Ad Astra Academy Trust
Background
Ad Astra Academy Trust is based in the North East of England and welcomes academies within a 30 mile radius of its base close to the A19/A689 junction. Ad Astra Academy Trust in 2018 encompassed a number of eclectic primary schools across the Tees Valley. Ad Astra is proud to have trustees and members who not only have the right combination of skills and experience to govern the Trust effectively but who also have a moral purpose to make a difference to the lives of children that attend schools within Ad Astra and beyond. In considering the current political and educational landscape they have also ensured that a strong and robust strategic plan underpins future development and growth.
Ad Astra is a Latin phrase which means ‘to the stars.’ This name was chosen as it encompasses all that the Trust believes; any child or adult working within Ad Astra can be whatever they want to be with our support and direction.
What we offer
Ad Astra Academy trust offers all schools joining the Trust the opportunity to join a visionary organisation that is committed to mutual reciprocal support for each school within the Trust but also one which is keen to develop new ideas in all aspects of school leadership and management. Ad Astra will not become complacent and will react positively to the changing educational and business landscape to achieve the very best for all stakeholders.
- A commitment that any decision must ‘ land on the desks of pupils’.. the needs of the children are our priority
- A culture of openness and honesty
- A willingness to listen
- Professional respect
- A commitment to securing efficient and effective services that achieve value for money
Why we are different
Ad Astra Academy Trust believes that a strong school-led self-improving system is the best way to achieve academic and pastoral success. The Trust has grown from strong collaboration and support and these are concepts that permeate throughout our entire organisation.
Many Trusts adopt a clear hierarchical structure to Trust leadership however Ad Astra believes fundamentally that by having strong leadership and governance at every layer this ensures that irrespective of circumstances, schools that join the trust can do so in the confidence that it is a partnership and not a ‘takeover.’
We don’t believe that a ‘one size fits all’, autocratic approach to the leadership of the Trust is appropriate or in the best interests of the schools and their staff and children. We work hard to allow those schools that have strong performance to operate in a way that suits the needs of each individual school albeit within a trust-developed operational and strategic framework. Those schools however that require more intensive support that join Ad Astra under a sponsorship arrangement will benefit immeasurably from the proven skills and experience that the trust can offer to achieve rapid and sustained performance improvement.