Strategic Improvement Plan 2025-2028
Welcome to EPT
The Education Partnership Trust (EPT) is a well‑established and successful Multi Academy Trust committed to improving the life chances and outcomes of pupils across our inclusive family of schools. Everything we do is rooted in our belief that education transforms lives and that every child deserves the highest possible standards, regardless of background or circumstance.
As our name reflects, partnership lies at the heart of our approach. We work closely with schools, local authorities and a wide range of external partners to strengthen provision, share expertise and maximise impact. While our schools are aligned around clear trust‑wide priorities, we do not subscribe to a ‘one size fits all’ model. We value the distinct identity of each school and recognise their individual strengths, contexts and areas for development. Pupils are at the centre of all our decision‑making. Securing strong academic outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, is fundamental to improving future life chances. To support this, we have invested in a highly skilled and dedicated school improvement team, with proven expertise in raising standards, particularly in English and mathematics, and in supporting inclusive practice.
Mark Cocker Chief Executive Officer
Alongside educational improvement, we are committed to strong financial stewardship. As a Multi Academy Trust, we actively seek to drive down costs, deliver best value and maximise economies of scale through intelligent procurement, shared services and collective working. This ensures that resources are used efficiently and directed where they make the greatest difference to pupils.
Our professional, approachable central team works in close partnership with school leaders to secure long‑term sustainability and success. We provide high‑quality support across all aspects of school life, including curriculum and assessment, Ofsted preparation and compliance, estates and facilities, health and safety, HR, finance and governance. This enables leaders to focus relentlessly on what matters most: delivering excellent teaching and learning for every pupil.
This Strategic Plan sets out our shared direction and priorities for the coming period. It reflects our commitment to achievement, inclusion, value for money and continuous improvement, and provides a clear framework to support our schools as they continue to thrive.
Vision and Values
Our Vision
Creating outstanding schools which transform learning, lives and communities
Our Values
High Expectations of ourselves, our pupils and our school community
Commitment
we are dedicated to raising standards and improving opportunities
Ambition we constantly strive to improve by setting ourselves challenging goals
Overview
• We are a well established family of nine schools with experienced leaders who are invested in our vision and values
• EPT has a proven record of raising standards with all our schools being judged as good or outstanding
• We cover the three local authority areas of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire and Wigan
• Our Trust serves pupils along every part of the education continuum from primary to secondary mainstream, specialist, and alternative provisions
• A well established and highly skilled central team which provides specialist information and guidance on all aspects of school support, including school improvement, Ofsted compliance and preparation, health & safety, HR, finance, facilities and estates, IT and governance
The DfE Five Pillars of quality for multi-academy trusts
1. High Quality and Inclusive Education
2. School Improvement
3. Workforce
4. Finance and Operations
5. Governance and Leadership
The Five Pillars of quality and the Trust Quality Descriptors underpin the strategic objectives.
Strategic Objectives
1. To deliver an exceptional quality of education and ensure strong achievement for all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs
2. To promote and build a culture of excellence through high quality professional development, support and collaboration
3. To ensure sustainable financial health and operational efficiency through strategic resource management to support the delivery of high quality education
4. To ensure highly effective governance and leadership at all levels
5. To create a high performing working culture, promoting values and behaviours that deliver excellence with a focus on wellbeing
Strategic Objective 1:
To deliver an exceptional quality of education and ensure strong achievement for all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs
INTENDED OUTCOMES
• To strengthen assessment across schools, ensuring fidelity to the planned curriculum To deliver an exceptional quality of education and ensure strong achievement for all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs
• To strengthen the effectiveness of inclusive practices for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, and the impact of the pupil premium strategy
• To improve the consistency and impact of the Trust reading strategy
• To improve attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
• To further develop support for leaders and teachers through the Trust CPD offer (QIGs, targeted CPD, online school improvement hub and school to school support)
NOTE: As new schools join the Trust, they will have different needs and starting points compared to schools that are well established. These will be reflected in the school level improvement plans.
Strategic Objective 2:
To promote and build a culture of excellence through high quality professional development, support and collaboration
INTENDED OUTCOMES
• To further develop support for leaders and teachers through the Trust CPD offer (QIGs, targeted CPD, online school improvement hub and school to school support)
Strategic Objective 3:
To ensure sustainable financial health and operational efficiency through strategic resource management to support the delivery of high-quality education
INTENDED OUTCOMES
• To reduce planned deficits to a breakeven position or better
• To ensure financial sustainability.
• To reduce the Trust’s carbon footprint and enhance cyber security.
• To ensure a smooth transition to the new finance system by strengthening and embedding financial controls.
• To ensure financial efficiency and value for money
Strategic Objective 4:
To ensure highly effective governance and leadership at all levels
INTENDED OUTCOMES
• To maintain stability, expertise and effective governance at board and local governing body level
• To ensure trustees and governors have the skills and knowledge to undertake their roles effectively
• Ensure capacity to maintain high quality governance as the trust grows
• To apply the use of artificial intelligence to enhance teaching and learning and to create efficiencies across the trust
Strategic Objective 5:
To create a high performing working culture, promoting values and behaviours that deliver excellence with a focus on wellbeing
INTENDED OUTCOMES
• To create an engaging, supportive, and rewarding environment that promotes professional growth, job satis faction, and long term commitment
• To enhance the CPD programme to empower staff, nurture professional growth, and promote a culture of continuous improvement through various platforms
• To provide a sustainable and supportive environment that promotes the wellbeing of all staff
• To establish a reputation as a leading employer within the education sector by creating an inclusive, sup portive, and innovative workplace that attracts, retains, and develops the best talent
• Optimising workforce planning, by promoting a sustainable, adaptive workforce to support growth and op erational efficiency
Growth Strategy
Why EPT?
• We are a well established family of schools with experienced leaders who are invested in our vision and values. As a result, all schools benefit from this collective specialist knowledge to improve their own schools in a supportive way
• SEND support from our Special School is proving to be an increasingly valuable resource for all our schools as we continue to face increasing challenges. This support can include SEND reviews with a NASEN accredited leader
• All our schools are within an hour commute from our central office, ensuring support is never far away
• “The trust is well placed to build further on its highly effective approach to governance” (External review of Governance 2024)
• Targeted and bespoke support in all areas of school improvement
Our Key Principles for Growth
• Alignment of vision and values
• Growth is sustainable to maintain our bespoke and highly responsive central team support and school improvement model
• To add value and impact positively on the outcomes for all pupils in the trust ensuring that no existing children or schools are placed at detriment
• Commitment to meaningful collaboration and working in partnership
• Commitment to workforce development and succession planning
• To ensure value for money and reduced spending through economies of scale
• A commitment to growth in the North West area, we believe we are in a strong position to be able to support schools in these localities due to both proximity of our central team support as well as harnessing school to school support
Our Aims
• To develop local hubs within the geographical areas which will include secondary and primary schools to provide school to school support and collaboration within the local community
• Further develop trust wide Quality Improvement Groups and professional networks – with a focus on improvement and professional development which are key to developing a sense of collective support and commitment to other schools
• Further develop the culture of peer challenge and review between schools, with Headteacher and SLT members at the centre, to embed a sense of shared responsibility for improvements in other schools
Within our growth strategy and overall school improvement strategy the trust is committed to developing the workforce in ways which:
• distribute leadership throughout the schools
• utilise the strengths of individual staff and enable them to contribute to their maximum potential
• provide continuing professional development opportunities which enable staff to progress within the schools
• Identifying and nurturing talent through leadership development – succession planning
We welcome good or outstanding secondary and primary schools to join our family of schools to further develop and strengthen the school improvement capacity that already exists across our trust.
Growth Strategy
Capacity
We are committed to continually raise standards and outcomes for our pupils and our central team has grown to reflect the support needs of our schools. We have built capacity through recent appointments and internal development to effectively support schools within the trust and new schools joining the trust. Our school improvement capacity has increased following the appointment of a full time school improvement lead who reports to the Deputy CEO/Director of Education. In addition, we commission our quality assured external specialists to provide targeted support as needed for our schools. This will ensure our growth is sustainable and our support remains bespoke, responsive and based on the needs of the school.
Executive Team
Chief Executive Officer – Sharon Roscoe
Deputy CEO/Director of Education – Mark Cocker
Chief Operating Officer – Jonathan Georgy
Director of HR & Governance – Caroline Howarth
Central Team roles include:
School Improvement, Human Resources, Governance, Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Finance, IT, Data & Analytics, Facilities & Estates, Business Support and Safeguarding.
For further information on EPT and the services we offer, please refer to our website www.ept-uk.com
Our Structure
Members
Members have ultimate responsibility for the trust achieving its charitable objectives. They sign off the articles of association and have power to appoint and remove the Board of Directors (Trustees).
Local Governing Body (LGB)
Each school has a Local Governing Body, whose governance role is to oversee the running of the school on behalf of the trust. The board will determine the level of delegation and membership of the LGB. The LGB has a key role in the overall system for school accountability and raising standards; ensuring that resources are used effectively to provide every child with the best possible education.
Board of Directors (Trustees)
The Board of Directors (BoD) must ensure compliance with company and charity law and with the trust’s funding agreement with the Secretary of State. The directors are responsible for the general control and management of the administration of the trust in accordance with the provisions set out in the memorandum and articles of association. The board is accountable for the performance of all schools within the trust and as such must:
1 Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
2 Hold the executive to account for the educational performance of the schools and their pupils, and the performance management of staff
3 Oversee the financial performance of the trust and make sure its money is well spent
A full list of Directors is published on the EPT website www.ept uk.com
Operations Executive
The Operations Executive is the operational arm of the Trust. This team supports all the schools with their operational functions, including; School Improvement, Finance, HR, Health & Safety, Facilities and Estates, Data Protection, IT, Governance.
Collaboration
We believe passionately in the power of collaborative working and actively promote school to school support. Our Quality Improvement Groups include School Business Managers, DSLs, Teaching & Learning, SENCO’s, Health & Safety, and core subject moderation.
Our Schools
The Heights Blackburn
The Heights Blackburn is an alternative provision school which provides personalised programmes and support, to develop academic, vocational, personal and social skills.
Eden School
Eden is a SEMH Special School which engages pupils and develops positive attitudes to learning by providing life transforming education.
Coal Clough Academy
Coal Clough works in partnership with its local school communities to provide a stimulating learning environment, tailored to individual needs.
Pleckgate High School
Pleckgate High School is a multi cultural community of pupils, staff, parents and carers. The purpose of the school is learning, and all members are entitled to experience success.
The Heights Burnley
The Heights, Burnley is an alternative provision school: helping students to grow, develop and create their own future through providing an alternative curriculum, working in partnership and instilling our PRIDE values in each student.
Atherton High School
Atherton High School opened in September 2012 and caters for pupils from Year 7 to 11, Atherton joined the Trust on the 1st April 2020.
Burnley High School
Burnley High School is a secondary school based in the Padiham area of Burnley, the school caters for pupils from Year 7 to 11, Burnley High School joined the Trust on the 1st April 2020.
Carr Hill High School
Carr Hill High School is a secondary school based in Kirkham, the school caters for pupils from Year 7 to 11. Carr Hill High School joined the Trust on the 1st September 2024.
Parklee Primary School
Parklee is a mainstream Primary school with a Nursery for pupils aged 3 11. The school embrace and celebrate every kind of achievement and are committed to inclusion. On 1st April 2025, Parklee became the first Primary school to join the Trust.
