Curriculum
We believe in a broad and balanced curriculum that prepares our young people to take their place in a global community where they will be enriched by living, working, and studying alongside people from different cultures and traditions. We want them to become good communicators, not just in writing and not just in their own native language; we want them to be tolerant of other people with different faiths and beliefs; we want them to be agile thinkers who can tackle problems and propose creative solutions; we want them to be responsible citizens who care for the environment understanding how their world has formed and developed; we want them to appreciate the arts and enjoy the physical activity so they can lead fulfilling and enjoyable lives.
SEND
The Wessex Multi-Academy Trust believes that young people learn best in an inclusive environment. Working alongside other young people who have different talents, different attitudes and a different outlook on the world provides the best possible preparation for later life. All young people can achieve given the right support, relentless determination to succeed and relentless optimism. Our schools have specialist staff to work alongside pupils and students with more complex needs. Some of our schools have specialist bases to support physical disabilities and complex communication needs. In some cases this includes specialist facilities and equipment.
Teaching
The most important factor for good and outstanding is the quality of teaching. We work hard to recruit and retain the best teachers and most importantly to train and support them to achieve continuous professional development. Teachers should be allowed to teach without the burden of unnecessary compliance and bureaucracy. We encourage teachers to stay abreast of the latest research and the best practice, benchmarking themselves against outstanding practitioners and aiming for continuous improvement. At the highest levels we expect teachers to innovate and experiment and to share their findings with other colleagues. It is this approach that leads to outstanding outcomes for young people and sustained impact
Assessment
At the heart of good teaching lies assessment – the ability to evaluate the progress of each learner and to design the next steps to take them further. We have a responsibility to ensure that learners understand that process and how they are most likely to improve. To achieve this requires the highest levels of teaching skill so we spend time on training and developing those skills. We understand that feedback to students is critical and that traditional marking of books is unlikely to achieve it. Instead we concentrate on group feedback, dynamic feedback taking place during lessons as learners are working, through the use of technology such as visualisers and through skilled questioning. We also have access to sophisticated systems for analysing data arising from assessment and the end of a course or a unit of work. It is important that we use that data to self-evaluate and to constantly improve.
Staff Development
Wessex Teach provides opportunities for high-quality training and development and offers support for the health and well-being of all staff. Wessex Teach has an excellent reputation and works with schools and teachers in other local schools and indeed other counties. They offer a full range of opportunities in leadership, curriculum, pedagogy, technical, governance and business, and administration. In anything that the Trust requires in its aim for excellence.
Some of that work will take the form of courses and structured training but it also includes coaching, facilitation, networking, modelling, peer to peer support, and consistent challenge. They are tasked with the sharing of best practice and connecting practitioners with one another across a broad range of settings. They work closely with national providers and the teaching school hub, commissioned to deliver some of the suite of national professional qualifications.
