Why Join Us?

 

 

 

 

Why join The Quill C of E Trust? 

“As we build back better from the pandemic, The Quill C of E Trust have the capacity to provide the best training and evidence-based curriculum support for already great teachers, freeing them to focus on what they do best – teaching."

Department for Education 

 

While there is no clear evidence to suggest that academisation in itself leads to better outcomes for children and young people, there is an increasing body of evidence that formal collaborations between schools, such as MATs, can bring substantial benefits. 

 

 What is an academy and what are the benefits?

Why join The Quill C of E Trust? 

Our Trust 

 

• We are a small but vibrant Primary Trust within Bolton with two Academies.    
• We hold ‘family’ as a core value. 
• Our vision is to ‘enlighten, enrich, empower and evolve generations through education’.  Some of the pupils who have attended schools in our MAT have gone on to obtain jobs within the Trust and therefore show great commitment to our pupils and local educational communities. 
• Our Trust is a fully inclusive Church of England MAT.  We have both faith and non-denominational academies within our Trust. 
• We are looking to grow to five Academies within our Trust to ensure we enjoy the full benefits of collaboration, whilst remaining small enough to continue to provide a personalised, bespoke service for every member. We aim to do this in the next 10 years. 

  

 

Leadership and Governance 

 

• Our Multi Academy Trust is managed by the Members and Directors. Each individual school has its own ‘Local Governing Body’. 
• Our Central Services team provide support, advice and guidance in a number of areas including: 

 

• Finance (including payroll) 
• HR 
• IT 
• H&S and site management 

 

• We don’t top slice, we don’t keep your reserves, and we don’t pool the income. 
• We do help you get the best value for money with group purchase deal  and invest heavily in resources for the children. 

 

 

 

Innovative, high quality support 

 

• School to school support and collaboration is central to all school improvement across the MAT. 
• Governors, senior leaders, middle leaders, teachers, teaching assistants, administrative staff, catering staff and site management staff are all linked up across the MAT to develop collaborative working parties to share good practice. 
• Staff recognition is very important to us.  Our staff have been lucky enough to be awarded the following accolades: 

 

• Jack Hatch OBE: Bolton News Lifetime Achievement 2021 
• Sarah Rostron: TES Headteacher of the Year 2021 
• St. Bede Academy: TES Early Years Setting of the Year 2021 
• Andrew Lawson: Bolton News Primary School Teacher of the Year 2021 
• Oliver Davenport: Bolton News New Teacher of the Year 2021 
• Karolina Poplawska: Bolton News Teaching Assistant of the Year 2021 
• Joanne Wilcock: ISA International Schools Award 2021 

 

• Ofsted outstanding experienced Academy 
• Track record of turning around a sponsored school 

 

 

  

We celebrate the different 

  

• Each school is a unique place on its own different journey; we will continue to celebrate the diversity and individuality of our schools. 
• We encourage schools to conduct research and trial new initiatives, review the impact and feedback findings to other schools in the MAT. 
• We never stand still; we are always looking at ways to improve and we encourage staff at all levels to be leaders of change. 
• Our MAT is part centralised; our Finance, Payroll, HR, IT and Site Management teams are centralised. All other areas are delegated to individual schools. 
• Each member of our team is nurtured and supported to fulfil their potential.  We encourage personal development and believe in ‘growing our own’.  This has resulted in previous pupils, parents and employees from all backgrounds developing into Teaching Assistants, Teachers, Educational Leaders, HR, IT and Finance Professionals, amongst other professions. 
• Each child is special and is provided with a wide range of extracurricular activities to complement the rich curriculum offered. 

 

We are small but mighty 

 

We have a range of Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) within our Trust who have offered support to a range of different schools.  Our SLEs are: 

 

• Anna Black: Raising Standards, Subject Leadership & Management, Teaching & Learning; 
• Sarah Rostron: Teaching & Learning, Curriculum, English; 
• Laura Taylor: Mathematics; 
• Yvonne Trimble: Mathematics; 

 

• We work closely between our Academies sharing ideas, challenging and supporting each other. 
• Our senior staff are accredited trainers for the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) and Early Career Teacher Training Mentoring (ECT) 
• We have specialist teachers who are employed by the MAT in the following areas: SEN, Music, Art, Computing, MFL, and P.E. 
• We offer training to a number of Initial Teacher Training providers and are a hub that provides student placements to over three providers.  We always receive excellent feedback from our courses: 

 

“Your passion and fantastic Early Years knowledge has shone throughout.  The trainees got everything they wanted from your session, all of which they will be able to translate effectively into their practice”

- Donna. 

 

“Brilliant intro to the curriculum as this is something I didn't have as much knowledge on. Really useful to see how to link in with the curriculum rather than just stand alone lessons” 

 

“You have brought back the enjoyment of maths and I would not change anything about your lecture.  I am also over the moon to know that my placement is within your school, and if there is ever an opportunity to,                                         I would absolutely love the chance to observe one of your maths lessons”’ 

 

 

 

We care about our team, but what do our staff think of us? 

 

“I am truly inspired by the COO; the current Co-Headteacher of St. Bede is innovative, energetic, and positive and believes whole heartedly in devolved leadership.  She is approachable and interested in ideas staff have.She builds staff up.  I also feel supported by the newly appointed CEO.”  

“We are led by a fantastic, talented CEO and COO who know St. Bede well.”  

“The school has a clear vision and values that underpin this. The school addresses current affairs effectively and swiftly. “  

“Since joining the team I have felt valued, supported and respected."  

"I have learnt an incredible amount during this academic year and I am extremely grateful to SMT for the opportunities that I have been given.  I have enjoyed observing other teachers and being able to discuss areas with them." 

“The leaders care, listen and respond to change well. “  

“We are giving the best education to our children in difficult times and supporting staff. “ 

“Every day the children always come to school smiling and willing to learn. “ 

 

 

 

Want to know more? 

 

Come and talk to us, find out if we can work together and achieve great things. Please contact one of the team below: 

 

• Sarah Bagshaw CEO – bagshaws@stbedeacademy.org 
• Sarah Rostron COO – rostrons@stbedeacademy.org