Our Strategic Plan

Our 2023/24 Strategic Plan is designed to focus our thoughts and actions on a set of mutually agreed strategic goals. Individual School Improvement Plans underpin the Trust Strategic Plan, providing specific actions aimed at improving outcomes for learners across each school.

The plan is divided into two parts:

Strategic Goals 2022 - 2025

In the Summer of 2022, we identified a set of strategic goals. One year on, we have reviewed and adjusted these goals to reflect our current context and priorities.

Yearly Priorities

Each year, progress towards the strategic goals is assessed and priorities for the year ahead are agreed. For each priority, a number of success indictors, and a series of actions, are identified to support our journey towards the achievement of each priority.

Strategic Goals 2022 - 2025

A. To have further improved the educational experience for all children across PACE, with many examples of curriculum innovation and highly effective teaching and learning, resulting in excellent achievement for all groups of learners (Achievement, Excellence)

Why this is important: Our PACE curriculum has been established in each of our schools, personalised to meet the unique needs of individual cohorts and communities. Our next steps are to ensure that the curriculum across PACE deepens and grows in response to the needs of the children, offers inspirational and relevant learning opportunities and provides children with the cultural capital they need to thrive in an ever-changing world. Our expectation is that all schools across PACE will have achieved positive external validation and that pupil outcomes will have improved across each school, with progress being at least in line with national expectations and above in many areas.

B. To demonstrate exemplary practice around equality, diversity and inclusion (Achievement, Community, Excellence)

Why this is important: Our curriculum provides opportunities to promote and celebrate difference but these opportunities and experiences are embedded more in some schools than others. We want to ensure that every adult and child across our trust has an appreciation of difference and an awareness of the role they play in tackling discrimination in all its forms. By 2025, we want to be in a position where our specialist provisions are able to offer guidance and support to other schools; for there to be innovate approaches to the way we meet the needs of disadvantaged learners; and for our training offer around these areas to be exemplary. As part of this we want to be a trust recognised for valuing and promoting the UNICEF Rights of the Child – these rights encompass all of the goals we have identified as our priorities.   

C. To have retained financial stability within an economically challenging climate (Partnership)

Why this is important:   Across London, pupil numbers are falling and this has created a surplus of school places.  Alongside national/global economic uncertainty, rising costs and rising inflation, this has made budget-setting very challenging.   It is important that we are proactive in managing this challenge, constantly looking for ways to increase income and make savings, without it impacting on our commitment to educational excellence.

D. To be a thriving trust of a size that enables strong infrastructure, which underpins excellent educational opportunities for children (Partnership, Community)

Why this is important:  We want to grow because we believe that we can extend our work to provide high quality education and care to more children in a wider range of schools.

We are now ready for the next stage of growth, with plans to expand by at least one additional school in the next two years.  In order to achieve this, we must be proactive, forward-thinking and coordinated in our approach, ensuring our core values and ethos remain at the heart of this growth.

 E. For there to be a high-quality professional development offer in place for all staff, directors and governors (Partnership, Achievement, Community, Excellence)

Why this is important: A key component of successful school improvement is access to high quality professional development, which includes a clear and consistent performance development process for all staff. Evidence points to continual professional development being an important consideration for prospective staff and school leaders when considering the benefits of joining a multi -academy trust. We have already established a continual development programme for teachers, which has flourished over the past year to include more opportunities for other staff and governors; we want to extend this further to ensure everyone working for PACE has access to high quality developmental opportunities. This will include opportunities to grow as a leader and the further development of our coaching culture across PACE.

F. For our staff and children to be knowledgeable about, and committed to, environmental sustainability (Partnership, Achievement, Community)

Why this is important: Projects to support environmental sustainability have taken place across our schools and we have created a vision statement linked to this area of responsibility. By 2025, we want to see this vision in practice, with pupils leaving primary school having knowledge and understanding of environmental fragility, to have taken part in projects linked to sustainability, and to be confident about the role they play in supporting sustainability for the future.

Yearly Priorities

1.Further develop the quality and depth of the curriculum

(Linked to Strategic Goal A and supports B. E and F)

2.To be robust in our commitment to tackling barriers to learning

(Linked to Strategic Goal A, B and E)

3.To work closely with school leaders to successfully manage a period of financial austerity for all schools

(Linked to Strategic Goal C and D)

4.To develop and grow PACE as a trust through systemic and organisational change in our support functions and through targeted networking with schools which have a potential synergy with PACE.

(Linked to Strategic Goal C, D and E)

5.To implement a distributed approach to the leadership of Continual Professional Development, maintaining momentum and access for all staff, governors and directors to high quality professional development and training.

(Linked to Strategic Goal A, D and E)