Scholars has a long history of supporting schools to improve the teaching and learning offer for pupils both within the trust and within Leicestershire. The Trust Board is dedicated to helping pupils fulfil their full potential and all decisions are based around this core determination to ensure every child has the best opportunities offered to them.

Scholars was given the prestigious teaching school status in 2012 and ran the Oadby Learning Partnership (OLP) Teaching School Alliance. This developed an already established partnership of primary and secondary schools from across Leicester and Leicestershire. The alliance was initially set up by an established network of 11 schools with a proven track record of collaborative working. The alliance grew in strength and evolved over the years into successful partnership of 26 primary and secondary schools up to the change of teaching school organisation in 2021.

With this solid base, an extensive amount of expertise exists in each of our schools which is harnessed to create a self-sustaining, self-improving system for school improvement.

Our schools all receive support in line with the school improvement strategy to ensure that our school leaders and teachers are supported to deliver a good education for our pupils.

ECT

To ensure ECTs are provided with the best start possible we work as part of a collaborative group of professionals with Leicester and Leicestershire Teaching School Hub. Our staff lead training for the ECT’s, providing excellent CPD, workshops delivered by experience classroom practitioners and school leaders and an exciting opportunity to network with ECTs from across the county.

RQT

The RQT programme is for teachers in their third or fourth year of teaching and aims to support less experienced teachers with the further development of their teaching practice. Over the course of the programme senior leaders will provide individuals with the opportunity to reflect on their development and support their professional development. They will also have the opportunity to share good practice with their peers and develop supportive networks.

Subject Leadership

We believe that ensuring that school’s deliver a breadth of curriculum as this is key to the children having a successful start to their learning journey. When all their core skills are developed to the fullest, the children thrive in the core areas of learning. To support other schools, Scholars shares expertise and systems with other schools and staff through structured training and whole school support.

Teaching and Learning   

At Scholars, we pride ourselves in being an ever-evolving trust, adapted strategies in light of new research to ensure teaching and learning skills are always based on a foundation of the knowledge of how children learn. We support our staff regularly to ensure teaching strategies are the best they can be, building in opportunities for professional dialogue within schools and across schools. Our staff are encouraged to develop professionally, undertaking a range of training through pre-arranged courses such as NPQ’s and are involved in collaborative monitoring and assessment processes across our schools.

Trust Support for Other Schools

As part of the Trust commitment to school improvement we offer this service to other schools who may request this or have been part of the Oadby Learning Partnership (the former teaching school which was part of Scholars).  Trust leaders work closely with the local authority and other partners to offer a full bespoke strategy for school improvement package to assist all pupils achieve their best in a range of both small and larger primary schools across Leicestershire and beyond.