Bolton based Vantage Academy Trust highlighted by government

Vantage Academy Trust, which governs the outstanding SS Simon and Jude’s CE Primary School in Great Lever, was named by the Department for Education  after it supported St Augustine's Church of England Primary School in Salford to become a good school.

The local authority maintained school was judged inadequate in June 2016 and joined the trust as a sponsored academy in September 2017.

Since joining the academy, the school was rated good in all areas in January 2022 with the Ofsted report stating that leaders and trustees have ensured that there is a clear vision for improvement at the school.

Simon Bramwell, CEO of Vantage Academy Trust said: "The trust is very proud of the progress of St Augustine's CE Primary School since it has become part of the Vantage family.

"The success can be seen in the improved outcomes of pupils at the end of Year Six.  

"The trust worked with the school to find their own solutions and supported them every step of the way so that the strength of the curriculum and the quality of teaching shone through.

"The team at St Augustine’s showed real determination in making sure that every pupil enjoyed learning and made progress.  

SS Simon and Jude's CE Academy and outstanding place to learn and a world class place to work

"The trust, through grants and through working with the school, has invested close £1 million to improve infrastructure and facilities.

"This has ensured the children at St Augustine’s can enjoy a much better physical learning environment and have access to improved technology to continue high quality learning experiences.

"As with all our schools in the trust, St Augustine’s are now well placed to forge their own future and be a leading light in the local community."

The trust grew out of SS Simon and Jude Church of England Primary School in Bolton, which converted to academy status in 2012, and now has a total of nine schools across the North West.

This news comes after sixteen schools in the North West have newly opened as academies as the new term starts for millions of pupils across the country.

There are now over 10,000 academy schools open in England, representing well over half of all students and more than four in five secondary schools.

Sixty-eight per cent of secondary schools in the North West are now academies.

Twenty-nine local authorities nationally have also expressed an interest in setting up local authority-established multi-academy trusts as part of the trial planned for this year, driving momentum towards all schools becoming academies and receiving the support of a strong academy trust to raise standards across curriculum, attendance, and teacher development.

The scheme will be carefully tested via a limited number of successful applications this year.

School and academy trusts will boost attendance in the new academic year using new measures including targeted support to families that need it, for example through referrals to other organisations and services, as well as improved data tools to help them better identify issues.

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Additionally, from this month teachers will be able to claim the government’s Levelling Up Premium.

This is for teachers of high demand STEM subjects in the country’s most disadvantaged schools and is worth up to £3,000 tax-free this academic year, as well as the next two years afterwards.

Education Secretary James Cleverly said: “The start of the new school year is an exciting time for pupils, with many opportunities to learn and develop both inside and outside the classroom.

“This government is working continuously to improve education standards in the North West to drive up pupil attainment, and with 16 new academies opening today, these schools will benefit from the expertise and support of their academy trust.

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“Our new attendance guidance and data tools that come into effect this academic year will make sure all schools, trusts, and local authorities in the North West are encouraging pupils to attend school every day, benefiting from our world class education system.”

Since 2010, there has been nearly a 20 ppt rise in the number of Good or Outstanding schools, reaching 87 per cent of all schools in December 2021.

Academy trusts played a crucial part in this, taking on poorly-performing schools and turning them around.

As of December 2021, more than seven out of 10 academies which were underperforming as a local authority maintained school now have a good or outstanding rating.