Join our MAT
As a values-led Trust, our Board’s vision is that every school within Pioneer Educational Trust provides an outstanding education to all children and young people. An exceptional curriculum and strong pastoral systems in all schools provides every child and young person with the opportunity to achieve academic and personal success. Coupled with a systematic approach to school improvement, our Trust provides high support and high challenge to all leaders enabling them to flourish and be fulfilled. Pioneer Educational Trust is outward-facing demonstrates a commitment to both the local and educational communities.
Our ambition is to ensure that Pioneer Educational Trust is the ‘Trust of choice’ for schools serving a diverse intake of children and young people aged 3 to 18 within Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead and the close surrounding areas. We aim to be the employer of choice as a result of our commitment to professional development for all colleagues, a positive and enriching working environment and outstanding leadership development opportunities.
In ‘growing with care’, we will:
- Pioneer ways of working through co-construction contributing to and shaping the educational landscape;
- Inspire collaboration and create a network of outstanding schools that both shares effective practice and recognises the unique contexts and identities of each school;
- Invest intelligently in growing a highly skilled workforce who invest intelligently in the children and young people the schools serve;
- Drive equality through providing all children and young people with equal access to an outstanding education, championing the vulnerable and disadvantaged, celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion.
Our ‘growth with care’ strategy is to ensure our Trust has the capacity to meet the needs of each joiner academy in terms of support, challenge and leadership, while maintaining the same exceptional standards across the Pioneer family of schools and our core purpose as outlined in our Trust model.
We recognise each academy will have its own unique context and community, and will, therefore, consider potential new school on a case by case basis in line with the growth commitments below. The Truststrategy is based on the following principles:
- Alignment with values of Pioneer Educational Trust
- Sustainable geography that is no more than a 45 minute drive from the Trust central office at Foxborough Primary School (SL3 8TX)
Growth commitments
The Pioneer Board of Trustees commits that the growth of the Trust will be:
- Planned over a number of years on a ‘case by case’ basis.
- Responsive to any local need to accommodate a growth in academies, both converters and sponsored.
- Balanced, taking on Good and Outstanding schools (to ensure capacity for continued progress and improvement) as well as maintaining our ‘moral imperative’ to support struggling schools where there is greatest need.
- Sustainable and measured according to a shared commitment to the vision and ethos of Pioneer Educational Trust.
- Diverse, serving a range of communities including those with relatively high levels of deprivation.
What we won’t do:
- Put competition before collaboration;
- Do anything that would be detrimental to any young person, staff or school in a neighbouring community;
- Put the financial stability or academic reputation of any school in our Trust at risk.
Pioneer Educational Trust is a great place for children and young people to learn and grow, and a great place to work.
For more information about joining Pioneer Educational Trust, please contact Bhamini Lynn on 01753 546376.
In my humble opinion, the key questions for any school when choosing to join a MAT should be:
- What are the benefits?
- Are there any negatives?
Whilst my testimonial focuses on the first question, from my experience as Chair of an ESB within Pioneer Educational Trust, the second question must not be ignored, and I would encourage any prospective schools to do their own due diligence before finalising their decision.
First, your structure will change. Within the MAT the school’s governors focus predominantly on the educational side of the school. As a Headteacher myself, this has many benefits as we can spend our entire meetings solely looking at the educational offering, the pupils’ experiences and ways to improve/enhance this.
Second, the school itself would reap the rewards of collaborating with partner schools and sharing best practice. Within our trust, each school maintains its own identity and values, but benefits from collaborative approaches to things like curriculum development, staff development and whole school improvement. Schools have operated too long as islands and, by joining this trust, you would no longer be alone and have a wealth of experience to bring and learn from.
Finally, and most importantly, the benefits for the students are enormous here. Their teachers learn from other practitioners, every pupil has the opportunity to engage and work with students across the trust, hence developing their social and networking skills and all students come under the umbrella of a trust that is ambitious for each of them. Whether your school is ranked as outstanding or requires improvement, this trust can support you, challenge you and assist you to become even better.
My experience with Pioneer Educational Trust has been nothing but positive and I would recommend that any school should consider joining this diverse, friendly and ambitious group.
Ceding certain responsibilities to the Trust Board – strategic and financial oversight, for example – has created extra capacity to support the school with the development of the core educational provision.
Being part of a larger educational ecosystem has also helped me to broaden my perspective and better understand the challenges faced by students when they transition between schools.
I joined Pioneer after a corporate career in senior finance roles and am now in my fourth year as a Trustee and Chairman of the Finance & Audit Committee.
I have been struck by the Board’s diverse skills and experiences, supporting an exceptional executive leadership team in delivering Pioneer’s mission. Pioneer prizes its consistent governance framework and stable financial condition enabling ongoing investment in educational initiatives and estate projects.
The Board has been laser-focussed on its core roles of ensuring a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction, holding leaders to account and financial performance. In all these areas the Board works effectively with the wider organisation because there is a shared sense of purpose and commitment to core values, particularly creating an inclusive and collaborative environment top to bottom. I observe a happy people-led environment with a passion for great educational outcomes.