We have received the following information from Impington Village College:

The Rationale

The Trust will be a new multi academy trust that is evolving from the current ‘standalone’ Academy Trust at Impington Village College to develop a local family of schools within Cambridgeshire. The new Trust will initially be formed by Impington Village College. Ten current Governors will become the ‘founder members’ of the new Multi-Academy Trust. It is proposed will develop in three ways:

• Apply to establish and open a Free School.
• Invite partners who share the ethos of the Trust and who recognise the benefits of formal collaboration
• Sponsor schools that require sponsorship (and the Trust is submitting an application for this to the Department for Education)

The Trust has just announced it is applying to open a Special Free School for students with autism spectrum condition (‘The Cavendish School’) and this is prospectively the first development in the formation of the MAT. In time, the Trust will grow further. Legally forming the MAT is the first and most important step.

The Purpose

The Trust is being formed by an organization (IVC) whose members are passionate about and deeply committed to comprehensive, community-rooted education. The MAT will remain accountable to each local community by ensuring members are drawn from those communities it serves and enable schools to retain local accountability.

The Trust will have a strong ethos and set of values. We believe that children and young people have one chance to experience schooling and we will ensure that this unique opportunity is valued and that it enables all to flourish as individuals so that they can progress and take their place as positive, active and capable citizens in our world.

• We believe in the individual and will ensure the schools reflect and respect this in both ethos and work
• We believe that schooling is a unique experience and should therefore be inspirational for all
• We believe in assumed autonomy for each school and that it is rooted in its community and we therefore will support each of our schools to be a hub for learning, opportunity and participation
• We are committed to the mantra of excellence as standard and will ensure that pupils only receive the very best opportunities to flourish as independent and responsible individuals
• We believe in inclusion in principle and practice and will admit all children/young people into our schools; similarly we are committed to avoiding exclusion
• We believe children and young people should be encouraged to be naturally international in outlook and encourage our pupils in wanting to make a better, fairer and more equal world

Our schools will share and collaborate in a partnership which will ensure that education in Cambridgeshire is once again highly regarded across our nation and beyond.

The Trust will be based on important values and have a distinct ethos. In a rapidly changing educational landscape, this is an ideal opportunity for a successful learning community to develop and grow further.

The Benefits

Developing the MAT will have a number of clear benefits for member schools;

• enhance the ethos and values of each learning community and contributing to the growth of a new and distinct Trust
• creating a collaborative culture of excellence in teaching and learning,
• strengthening professional development of all staff in all settings through increased collaboration and partnership
• recruiting and retaining the very best professionals
• strengthen the curriculum through curriculum and partnership across relevant schools,
• broadening the learning opportunities and enrichment activities for students,
• enhance provision for students with special educational needs through sharing of best practice and resources,
• achieve efficiencies of resource and cost through collaboration and partnership of services
• strengthen support for school improvement and the development of outstanding leadership and governance

Trust Vision and Values

The Trust’s family of schools will be bound by a shared vision and set of aims and objectives that reflect unity of purpose whilst retaining local character. It will aim:

To be an outstanding and inspiring trust comprising learning communities that are truly inclusive, innovative and international. Excellence as standard will be characteristic across the whole Trust.

• Inclusive – welcoming, embracing and supporting all pupils who come to our schools in achieving academic excellence
• Innovative – challenging and supporting all members of each learning community to look forward with resilience and confidence and to be at the forefront of educational thinking and achievement
• International – developing and adopting a global outlook and encouraging all members to acquire international-mindedness

Next Steps

We would like to invite all those with a particular interest in the development of the Trust to come to a public meeting on Monday 20 June at 7.30pm to hear from Trustees and the Executive Principal on:

• The formation and character of the new Trust
• The initial opportunity to apply to open the new special free school for students with ASC
• The current challenges of developing excellence in a landscape where resources are diminishing
• The consultation will run from Monday 13 June to Friday 1 July 2016.
• Feedback can be submitted to rcampbell@impington.cambs.sch.uk