At The Kite Academy Trust, we are one team united by one collaboratively agreed and shared vision, mission and set of values. We are proud of our unwavering commitment to working as one because only by leveraging our combined expertise and ideas will we constantly drive education forward. We recognise that through constant and consistent sharing of our collective experience and expertise amongst our colleagues, we can truly learn from each other and eliminate the unnecessary duplication of workload to free more time to focus on what matters – ensuring every child is happy and healthy, contributes positively to their community and achieves academic excellence. Examples of our truly collaborative approach include:

• Collaborative teaching and learning: Across the Trust, our teachers work together through our year group faculties who are supported to meet each week as part of our aligned PPA system. This ensures that every teacher in every school - no matter its size - benefits from the combined expertise and support of a large group of peers, whilst positively contributing towards the education of over 2000 children.
• Time to Lead: We understand the importance of leaders having the time to lead which is why we work together to ensure that every school leader can focus on the children, colleagues and communities they serve. Because leaders’ time matters, Trust policies are produced by small steering groups who have expertise in that particular area before leaders add their academy specific context. Our Education Services Team provides schools with the support and training they need, while our Business Services Teams work closely with school leaders to provide expert support, guidance and leadership in HR, IT, estates and finance.
• Enhanced governance: Our innovative, workload reducing governance structures and data driven operating system (including an AI supported data and analytics platform) streamline reporting, assurance and decision making. This enables leaders at all levels to access timely insights, reduce duplication and focus on strategic improvement rather than administrative burden.
• Every voice matters: We know that within every stakeholder in our collaboration are the ideas that will drive us forward. That is why we are passionate about listening. Through our twenty-plus professional networks, feedback from every training session, regular pulse surveys and frequent executive leader visits and listening forums, we make sure that no matter how small an idea is, we hear it. This is how our policies and approaches change for the better and why our collaboratively created and led 5 Year Strategy is driving our Trust forward!

We believe that our colleagues are our richest resource and our greatest asset; when our people thrive, our pupils thrive. Our wellbeing offer is built around three core principles: reducing unnecessary workload, providing meaningful benefits that support work-life harmony and equipping colleagues with strategies and opportunities to support their personal wellbeing and development. A few examples include:

• Prioritising wellness: Embedded within the professional development of all colleagues are regular, professionally facilitated meditation and mindfulness training sessions designed to provide them with a toolkit of practical, research informed techniques that support resilience, focus and overall wellbeing.
• Flexible working: We understand the importance of work-life harmony. This is why every teacher has the option to take their PPA from home. All Business Services Team colleagues also have the option to work flexibly - basing themselves off-site or in our recently refurbished, modern and comfortable business hub.
• Social clubs: We recognise the importance of social connection which is why we have an ever-expanding offer of colleague-led social clubs. This year, colleagues from across the Trust have regularly connected through our Trust-wide choir, running, board games and theatre clubs.
• Enhanced benefits: Our expanded benefit package has been tailored to support colleagues both in and beyond work to include discounts at major retailers, free cinema tickets, gym memberships and travel perks.

Every school has access to Trust inclusion experts, networks, systems and the tools they need to ensure strong mainstream inclusion as its foundation, early identification as routine and structured pathways of support that enable every child to achieve and thrive. This includes:

• Education without barriers: Our classrooms are rooted in the research on what works best for every pupil which is why pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils outperform similar pupil groups nationally in statutory assessments.
• Shared expertise: Our expert staff share their specialist SEND knowledge and skills across all of our schools so that every pupil receives the support they need, when they need it.
• Earlier identification of need: Our structured SEND systems, enhanced by powerful AI diagnostic tools, ensure every child gets the right support at the right time.
• Getting it right for every child: Our Trust SEND specialists work with schools to ensure that pupils with the most complex needs are accurately identified, appropriately assessed, and able to access the provision and resources needed to thrive.

Our Education Services Team comprising of sector experts offer ongoing, comprehensive wrap-around education support to all of our academies, ensuring that every school leader has everything they need to realise their ambitions for their pupils. This includes:

• Sector leading school support: Our expert Education Services Team are always there to provide the support, guidance and capacity school leaders need to make impactful improvements in curriculum design, teaching and pedagogy, EYFS, SEND and inclusion, behaviour and attendance, teacher education and assessment and data analysis.
• Experts at developing expertise: Every member of our Education Services Team is a recognised expert and system leader in their field. Each of them is also committed to the training and coaching of the next generation of Trust experts. Through their leadership of our professional networks, conferences and 1:1 coaching, they support every school to develop its own team of experts.
• Better data; smarter choices: Our Education Services Team work closely with academy leaders to analyse and synthesise rich streams of information from across our networks and systems to gather the insights needed to make the right decisions for every pupil.
• Optimising the Ofsted experience: Our Education Services Team have cumulatively led over 50 successful inspections and work with each of our schools before, during and after inspections to ensure the very best outcomes and experience.

Our Business Services Teams provide a comprehensive and highly effective range of support to academies and colleagues across the Trust. This joined up expertise enables school leaders to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional education for all pupils. Our offer includes:

• People-focused HR: Our values-led HR Team offers end to end support, from recruitment and onboarding through to contracts, while also managing the complex and time consuming aspects of HR and everything in between.
• Innovative IT: Our responsive IT Team provides onsite and remote helpdesk support across our Trust, whilst ensuring all systems are robust, secure and compliant, with strong safeguarding of data and clear adherence to GDPR and data protection requirements.
• Estates specialists: Our highly skilled Estates Team bring extensive knowledge of school buildings, statutory compliance and long term asset management. They support with the oversight of capital projects and major works, alongside planned maintenance and site improvements, ensuring learning environments are sustainable, safe, compliant and fit for the future.
• Trusted finance: Our highly qualified Finance team provides strong, transparent financial leadership that supports both educational priorities and long term sustainability. They offer expert guidance on funding streams, lead on procurement and value for money, and oversee centralised payroll and pensions administration.

We are committed to creating an environment where colleagues are encouraged to share their expertise, see the impact of their contribution and feel confident in their professional growth. We want colleagues to value the professional development we provide and see a clear and achievable future for themselves with The Kite Academy Trust. We pride ourselves on:

• Ensuring choice and creating opportunity: Our branching career pathways model has been designed to offer every colleague a clear choice in the next step in their career, whatever stage they are at. For example, teachers looking for that next opportunity may choose from pathways into leadership, SEND, teacher education, learning design or sector support whilst site technicians may choose from pathways into projects, compliance or leadership.
• Exceptional training as standard: Whatever their role, we guarantee that every colleague receives relevant and regular training underpinned by our pledge to design and deliver only research-led and evidence informed training that meets the DfE Standards for Effective Professional Development.
• Removing barriers; unlocking futures: We are committed to ensuring that every single one of our remarkable people reaches their full potential which is why we offer an ever-expanding range of both salaried and fully funded training routes. These currently include a Level 3 Qualification in EYFS with SEND, a Masters in Education, a 1-year salaried SCITT and a 4-year Primary Education Degree Apprenticeship.
• National qualifications; locally delivered: Our teacher education team, comprising of leaders and subject experts from across the trust, deliver the full suite of national teacher and leadership training programmes to internal and external trainees at our new purpose built training facility at Lakeside Primary Academy.

As a result of our continued combined successes, colleagues across The Kite have meaningful opportunities to shape education locally and nationally through active involvement in sector improvement and development. Examples of our work within the sector include:

• DfE Designated RISE Organisation: Our expertise and impact in sustainable school improvement has led to our DfE designation as a RISE support organisation, providing targeted school improvement support to a number of schools nationally.
• Surrey Local Authority School Improvement Partner: In partnership with Schools Alliance for Excellence (SAfE) we deliver professional development and school improvement support for local schools across Surrey.
• Cross-Sector support: We are independently commissioned by schools and multi academy trusts to deliver a range of school improvement support projects across EYFS, primary and secondary provision.
• National Curriculum stakeholders: The curriculum expertise of our Trust has been recognised recently by our designation as stakeholders for the new National Curriculum for English.