Powering our Big Moves

Digital Technology

Building on the successful launch of iPads for Learning in 2020-21, our 1:1 digital learning approach expanded to ensure every child in years 4-10 has a personal iPad to power up their learning at school and at home. Alongside this, we successfully launched a staff and student digital learning platform to enhance digital skills and celebrate the digital learning journeys of both staff and students.

Innovation and Research

We continue to build a culture where all staff have the confidence to innovate and become consumers and generators of research. Research is built into staff professional learning. We’ve expanded the Practitioner Researcher role and developed our WAT Associate Programme to drive innovation. We’ve also increased opportunities for staff to engage in research through Masters degrees with the University of Worcester and the University of Birmingham.

Resource Allocation

Our financial strategy is aligned to our organisational strategy ensuring our organisational health and strength for the short and long term.

At the start of the academic year, our financial revenue resources were allocated to support the delivery of each of our Big Moves, while ensuring a healthy reserves balance was maintained. This included use of the trust’s Strategic Development Fund (SDF), recycling efficiency savings and repurposing the school/trust budget. In addition, we secured additional capital and revenue grant funding through a successful bid for monies from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Our investment in digital learning along with over £4m of capital investment (through grants we have centrally secured) in the last 24 months in sustainable projects (Solar PV, full LED light replacement across all schools, energy management systems) has placed Windsor Academy Trust in the perfect position to meet the current inflationary pressures all sectors are feeling. We have a strongly sustainable financial strategy. This investment will continue with over 50% of our annual capital funding earmarked for sustainable projects over the next three years, further reducing our carbon footprint and costs.

We have an strong culture of financial management and are extremely proud of having clean external audits for the last two financial years, an achievement our auditors have called “extraordinary in any sector”.

Governance

Windsor Academy Trust is proud of its strong and effective governance. The WAT Governance Structure consists of Members, the Board of Directors/Trustees and Committees of the Board including the school level Local Advisory Bodies (LABs). Board members are highly skilled and influential people who take responsibility for the strategic governance of the whole family. The WAT Scheme of Delegation clearly sets out the role and remit of all levels of governance. This is complemented by the WAT Scheme of Financial Delegation.

A Governance Working Group was established in 2022 in order to undertake a full governance review. Substantial progress has been made including the adoption of new Articles of Association, a revised Scheme of Delegation, and revised Terms of Reference for all governance committees. Furthermore, the trust welcomed four new trustees to the Board in autumn 2022.

Marketing and Communications

Aligned to the Powering into the Second Decade strategy, in 2022, a new and detailed three-year marketing and communications strategy and plan to underpin and support delivery of each of WAT’s five Big Moves and communicate our successes was agreed and put into action.