VISION AND VALUES

Strive, achieve, believe!

At The Shared Learning Trust we provide opportunities for all our students and adults to be aspirational and develop a passion and excitement for learning.  Working with our communities, we ensure all students are able to achieve beyond their targets to reach the success they deserve. Our students develop a strong self-belief so that they flourish and develop into well-rounded, self-respecting young people.

Our commitment to our vision can be seen through:

• Our academies working together to provide more opportunities for all students and staff
• A focus on the development of our staff with opportunities for clear and dynamic career progression and high quality recruitment and retention.
• Strong Trust approaches to our key issues, for example; teaching, assessment, attendance and curriculum development.
• Partnerships with schools outside of our Trust to maximise opportunities for all.
• Close working and communication with our families and local community.
• Care for our families beyond the school day.
• Excellent lessons and learning incorporating effective use of new technologies.
• An interesting yet challenging curriculum.
• A Cross-Trust focus on high achievement and high standards.
• Ensuring that every child in our Trust reaches their full potential by providing exciting opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom.
• Exemplary behaviour and conduct at all times.
• A can-do attitude across the Trust that fosters belief and high expectation.
• Ensuring no opportunities are missed.

Our vision is to produce young people who are aspirational, have developed self-belief and who achieve more that than they ever thought was possible.

WE RECRUIT PEOPLE FOR ATTITUDE AND TRAIN FOR SKILLS

We aim to recruit people who have the right attitude. If you have a love for teaching and are passionate about seeing children succeed, we can help you do the rest. We can offer custom-made support packages that focus on the quality of teaching and learning, curriculum development and all aspects of Leadership and Management. Whether you would like help with planning, preparing and delivering outstanding lessons, building your confidence within the classroom or developing your behaviour management strategies, we have all the CPD and training you need (please see below for further details about our CPD).

We aim to recruit staff who:

• are excited by their role and by the prospect of working with young people, even those who are less well motivated;
• love the processes of learning and teaching and are keen to continually develop their own skills;
• recognise that teaching can be a demanding job but react positively to those demands rather than complaining;
• will subscribe to the ethos of the Trust and ‘go the extra mile’ in terms of time and commitment to get the very best from our young people;
• see break duty as an opportunity to talk to children;
• are quick to praise and slow to criticise; and
• are not afraid to admit to seeing themselves as potential leaders of the future.

 WELCOME TO THE VALE ACADEMY FROM HEADTEACHER

Thank you for your interest in becoming part of The Vale Academy’s learning community.

I am really proud of our academy and the staff work extremely hard to make learning fun and exciting.  We work as a very close team and strive to involve parents as much as possible in the learning of their children. I am extremely honoured to be the Headteacher of The Vale Academy and I believe that when children move on from our academy at the end of Year 6 they will leave with the following idea:

‘I believe and I have the confidence to succeed.’

At The Vale Academy we aim to provide a broad and balanced education for all the children within a happy, stimulating and healthy environment and we want each child to achieve the best he or she can. We have excellent teachers, learning support assistants, office staff and site managers who all work collaboratively to ensure the best outcomes for all children. There is a real warmth and friendliness among the staff here that you will experience for yourself when visiting the academy.

The academic standards achieved by our children over the past three years are continually improving. Our results in Reception, Year 1 phonics and Year 2 were excellent and are above the national average. Year 6 SATs results were top in the county in Maths. Reading, Writing and Maths combined were 73.9%

Our Governing Body plays an essential role in the development and success of the academy. Children belong to four different communities: Valour, Achievement, Learning and Excellence. The communities compete for House points through various sporting and non-sporting events. Children have a strong sense of belonging to a community and enjoy the competitive side of being involved in a house team.

By the time children leave us at the end of Year 6, they are responsible, independent young people and we are very proud of them.

I am conscious that this may be your first contact with our Academy Trust and first impressions are very important.  I hope what you read, coupled with anything else you discover about us, inspires you to apply for this post.

OFSTED AT THE VALE ACADEMY

Leadership and Management: ‘GOOD’

• The school’s Headteacher has worked quickly with senior leaders, supported by the work of the academy trust, to maintain the strong sense of community among staff, pupils, parents and trustees. Leaders are well regarded by all staff. Consequently, staff morale is high.

Behaviour and Safety of Students: ‘OUTSTANDING’

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning and act responsibly in managing both their own behaviour and helping others in the academy. This contributes to the friendly, social atmosphere in the academy. ? Pupils are proud of the academy. The buildings and grounds are neat and tidy and pupils have plenty of room to play and places where they can sit quietly and reflect. Pupils all speak positively about how much they enjoy and value being a part of the academy, and this is evident in their very smart appearance and their impeccable manners.

Quality of Teaching: ‘GOOD’

• The strong, positive relationships between adults and pupils support the outstanding attitudes to learning that pupils show in lessons and around the school. All staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Classrooms are well organised, bright and welcoming. They have been thoughtfully set up for the new age ranges of pupils on the academy’s roll. Teachers have high expectations, assess pupils’ progress accurately in lessons and provide work that children enjoy.

Achievement of Pupils: ‘GOOD’

• Children start school with skills and knowledge below those which are typical for their age. Pupils reach standards, in both English and mathematics, that are higher than those expected for their age. Pupils’ positive attitudes to their learning, together with careful assessment and planning by teachers to challenge pupils to do their best work, contribute strongly to the achievement being made.

 THE TRUST

The Shared Learning Trust is a stand-alone multi academy trust which runs a family of schools based in Bedfordshire:

• The Vale Academy, Dunstable, age 2-11
• The Rushmere Park Academy, Leighton Buzzard, age 2-11
• The Linden Academy, Luton, age 4-11
• The Stockwood Park Academy, Luton, ages 11-18
• The Chalk Hills Academy, Luton, age 11-18
• The Sixth Form, Luton, age 16-19

Our Academies are supported in their work by our Teaching School, based at The Chalk Hills Academy. The structure of our family of schools means that we can be with a child every step of the way, from teaching them to tie their shoe laces right through to congratulating them on their university place or their first job.

Our Trust is vibrant and friendly, supported by 3 state-of-the-art buildings. It is a learning environment where all students have the opportunity to be high achievers, make good friends, contribute to their community and take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. 

CPD & TRAINING: OUR TEACHING TRUST (We invest in you!)

All four Academies at The Shared Learning Trust are a part of our Teaching Trust. We aim to offer exceptional teacher training and high quality professional development programmes to new and experienced staff to support them in excelling in their career.

Our programmes are facilitated by experienced school leaders, who have exemplary records in leadership and improving outcomes for their students. We are able to cater for specific requests and can offer custom-made support packages that focus on the quality of teaching and learning, curriculum development and aspects of Leadership and Management.

We currently offer 'The National Award for Middle Leaders', 'The Outstanding Teacher Programme', 'The Improving Teacher Programme' and 'The National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership'. As The Vale Academy is part of a Multi-Academy Trust, there are fantastic opportunities to climb the career ladder. The Shared Learning Trust are a firm believer in helping all staff reach their full potential and developing their career within our Academies. If you are willing and wanting, we will do all we can to put you on the relevant courses and give you the right opportunities so you can keep achieving more in your career. If there isn't a current opportunity at The Vale Academy for promotion, there will be opportunities to move to one of our partner Academies. 

 TEACHER TESTIMONIALS

"Being an NQT was never going to be easy but thanks to the love and support I have received at The Vale Academy, it has made my year so much easier. I have always been reassured to never be afraid to ask for anything and learnt that help can come in numerous forms, either from one of the very experienced teachers at the school or an experienced LSA, everyone is happy to help. I am yet to hear of a school that welcomes staff input so much and ensures that the focal point of training provided tackles areas the team wish to develop. I personally have been given the chance to attend numerous courses outside of school and also had time off timetable to further my development as a teacher. We have a team full of great characters which guarantees the staff room is always buzzing and all of our social events are lots of fun! The school itself has a caring and family feel to it with plenty of opportunities for my children to learn both within the classroom and outside. I am positive I speak for all my colleagues when I say that we are a lucky bunch to have the privilege of working at The Vale Academy, an amazing school that is headed in one direction; up!"

- Tayeb Rohman, Teacher

"The Vale Academy is a friendly, vibrant place to work, where children and their learning are always placed first. I was given my final year teaching placement at The Vale Academy a few years ago. All of the staff were so helpful and friendly and guided me well through the last part of my teacher training. After this I accepted a job at The Vale and have loved the experiences I have had here. The school promotes creative learning and encourages all staff to think out of the box and provide the children with excellent learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. I have been given lots of brilliant opportunities whilst working at the school and the support from everyone has been amazing. If I need help or guidance with anything I know all I need to do is just ask. The school offers chances to develop skills and attend CPD and other training courses all the time and clearly has a high regard for our professional development. I have had the pleasure of working in a fun and enthusiastic team who always know how to make the best out of a situation and will always pull together when needed."

- Danielle Chowdhary, Teacher

 WHY WORK FOR THE VALE ACADEMY?

• You’ll be working in an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ school that is full of positivity and warmth which permeates through the whole school from the children up to the SLT
• You’ll be working under a strong and innovative leadership team that are here to support you in the best way possible so you make the most of your teaching career 
• We have extensive specialist facilities and curriculum in the Arts, Sport and Design and Technology
• We are a forest school and have a fully integrated outdoor learning curriculum
• You’ll be working alongside outstanding teachers and have great support from learning support assistants
• Great support for NQT’s including your own dedicated mentor, reduced teaching timetable and ‘Outstanding’ teacher programmes available
• All teaching staff receive a laptop
• Local subsided gym membership and many other staff benefits
• Brilliant CPD opportunities so you can constantly improve and develop
• Fantastic partnership links with other primary school within The Shared Learning Trust, so plenty of opportunities to progress your career!

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