The Frank Field Education Trust is a Multi-Academy Trust based in the North-West and the West Midlands which aims to build on the work of our Trust founder, the late Rt. Hon. Lord Frank Field.

Our Purpose: We believe social justice can be achieved for our communities by providing excellence in education.

Our Culture: We have created a culture, underpinned by our Trust Values Charter and Wellbeing Charter. This is fundamental to ensure that we have an enjoyable, rewarding working environment where everyone feels valued and believes they can make a difference.

Our Approach: We have created an Excellence in Education Framework that has four key pillars:

  • outstanding staff in every classroom
  • a curriculum for social justice which delivers cultural capital
  • effective and supportive systems that enable teachers to teach and children to learn
  • leadership that is rooted in our values, with wellbeing at the heart of all that we do

Our framework is delivered systematically through a Monitoring for Achievement Cycle.

 

1. Outstanding staff in every classroom

We are committed to helping all our staff to become outstanding practitioners and we have developed collaborative and co-operative learning communities. We do this through:

  • Our Teaching and Wellbeing Charters which exemplifies what outstanding teaching looks like in our trust and underpins our commitment to high quality, collective teacher development
  • Our Annual Conference and Professional Development offer which brings staff together to revisit our core purpose, share expertise and develop pedagogy
  • Staff at all levels being involved in the development and delivery of our key processes (e.g. Consistency Across our Schools, The MFA Cycle, our Professional Learning Communities)
  • Our Trust Bulletin which shares good practice and celebrates pedagogical excellence
  • Our FFET networks which facilitate collaboration to identify and align priorities, share skills and evidence of what works and reduce workload
  • Working collaboratively to identify key areas of development and having dedicated time within our MFA Cycle to enable staff to flourish

 

2. A curriculum for social justice

We believe that improving educational outcomes is the biggest way we can positively impact on our pupils’ futures. We have designed a Curriculum for Social Justice that will not only enable pupils to achieve life-changing examination qualifications, but also a set of knowledge, skills and behaviours (cultural capital) that will enable them to lead a choice-filled life guided by a moral compass. We do this through:

  • Regular ‘curriculum conversations’ within and across our schools with senior and middle leaders enabling them to share insight, knowledge, resources, support and challenge
  • Curriculum and Pastoral Leaders’ Meetings to develop strong relationships within and across our schools to ensure our ‘Be More’ curriculum is integrated seamlessly with pupil learning
  • Subject Leader meetings to collaboratively design and sequence their subject curricular
  • Coaching and mentoring to further develop leaders’ expertise and challenge their thinking
  • Breaking down content into learning cycles which sequences the curriculum, builds on prior learning and fills gaps in knowledge

 

3. Effective and supportive systems

We believe that when staff work in an environment where expectations are clear for all then exceptional learning can take place. We have developed a set of robust systems that enables our schools to have a positive, safe, working environment, allowing teachers to teach and pupils to learn. We have developed:

  • a Monitoring for Achievement Cycle which outlines how we quality assure and monitor teaching and learning throughout the year The MFA Cycle enables us to signpost the key formative and summative assessment points throughout the year as well as detailing the key opportunities for professional development for our staff. Throughout the year, we use data to identify pastoral and academic priorities and through GAS and AIM meetings ensure that children receive the right support, intervention and encouragement.
  • a Behaviour Charter which establishes very clear rules and the way we do things. This ensures staff and children are clear and consistently have high expectations regarding routines and behaviours, encouraging and rewarding good behaviour and ensuring children feel like they belong.
  • highly effective pupil support from our Safeguarding, SEND and Behaviour teams who meet regularly, collaborate across our Trust and are outward facing
  • a Diagnostic Toolkit which supports school improvement from the ground up, creating a shared purpose within and across our schools. It enables leaders at all levels granular insight into areas of strength and development, helping provide opportunities to share skills, solutions and showcase improvement
  • regular opportunities for pupils, parents and staff to provide feedback

 

4. Values Driven Leadership

We believe that the biggest asset within our Trust is our staff and to deliver social justice we need them to feel valued and ensure we bring the best out in them. We do this through:

  • Living and breathing our Wellbeing, Teacher and Values Charters
  • Insisting that everyone sets a good example in how they behave and that they consciously take steps to reduce levels of stress and anxiety in the organisation
  • Half termly FFET briefings which share successes and provide clarity of our core purpose
  • Regular headteacher and senior leader meetings to discuss strategic priorities and share solutions
  • Aligning our FFET calendar across all areas of school life (e.g. data collections; Monitoring for Achievement Cycles; parents’ evenings; Middle Leader and Teacher Development Meetings)
  • Ensuring all leaders know and understand what it means to lead in our Trust for the benefit of all schools
  • Supporting leaders at all levels to lead with high expectation and compassion
  • Providing regular support and guidance from the Trust Central Team
  • Our strategy for succession planning which ensures that future leaders access the right NPQs and internal CPD, enabling the majority of posts to be filled internally.