Stour Vale Academy Trust holds children and young people at the heart of all that we do. We recognise that as a multi-academy trust we exist in order to advance education for the public benefit. Our mission, therefore, is to improve life opportunities for children and young people by both providing the best possible education and care to pupils in Stour Vale member schools and by having a positive impact across the wider education system. Our values are encapsulated in four words:

Looking to the future, continuing to hold children and young people at the heart of all that we do, our vision is to be a larger successful family of schools. Stour Vale member schools will serve their communities by providing the excellent education and care which ensures both strong academic progress and a broad range of opportunities for personal development. Both individually and collectively, member schools will also have a significant positive impact on the wider education system. Further growth is key to realising our vision as it will increase our capacity to provide:

• expert support and challenge for school leaders which ensures continuous improvement in pupil outcomes
• excellent back-office functions which have a clear focus on sustainable school improvement
• innovative and comprehensive approaches to professional learning, career development and staff well-being that will attract, retain and grow the best staff
• powerful learning from research and increased collaboration
• greater collective capacity to support schools facing challenges or who need to rapidly improve

We describe our shared approach to school improvement as ‘secure autonomy’. Headteachers, with school leadership teams and staff, have autonomy to lead school improvement in their own schools, responsively and in collaboration with others within and beyond our trust. We believe that this approach enables us to grow, attract and retain excellent school leaders and to develop the most innovative and impactful school improvement strategies. We recognise that this autonomy must be secured within the structure of the multi-academy trust, and our model of challenge and support for impact, underpinned by our shared values, ensures sustained school improvement and a sharp focus on outcomes for pupils. This in turn realises our ambition that Stour Vale member schools create the difference together.