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Thinking of joining us?

The core ethos of the Trust can be summarised in three words:

  • Collaborate  - The Trust is committed to enabling schools to work together and learning from each other and sharing good practice.
  • Learn  - the culture of learning and being outward facing and striving to improve practice is paramount and fundamental to the working of the Trust
  • Achieve – in working together and learning from each other we will raise achievement and thereby improve life chances of the children in our care

The Trust is geographically centred so that all schools are accessible to each other within a lunch hour.  We believe this facilitates and promotes the ethos of collaboration.

Why is partnership working across The Spire Church of England Learning Trust schools so successful?

Our success is underpinned by nine essential features:

  1. Shared Christian values which permeate the schools and curriculum we offer
  2. Shared aims – we are ambitious for all and we pledge to provide the best possible service for all the children in our classes.  We promise to care enough and to challenge enough, so we can say with honesty and pride that every child here is supported to become the best they can be, regardless of their circumstance or starting point.
  3. A relentless focus on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment – a compelling curriculum, skillful pedagogy and rich assessment
  4. A strong belief in the value and potential of every child, no matter what their background – an ethical excellence
  5. A deep commitment to professional development across the whole trust - high quality, meaningful learning for children and evidence-based, outward learning for staff.
  6. Commitment to the success of other schools in the trust as much as to the success of our own school – one for all and all for one
  7. Quality assurance.  That is, rigorous self-evaluation and peer review of the quality of work in all our schools
  8. Sharing data and using it analytically to improve our performance – raising standards higher, faster and stronger
  9. Using resources where they are most needed in the trust.

The Spire Church of England Trust's pledges of excellence

Pledge to pupils and parents/carers

The Trust makes a pledge to every family or carer who chooses to send their child to one of our schools with the Trust.  We pledge:

  • High expectations.
  • A knowledge-based curriculum.
  • Carefully focused teaching, rigorous tracking and personalised intervention.
  • High quality staff that are motivated, well trained and using cutting-edge research.
  • A rich and diverse leadership programme that grows character and inspires.

Pledge to staff

The Trust makes a pledge to every employee.  We pledge:

  • An inspirational career and working environment where hard work is recognised, where there are opportunities to give something back and bring out The Spire qualities in each and every pupil.
  • A commitment to transformational leadership with leaders passionate about nurturing the next generation of leaders and a culture of collaboration, sharing and support.
  • A learning environment committed to growing its own, encouraging fast track career progression and supporting the transformational development of its people.
  • An unwavering commitment to Team Spire, filling the Trust with Spire talent, celebrating successes and pursuing excellence in all we do.

Pledge to schools

The Trust makes a pledge to every school, including those that choose to become a part of The Spire CE Learning Trust.  We pledge:

  • A universal vision of nurturing today’s young people and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders.
  • A skilled team in The Spire Central Team that works alongside schools to deliver educational excellence, operational excellence and a strong Spire community.
  • High quality school improvement support.
  • A collaborative approach to development of policy and systems.
  • An investment in staff wellbeing and continuous development.
  • A strong and vibrant community.
  • An opportunity to make a social impact.

What will membership of The Spire Church of England Learning Trust mean in my school?

1. Improved outcomes for pupils, for example:

  • Improvement in pupil progress and attainment
  • Improvement in the quality and consistency of teaching and learning
  • Links with pupils in other schools, which will lead to a greater sense of social responsibility, improved attendance and behaviour and a more outward looking perspective amongst pupils

2. Access to a wider range of professional practice, for example:

  • Working alongside a wider group of professional colleagues enables teachers to share and develop practice together
  • Cross phase access provides insight into other phases of education
  • Reciprocal visits provide opportunities for teachers to benchmark their practice against other schools and opportunities for longer secondments are possible
  • University accredited programmes bespoke to your context

3. Cost effectiveness, for example:

  • Shared area provision enables some courses to be offered which might otherwise have proved unviable
  • Sharing of external providers or joint purchasing of equipment and resources save on costs
  • Sharing of specialist facilities, for example in music or sport

4. Recruitment and retention, for example:

  • By raising the status of the school in the local community, schools often became popular and oversubscribed – schools ‘of choice’ for parents
  • Additional challenge and motivation for outstanding school leaders means that they are more likely to remain in post for longer
  • Developing and aspiring leaders can be promoted – often to other schools within the partnership

5. Raised capacity and morale, for example:

  • The process of supporting others typically enables practitioners to develop their own professional learning, challenging and extending their own practice
  • By building capacity, supported schools soon find themselves in a position to support others
  • Pupils often enter secondary education enthused and ready to continue their study of specialist subjects, such as science or modern foreign languages

How we work with our schools?

Each school within The Spire Church of England Learning Trust retains its own Local Governing Body (LGB), which operates under a common Scheme of Delegation approved by the Trust Board. The Scheme of Delegation sets out clearly how responsibilities are shared between the Trust Board, the Executive Team and each LGB.

All LGBs have the same level of delegated authority and are empowered to focus on the areas that matter most locally including safeguarding, pupil outcomes, culture, ethos and community engagement. They provide vital insight into the life of each school and ensure that governance remains close to the community it serves.

Where a school is identified as ‘causing concern’ or where an LGB does not yet have the capacity or skills to operate effectively, the Trust may adjust the level of delegation and provide additional support or intervention. This ensures that every school receives the oversight it needs to improve and that governance remains robust, consistent and focused on securing the best possible outcomes for pupils.

The overarching aim of the Scheme of Delegation is to balance strong central accountability with meaningful local governance, ensuring that decision‑making is both effective and responsive to each school’s context.

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