become the transformers of the future.
To do this, and to realise our ambition to inspire community, we will deliver our Community Pledge.
Our Community Pledge will be the way we prepare our children and young people for modern day life, as they navigate childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. Fundamentally, we must teach them the power of their own influence, on themselves and on those around them; how to harness their potential for their own success, and to contribute to the success of others.
It will cover all areas of good personal development and will instil a strong sense of individual and collective identity, where our children and young people are proud of their uniqueness, and of the similarities that connect them with others. They will champion each other, feeling represented, celebrated, and advocated for by staff and peers alike.
Our Community Pledge will give our children and young people the essential knowledge, experiences, and tools they need for adult independence, as well as the strength of character that will prepare them for a world of possibilities as well as responsibilities. They will be compassionate, driven, resilient, and kind.
Our Community Pledge will be a prominent defining feature of the work of the Trust in our academies, and the communities we serve will benefit from its impact now, and in the future.
“I’ve always felt like a very valued member of the [school] community and this school does make you feel like a community rather than just a school with education for the children.” Parent
Inspire Community: Indicators of success
We will know that we’ve inspired community because:
• Attendance and punctuality of our pupils and students is exceptionally high because they feel safe and have a keen sense of belonging to their academy and the Trust. As a result, pupil and student behaviour drives a purposeful and safe culture across the Trust, underpinned by the spirit of stewardship and togetherness.
• There are clearly defined, shared curriculum principles for pupil and student personal development, and leaders and staff demonstrate high levels of congruence in their commitment to its delivery in our academies. As a result, all pupils’ and students’ characters are holistically nurtured, and they are exceedingly well prepared for every stage of their education and beyond.
• Our Trust is a place where everyone feels welcomed and accepted because we all value the uniqueness of others, the richness this adds to our Trust community, and our belief in championing others to make a positive difference.
• Our wide ranging and engaging co-curricular and enrichment curriculum is enjoyed equitably across the Trust, with high levels of participation, especially for those pupils and students who don’t get these opportunities at home.
• We are considered an anchor institution by the communities the Trust and our academies serve. This is because we prioritise our civic responsibilities that lead to the betterment of others and is sustained by the positive contribution that our pupils and students make to society long into adulthood.
Strategic Ambition: Deliver Excellence
We believe that the children and young people in a TLET academy should make more progress and achieve better than otherwise expected.
As a schools’ trust, we want to always ensure that we create the structures, systems, and frameworks that provide our academies with the optimal environment in which everyone can achieve their best.
In doing so, we provide our academy leaders with the tools and resources they need to lead well, and within the security of our Trust family and our wider expertise and capacity. Crucially, we want every TLET academy, leader, colleague, and child to benefit beyond the sum of their parts.
To do this, and to realise our ambition to deliver excellence, we will deliver our Equity Pledge
Our Equity Pledge will ensure that our academies receive what they need, when they need it, so that they can deliver excellence day in, day out. It will be the basis for our approach to school improvement, which utilises expertise, best practice, and resources without being a one-size-fits-all.
Our Equity Pledge will make sure we enact a funding model that addresses any inequity between our academies, and that enables us to direct resources intentionally across the Trust. In doing so, our leaders, staff, children, and young people, will benefit from comparable opportunities and experiences.
Similarly, we will focus on the quality of our building estate and seek to eliminate any differences in access to fit-for-purpose facilities and IT infrastructure, improving the teaching and learning environment for our staff, pupils, and students as a result.
Most importantly, our Equity Pledge will ensure the same level of advantage for all, especially those who have additional barriers to success such as pupils and students with Special Educational Needs, Disabilities, or those from a disadvantaged background.
“I chose to send [my children] to a TLET school because of the vast opportunities that are here for them. The children decided this is where they’d like to come.”
Parent
Deliver Excellence: Indicators of success
We will know that we’ve delivered excellence because:
• Our Trust provides the structures and systems that ensure equity for all because of our effective financial management, estates improvement, and deployment of resources. As a result, our academies, regardless of their size, benefit from being a member of the wider TLET organisation, including staffing, buildings, digital infrastructure, and technology.
• We have an established, codified model of school improvement built from our conception of quality, understood and enacted by all leaders. As a result, pupils and students make more progress and achieve more highly by attending a TLET academy than would otherwise be expected.
• Professional expertise is highly accessible and easily shared because our Trust provides excellent facilitation for knowledgebuilding. As a result, staff feel valued, empowered, and impactful, and with careful consideration to their workload and wellbeing.
• Our Trust has built school improvement capacity, ensuring that our academies enjoy sustained strong performance, or are rapidly improving from a low starting point. As a result, regulators recognise our ability to effectively support schools in challenging circumstances, and we have realised Trust growth as a result.
