WAT Strategy

WAT Strategy 2022-25

WAT Strategy 2022-25 Powering into the Second Decade Get in touch windsoracademytrust.org.uk windsoracademytrust.org.uk

@WinAcadTrust

Windsor Academy Trust 1

Contents

Introduction

3

What Makes WAT WAT?

4

Review of Research and Evidence

6

WATs Five Big Moves: 2022-25

7

Big Move 1

8

Big Move 2

10

Big Move 3

12

Big Move 4

14

Big Move 5

16

Enablers

17

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting

17

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Introduction

In the academic year 2021-22, the Windsor Academy Trust (WAT) family reached the milestone of becoming 10 years old.

Established in 2011 with Windsor High School and Sixth Form, our family has grown to nine successful schools, providing excellent education to 7,000 students aged 2 to 18 driven by 1,000 committed, inspiring and talented staff.

Children have always been at the centre of everything we have done with the moral purpose to unlock students’ academic and personal potential.

“Unlocking Academic and Personal Potential.”

- Our moral purpose

Throughout the first 10 years a strong culture was developed. A culture of collaboration where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. A culture where our staff, our most precious resource, are treasured, empowered and developed. A culture where all are respectful of diversity and take responsibility.

A culture where collectively we have pride in excellence and a culture where we have

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

contributed to the communities we serve and we have been a ‘capacity giving’ school trust in the broader education system. A culture that was highly praised by Sir David Carter (former National Schools Commissioner) in the MultiAcademy Trust review he led with a team of Trust CEOs and Chairs of Boards, that resulted in us being a case study in his book, with Laura McInerney, ‘Leading Academy Trusts: Why Some Fail, But Most Don’t’.

The first decade for WAT, led by Keith Sorrell, our founding CEO, saw many accomplishments and we are grateful to him for his leadership. A decade which also ended with us successfully navigating and emerging stronger from the Covid 19 pandemic. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far.

Building on our first 10 years and striving to reach new frontiers, we have developed a compelling new strategy that builds on our first 10 years and will power WAT into the second decade.

Dawn Haywood CEO, January 2022

3

WAT Strategy 2022-25

What Makes WAT WAT? Why We Exist: A Shared Moral Purpose The mission of the WAT family remains the same as it was on our first day. We exist for one shared moral purpose to unlock academic and personal potential.

We want our students to aspire and to become all and more than they ever thought they could be. Students who know who they are and the sort of person they want to be; students who have discovered their passions; students who have high hopes and dreams for their futures and a clear sense of purpose; students who want to make a

difference in their communities and in the world and therefore students who understand the importance and value of education as a powerful driver for the greater good.

The WAT Aspire Mountain, developed for our students, depicts a student at the summit of the Aspire Mountain where their academic and personal potential has been unlocked.

WAT equips students with the compass, empowering them to navigate their way to their summit. The four points of the compass are: knowledge, skills, values and attitudes.

WAT puts the compass in the student’s one hand and the world in the other.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

4

WAT Strategy 2022-25

What We Do

•

Alignment through collaboration The ‘WAT Way’ sets out our codified approaches. These codified approaches are developed collaboratively and are grounded in research and informed by impactful practice

•

Inspire and develop people - We inspire and develop people and continuously strive for excellence

•

Grounded in research - We are consumers and generators of research and our approaches are informed by research

values: respect, responsibility, cooperation and collaboration. As we move forward we have honed and extended these values.

•

Keep things simple and communicate clearly - We ensure our message is understood and over communicated

Everything we do is underpinned by five values:

•

Civic and system leadership - We collaborate, support others and make a real difference in our communities and to the education system expectations and work hard

As we move into our Powering into the Second Decade Strategy we have refined what we do.

We develop high-performing schools that raise aspirations, inspire learning, build character and cultural capital, power social mobility and enable all students to thrive and make a difference in their communities and the world.

How We Do Things: WAT Values In 2014 we collaboratively agreed on four

•

Pride in Excellence: We have high expectations and work hard

•

Respect: We behave with integrity and honesty and foster equality

•

Responsibility: We all take personal and collective responsibility

•

Collaboration: We purposefully collaborate for the benefit of all

•

Bold and Innovative: We shape the future

How We Succeed: WAT Approach Alongside our values we have five components of the WAT Approach to accomplishing success that are embedded in our Powering into the Second Decade Strategy.

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

5

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Review of Research and Evidence In the development of the WAT Powering into the Second Decade Strategy, we have looked at evidence and research from within the school trust and educational arena and from other sectors.

McKinsey’s book ‘Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick: People, Probabilities and Big Moves to Beat the Odds’ has been influential. Based

We have undertaken a ‘tear down’ of the current position (the endowment) of the WAT family, identifying which aspects of our previous strategy have delivered impact.

We have also undertaken a ‘tear down’ of ‘trends’ that will give us a tail wind to accelerate us forward. The trends analysed include those pertaining to the education industry and to geography (location).

on research and evidence of thousands of organisations around the world, McKinsey has identified the levers that make a difference to organisational success: Endowment, Trends and Big Moves.

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

6

WAT Strategy 2022-25

WATs Five Big Moves: 2022-25 We have identified five big moves we will make through our Powering into the Second Decade Strategy.

Big Move 1

Big Move 4

Develop high performing schools where every student unlocks their academic and personal potential

Big Move 2

Instil an ethos and ability to care for the natural environment now and in the future, to become carbon neutral and one of the most sustainable school trusts in the country

Build staff talent by developing

Big Move 5

inspiring, research informed staff Expand the WAT family reach through support for other schools and trusts and through sustainable growth

Big Move 3 Drive education for the greater public good to create social value and deliver civic impact

Each Big Move is outlined with a description, the drivers (what will power the big move) and the deliverables (what we will have accomplished through the big move by 2025).

WAT Strategy 2022-25: Powering into the Second Decade

Unlocked Academic and Personal Potential

Respect Responsibility Collaboration Bold/Innovative Pride in Excellence

FIVE BIG MOVES

High Performing Schools

Staff Talent

Civic Leadership

Digital Technology

Innovation

ENABLERS Resource Allocation

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

Sustainability

Governance

WAT Family Reach

Marketing and Communications

7

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Big Move 1: Develop high performing schools where every student unlocks their academic and personal potential Description Big move 1 focuses on impactful and sustainable school improvement to ensure that every student is educated in a high performing school that develops great learners and unlocks academic potential and great young people with unlocked personal potential.

The WAT approach to developing high performing schools is grounded in two seminal pieces of research and thought leadership. The first is the DfE commissioned research report: ‘Sustainable improvement in multi-school groups’ (Professor Toby Greany, 2018), secondly the Confederation of School Trusts ‘Knowledge building - School improvement at scale (2021)’.

Drivers 1. WAT School Transformation Model The WAT Schools Transformation Model is adapted from Sir David Carter’s four stage improvement model. It ensures that there is accurate diagnosis of where each school is in its improvement journey and that there are laser focused, high impact approaches that will accelerate each school forward.

It can be applied at a range of levels in the school context: teams, year groups/phases, subjects and whole school. The school transformation model is aligned with the WAT Way. The four stages of the WAT School Transformation Model are: 1. Stabilise

3. Improve

a. Broken and requires significant improvement

a. Empowerment at all levels

b. No clear underpinning for the future

b. Systems and routines start to become embedded

c. Capacity receiver

c. Tipping point reached

2. Repair

4. Sustain

a. Leadership more proactive

a. Leading school across the family

b. Control from chaos

b. Confident, innovative and collaborative.

c. Systems and routines in place

c. Capacity giver

The WAT School Transformation Model sets out the observable features, priorities for improvement, capacity giving and capacity receiving for each stage of the model.

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

8

WAT Strategy 2022-25

2. The WAT Way: Codified Approaches to School Improvement

3. School Improvement Capacity Talented Team

In ‘How we succeed: the WAT approach’ we have stated we will have alignment through collaboration.

The ‘WAT Way’ in this big move sets out the codified approaches that drive school improvement. These codified approaches are developed collaboratively and are grounded in research and informed by innovative and impactful practice.

The codified approaches provide a framework that is flexible to the stage each school is at in its improvement journey within the WAT

A talented team of staff will continue to be developed and expanded to drive the WAT School Transformation Model and the WAT Way codified approaches to school improvement.

The team will include: • Executive team members • Central team members • School based staff with trust wide roles • Staff in schools Incubators

School Transformation Model.

The codified approaches that drive school improvement are in the following areas: • Safeguarding • Behaviour • Curriculum • Teacher Effectiveness • Learner Effectiveness • Assessment (diagnosis) • Personal Potential and Cultural Capital • Digital Technology • Inclusion • Quality Assurance

A series of incubators will be developed where there is the most innovative and impactful practice across the WAT family. The incubator areas will recruit additional capacity so that new and less experienced staff can learn from the most effective. This creates the ability to release impactful staff, to work across the WAT family, sharing their practice and magic.

Incubators will include the following areas: • Faculties/Subjects • Phases (Early Years/Sixth Form) • WAT WAY Codified approaches to school improvement

Deliverables by 2025 • • • • • •

At least four schools (3+ years in WAT) are in our highest stage of our school transformation model and are graded or are on track to be ‘outstanding’ All schools (3+ years) are in the top two phases of the the WAT school transformation model.

WAT Primary and Secondary outcomes are in the top 10% of MATs nationally Every teacher in every classroom has the curriculum and pedagogy to deliver exceptional outcomes for every student Every school has exceptional and impact provision for personal potential and cultural capital, where every student has found their talent, passion or interest, and therefore their purpose Every student is equipped with the knowledge, learner skills, values and attitudes to thrive in life and make a difference in their communities and the world

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

9

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Big Move 2: Build staff talent by developing inspiring, research informed staff Description Our approach to staff learning and talent development is based on the belief that people are our most precious resource. We have an excellent reputation for delivering outstanding and innovative professional learning across the Midlands and beyond. Our Trust family continually strives to be an employer of choice, and our sector-leading approach features as a case study in Sir David Carter and Laura McInerney’s book, ‘Leading Academy Trusts: Why some fail, but most don’t’. WAT will continue to develop exceptional teachers, leaders and professional services staff, both for staff in the WAT family and for those locally, regionally and nationally through our WAT Talent Centre.

Drivers Our drivers for building staff talent are focused on the type of professional learning and talent development and a continued deep commitment to supporting staff mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. All types of professional learning and talent development have core principles and

All Staff

Teachers - aligned to the codified approach to teacher and learner effectiveness

Leaders

Teachers

CPL Types

Professional Services

mechanisms that are fully embedded and lead to impact.

CPL Mechanisms CPL Guiding Principles

• • • • • •

Instructional coaching Teach Meets Deliberate Practice Trust, School, Faculty, Phase CPL sessions Iris technology Digital technology

Leadership 1. The Type of Professional learning and Talent Development

•

Initial Teacher Education

•

•

•

• •

Aspiring Educators for Sixth Form Aspiring Teachers WAT Schools Direct Programme Strategic partnerships with ITE Partners

• •

Early Career Teachers • •

WAT Early Career Teacher Programme - delivery partner with Capita and the University of Birmingham delivering the Early Career Framework

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

• •

National Professional Qualifications - delivery partner with the Teacher Development Trust National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) National Professional Qualification for Senior Leaders (NPQSL) National Professional Qualification for Leading Teaching Development (NPQLTD) National Professional Qualification for Leading Teaching (NPQLT) National Professional Qualification for Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC) Future NPQs What Makes a WAT Leader Programme

10

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Professional Services Staff •

Role and function specific

Apprenticeships Staff Researchers • • •

Pedagogy Champions Masters Degrees Research embedded in all staff professional learning and talent development

Building Knowledge •

Managing cognitive load

•

Revisiting prior learning

Motivating Staff • • •

Developing Techniques •

Accelerating Exceptional Talent •

WAT Associate Programme

The Principles that Underpin Professional Learning and Talent Development • • • • • •

There is rhythm and duration to CPL It builds on individuals’ starting points.

There is collaboration and working with peers We stand on the shoulders of giants Create clarity and sense of purpose Makes it real for your setting and context

The Mechanisms that Lead to Impactful Professional Learning and Talent Development

Setting and agreeing on goals Presenting information from a credible source Providing affirmation and reinforcement after progress

• • • •

Instructing staff on how to perform a technique Arranging social support Modelling the technique Monitoring and providing feedback Rehearsing the technique

Embedding Practice • • • •

Providing prompts and cues Prompting action planning Encouraging monitoring Prompting context specific repetition

2. Staff Wellbeing Supporting staff mental, physical and emotional wellbeing through resourcing, support guidance and professional learning aligned with the DfE Education Wellbeing Charter.

In line with the Education Endowment Foundation (2021) research report.

Deliverables by 2025 •

• •

•

•

The WAT Talent Centre is recognised by leading education organisations and individuals as an exceptional local, regional, national and international provision for professional learning and growing staff talent The WAT Talent Centre provides vibrant, innovative, research grounded, practice informed professional learning opportunities and WAT is a case study for other school trusts WAT is recognised and respected as a highly effective delivery partner for the ECF and NPQs by our Lead Providers, facilitators and participants, having delivered contracted targets set by our Lead Providers WAT staff are inspired and impactful in their roles, demonstrated through staff and student voice as well as through student outcomes across WAT and a talent pipeline exists where staff are promoted into new roles within and beyond the WAT family Accomplished all elements of the DfE Education Wellbeing Charter and WAT is a case study for other school trusts

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

11

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Big Move 3: Drive education for the greater public good to create social value and deliver civic impact “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” - Dr Martin Luther King Description We will drive education for the greater public good. Our aim is that all children thrive, not just those in the WAT family. We understand that schools and students thrive best when communities do. There is a lot that the WAT family already does as a civic leader however much of this, although intentional, is not yet strategically driven. WAT will be intentional and strategic as we move forward in our Powering into the Second Decade Strategy.

Drivers The image below sets out the drives of our civic leadership big move. We will move through the six steps on the left of the image for each of the three broad categories of civic partners on the right hand side of the image.

Civic Tear Downs •

Identify the strengths and where the need is

Parents , Community, Businesss and Other Schools Locally (For Example) • •

Listen Without Agenda •

Listening events/engagement with identified groups/organisations to hone focus

• •

Parents (WAT and schools) Community groups (ie Yemini Centre, sports clubs, foodbanks, charities etc) Businesses (key businesses) Schools

Partnership with Local Government

Co-constructed Plans Embedded into WAT Development Plans and Academy Improvement Plans

• • •

Civic Agreements

Wider Civic Partners

•

• • • • •

Formalise agreements with othe anchor organisations/community groups

Action Impact

• • • windsoracademytrust.org.uk

LAs RSC Mayor of WM

NHS Universities School trusts Sports organisations (ie YST) Arts and cultural organisations (ie WM Arts Network) BC Chamber of Commerce/IoD CST/Other educational organisations Third sector 12

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Deliverables by 2025 • • • • • • •

A civic agreement is in place with four wider civic actors/anchor organisations A culture of civic engagement centrally and in each academy Civic leaders have been developed (WAT staff and civic partners) through civic leadership professional learning Staff at all levels view themselves as civic actors Students regularly undertake civic actions (part of the WAT Pledge) Published report on the research findings impact of civic engagement WAT presenting on national platforms and articles written about WAT as a leading educational voice

Community

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

13

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Big Move 4: Instil an ethos and ability to care for the natural environment, now and in the future to become carbon neutral and one of the most sustainable school trusts in the country Description Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. We are fully committed to a more sustainable future and leaving the world in a better place for future generations.

We will become one of the most sustainable multi-academy trusts in the country by aligning our education, operations and estate to ensure sustainable practice across everything we do. The whole WAT family will be fully engaged in achieving our sustainability objectives, we will provide everyone with the opportunity to influence and make change, and work towards becoming net carbon neutral by 2030.

Drivers We will develop and adapt the framework set out in the ‘One Planet Living Goals and Guidance for Schools’ (Bioregional, 2019) to drive sustainability forwards. This sustainability framework presents the One Planet Living Principles, we will use these drivers to fully inform and guide our overarching Sustainability Strategy and Strategic Plan. This framework is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

One Planet Living Principles Health and Happiness

Land and Nature

Encouraging active, social, meaningful lives to promote good health and wellbeing

Protecting and restoring land for the benefit of people and wildlife Sustainable Water

Equity and Local Economy Creating safe, equitable places to live and work which support local prosperity and international fair trade

Using water efficiently, protecting local water resources and reducing flooding and drought Local and Sustainable Food

Culture and Community Nurturing local identity and heritage, empowering communities and promoting a culture of sustainable living

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

Promoting sustainable humane farming and healthy diets high in local, seasonal organic food and vegetable protein

14

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Travel and Transport

Zero Waste

Reducing the need to travel, encouraging walking, cycling and low carbon transport

Reducing consumption, reusing and recycling to achieve zero waste and zero pollution

Materials and Transport

Zero Carbon Energy

Using materials from sustainable sources and promoting products which help people reduce consumption

Making buildings and manufacturing energy efficient and supplying all energy with renewables

Our staff and students will have a meaningful voice in sustainability decision making, providing them with the skills, knowledge and understanding of the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability. Our schools and students have been at the forefront of sustainability development, the image below represents some of the projects and activities that have taken place so far that will continue to be drivers as we power into our second decade.

• • • • •

Eco Schools - Eco-Schools awards and eco clubs and committees running at our schools Forest School - Forest School programmes raising awareness and taking action to protect the environment Recycling - Recycling initiatives across our schools Single Use Plastics - Reducing the use of plastic across our schools Part of the Curriculum - Teaching children about sustainability as part of our Global and Current Affairs curriculum theme

Deliverables by 2025 • •

•

• • •

Integrate sustainability principles within the design, development and delivery of WAT’s services, driving economic, social and health benefits for staff, students and wider community Embed ‘education for sustainable development’ across the whole curriculum, growing sustainable partnerships with the HE/FE and business sectors to enable students to seamlessly transition into jobs within the clean green economy Deliver a 10-year decarbonisation plan for WAT’s education estate that meets the energy consumption and CO2e reduction targets (-10% p.a.; -50% over 5 years) and measures to reduce consumption (based on 2018/2019 SECR*) Integrate new energy and water efficient technologies and practices across our estate and services reducing our consumption and cost on a like-for-like basis Embed good practice principles and practices for zero waste management and instil a culture of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ across the WAT family Apply sustainable design standards and whole lifecycle cost principles to all new school buildings and major refurbishment works to ensure that our estate operates as environmentally and economically efficiently as possible

*SECR - Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (2018-19 baseline data due to COVID in 2019-20)

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

15

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Big Move 5: Expand the WAT family reach through support for other schools and school trusts and through sustainable growth Description In order to have the maximum impact on unlocking students’ academic and personal potential and in making a difference to the lives of more students we aim to expand our reach and the number of students and schools in the WAT family.

Drivers 1. Increase the number of student admissions into current WAT schools

5. Continue to build relationships with Local Authorities, school and school trust leaders

2. Open Free Schools

6. Provide school improvement support to LA maintained schools and single academy trusts as a taster to entice schools to fully join the WAT family

3. Map and engage with potential schools and school trusts to support and to join the WAT family 4. Build the WAT relationship and reputation with the Regional Schools Commissioner to bring additional sponsored academies and potential underperforming school trusts into WAT

7. Radiate the work and impact of WAT to build our reputation to inspire schools to join the WAT family

Deliverables by 2025 • • • • • •

To have 100% of WAT schools (3+ years) with 100% of admissions as first preferences with school admissions in line with or exceeding PAN To have grown by 20% the number of students in WAT Sixth Form provision and 20% in Early Years provision To have opened or have in the pre opening stage three Free Schools To have increased the number of schools in the WAT family To have increased the number of students in the WAT family To have expanded the WAT family to two additional LAs

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

16

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Enablers Underpinning the Five Big Moves are four enablers that support each of the Five Big Moves.

1. Digital Technology

Research

One-to-One iPads WAT has started a journey towards students and staff having a one-to-one iPad. All students in years 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 currently have a personal iPad alongside staff that teach these year groups. We will complete this journey for students and staff.

All staff will be supported to be consumers and generators of research. The WAT Research Lead will empower and equip staff. We will continue to build research into staff professional learning and enable more staff to engage in masters degree programmes. We will continue to build links with universities and academic researchers.

Cloud First Infrastructure We will move towards an IT infrastructure that is cloud based.

2. Innovation and Research Innovation We will continue to build a culture where all staff have the confidence to innovate.

Capacity giving schools in the sustain phase of school improvement will be expected to lead innovation and share this across the WAT family.

Our incubators will lead innovation.

Innovation will be built into our WAT Associate Programme for our exceptionally talented staff. We will continue to create innovative, collaborative platforms for innovation to be shared.

3. Resource Allocation We will explore the most effective mechanism to ensure financial and human resources are made available to enable the big moves to be accomplished, for example through maximising budget setting process and the use of the strategic development fund.

4. Governance We will continue to build highly effective governance by recruiting, training and supporting Members, Trustees and Local Advisory Board Members.

5. Marketing and Communications We will develop a marketing and communications strategy to support delivery and ensure the strategy is effectively communicated and clearly understood.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting We will measure the progress of this strategy by using both qualitative (e.g. staff survey, student and parental feedback) and quantitative methods (e.g. education standards, student achievement, building performance etc.) and reporting our performance in various ways (monthly, termly and annual progress reports) to key stakeholders.

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

17

WAT Strategy 2022-25

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

18

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Notes

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

19

WAT Strategy 2022-25

Get in touch windsoracademytrust.org.uk

windsoracademytrust.org.uk

@WinAcadTrust

Windsor Academy Trust

20