CEO of West Yorkshire multi-academy trust reflects on another successful year.

Steve Evans, CEO at Polaris Multi-Academy Trust, marked the end of the 2022 - 2023 year by reflecting on the trust’s continued growth and significant improvement in recent Ofsted inspections.

Mr Evans said: “Ofsted reports aren’t just a reflection of how a school is performing on the days that the inspections take place, they can also act as a validation of the hard work and technical skills school staff demonstrate each and every day. To have all of the trust’s schools rated by Ofsted as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ is cause for celebration for our school staff, pupils, parents and governors”.

“The improvements recognised at two of our schools, Field Lane Primary School, and Siddal Primary School, who were previously judged as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted, really highlights what can be achieved when school staff have the support to collaborate across schools to build high quality and sustainable plans and resources. As a trust, we work collaboratively with our schools to support improvements through training in research-based approaches, and these excellent reports from Ofsted evidence the positive impact of these strategies on our schools”.

Mr Evans added: “The trust has also seen its member schools grow in the past year. Salterlee Primary School joined the Polaris Multi-Academy Trust in March last year, bringing the number of schools in the Trust to five. The addition of Salterlee to the trust has been fantastic, enabling the trust to further support a school community in improving the quality of education it delivers to its children. The positive Ofsted rating is testament to the work of both the school staff and the trust team, who, in the words of the inspector, ‘wrapped around the school’ to support its improvement”.

Mr Evans continued: “Our Trust was founded to help guide schools to deliver the very highest standards of education to all our children and young people. It is just over two years since the trust was formed, and I’m pleased that we have maintained steady and sustainable growth in this time. The nurturing of positive partnerships with our schools, where we can celebrate each school’s individual DNA and support them in the areas, they need help with, is at the forefront of our strategy for growth”.