We are a multi academy trust comprising 16 schools; 13 primary schools and 3 secondary schools. It is planned that further schools will be joining the Trust this year.

The name Community Academies Trust (CAT) is derived from our main focus and ambition for our organisation – excellent community education. We are committed to preserving local school identity and ethos, and adopt strategies for school improvement that build on and enhance local reputation, raise standards and respond to the needs and aspirations of those we serve.

We work with primary and secondary academies where world-class achievement is the expectation – our community academies are driven by a desire to lead rather than follow, to be beacons of outstanding local provision which local families believe in and can rely on for excellence for their children’s education. As a community academies sponsor we are equipped to work with schools and students from reception through to KS5 and sponsor both secondary and primary providers.

Our approach is based on a fundamental belief that all young people have talent and the potential to achieve more than they ever thought possible. 

Achievement in three main areas:

• Academic: Excellent standards and outstanding progress are a prerequisite for success in life equipping young people with the skills and knowledge they will need to be successful, happy and productive citizens.

• Social: Excellent relationships for learning are a prerequisite for all other achievements.  Relationships that engender mutual respect between young people, and all other members of our academies’ communities will ensure learning can be fun in a disciplined and caring environment where the highest expectations are the norm.

• Personal: All young people achieve things they can be proud of every day in addition to academic success and outside our school’s planned curriculum. We have a vital role in ensuring individuals develop their own talents and interests and have a responsibility to instil in them a sense of pride in who they are and what they achieve. 

  
  

All members of the CAT staff community see themselves as learners. They are empowered to make decisions, be creative and to lead. Mutual respect pervades all relationships working together to enhance professional learning and practice and collaboration; collegiality and a sense of team identifies how all staff work together. Staff co-operate with each other and are not in competition with each other – they are part of a team that ensures the academies throughout the CAT strengthen their positions among the best schools in the country. 

The CAT Institute of Education is the centre for professional development, school improvement and teacher training for the Community Academies Trust. The IoE serves 1100 colleagues across sixteen secondary and primary schools, and we are deeply committed to school improvement and the very best people development and enrichment. 

Our goal is for every colleague in every school to be the best possible version of themselves they can be. The IoE facilitates and integrates evidence informed practice, knowledge and expertise across networks, subject communities, and groups of schools.

This is born from a spirit of likemindedness, of collaboration and of mandating excellence.

We empower colleagues and place the needs of our people and the communities we serve at the front and centre of all we do. We believe we are better together and value collaboration within and beyond our Trust.

We use our influence and resources to build and sustain growth that provides the very best in initial teacher training, early career induction, professional learning, mentoring, coaching, leadership development and access to expert and professional network groups.

It’s been long acknowledged that teachers and professionals working in and with schools have the power to transform lives.  The most important thing we can do to is to provide the opportunity for all colleagues in our trust, and beyond, to flourish.