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Greenwood
Academies
Trust

Strategic Partnerships

The Trust has a range of highly successful and innovative partnerships with a number of organisations which are regarded as among the best available in the UK. These partnerships have brought exceptional and long-lasting benefits to hundreds of pupils and accompanying staff members. 

Our major partnerships include:

Allison Consultancy 

We work with this consultancy to keep all academies on the East Coast up to date with the latest information around the Sports Premium Funding and how to use it effectively. The consultants also help academies develop a consistent approach to developing PE and sport and provide bespoke training to help academies meet Ofsted’s expectations.

We are also adopting the Move Off and Think approach to delivering PE which aims to maximise the amount of time children are active during a lesson.

Bourne Leisure 

We have developed a strong partnership with Butlins in Skegness to identify and develop Gifted and Talented pupils at the Skegness Academy. A programme has been developed which provides pupils with new learning opportunities to  stretch their knowledge, gain new experiences and develop new skills.

Experian  

We have run partnership programmes with Experian in the past for the Head Boy / Head Girl and their deputies at the Nottingham Academy and the Nottingham Girls’ Academy. We are now working with them to develop an ambitious 10-year ‘Leadership Academy’ programme at the Nottingham Academy that will include benefits for all through Human Utopia and other generic initiatives as well as providing a range of high-end interventions including the Outward Bound Trust's ‘Skills for Life’ training, university sponsorship / intern opportunities at Experian and an overseas expedition with World Challenge or similar.  

Outward Bound Trust (OBT) 

We have an excellent partnership with the OBT and they have provided invaluable support and leverage that has allowed us to develop three-way ‘mentoring’ programmes with DHL and intu Properties. 

DHL 

We run a number of very successful business partnerships with DHL including the flagship programme ‘Look into Logistics’ at most of our academies. This three-year scheme is aimed at developing apprentices for the future. Year 10 have the opportunity to apply for this innovative and heavily over-subscribed project each year and they attend a challenging five-day Outward Bound Trust course in Aberdovey supported by DHL mentors.  Later elements of the programme for students include visits to DHL sites, employability workshops, CV and interview support as well as a potential interview for an apprenticeship. 

DHL aims to help children and young people from all socio-economic backgrounds develop their potential, learn skills and access new opportunities for their career development. Another important area of work is the primary support offered through DHL takeover days and employability workshops which aim to give some of our youngest pupils the opportunity to challenge stereotypes and broaden aspirations.

Browne Jacobson 

Our legal advisers run a ‘MoreLaw’ mentoring programme for the Nottingham Academy, the Nottingham Girls’ Academy and the Weston Favell Academy ‘A-level’ Law students.  Up to 12 students from each academy are selected each year. They receive a great insight into the legal system and are able to see civil hearings and disputes, develop their debating and legal skills and also visit the local criminal courts. The scheme concludes with a work experience placement at the firm and a fully-funded visit to the Royal Courts of Justice and Inns of Court in London. Browne Jacobson, have also recently launched an apprenticeship scheme for aspiring lawyers with six places on offer each year in Nottingham

Capital One   

GAT is proud to work with Capital One to offer opportunities to pupils in two key areas:

  • Financial and digital literacy
  • Employability

The Nottingham Academy was involved in the pilot of 'Cheese Matters' in a financial literacy workshop, which is now being delivered in schools across the country. 

Other exciting opportunities include:

  • 'Changing Futures' in partnership with Humanutopia.
  • 'CODERS'
  • 'Pathways' a new employability programme for years 6, 8, 10 and 12. 

Capital One also generously provide the use of their conference facilities for the annual GAT Careers and Employability Conference, which enables Careers Leads from across the Trust to come together, hear from inspiring speakers and plan their careers programmes in a collaborative space. 

Microsoft
 

GAT and Microsoft are working together strategically to drive the most effective use of EdTech to support teaching and learning in academies and schools across England and also to help pupils and staff to gain the digital skills they need to be able to thrive in the 21st Century.  To support this aim, Microsoft has appointed GAT as its MAT Teaching Academy from September 2019. 

Complete Careers 

GAT is working with Complete Careers to support all secondary academies to achieve the Quality in Careers Standard through Career Mark Accreditation, and all primary academies to achieve Career Mark Primary.

Jenny Saunders - Nottingham Girls' Academy

"I found the process very rigorous with lots of opportunity to evaluate what I was doing beforehand. The paperwork was very straightforward and easy to follow. I found the assessment to be very thorough but fair. I appreciated the opportunity to explain my thinking to the assessor and I found the whole process very supportive. It was very helpful to receive constructive feedback to help improve our CEIAG over the next two years. I would be happy to recommend this to other colleagues who are seeking accreditation."

Fiona Maciel - Nottingham Primary Academy

"The accreditation process with the Career Mark Team was straightforward, thorough and fair. The standards we were assessed against struck a good balance between being clear and being suitable for interpretation by establishments from a variety of circumstances. The process was well-organised with timelines and expectations of all parties set well in advance. The assessor was extremely knowledgeable and fair. As well as assessing us, he also gave us some useful tips for future improvement and offered a different perspective to consider. Overall, the process was rigorous, useful and supportive and I would be happy to recommend the Career Mark team to other colleagues seeking accreditation."

Teach first
 

Careers Leads from all secondary academies have completed the 'Careers Leader Programme' resulting in fantastic networking opportunities and an ambitious careers strategy at each academy in line with the  Gatsby Benchmarks.

Val Sabin Publications and Training 

We have developed an excellent relationship with Val Sabin Val Sabin, one of the leading Physical Education practitioners in the Country. As well as offering discounted rates on her PE resources, publications and teaching manuals, Val has delivered a number of training sessions for academies within the Trust. Val is also the guest of honour at the annual Primary Athletics Championships which involves over 500 Year 5 and 6 pupils from 17 primary academies taking part in a primary indoor athletics competition at Braunstone Leisure Centre every June.  

Youth Sport Trust 

We have an excellent relationship with the Youth Sport Trust (YST) and presented at their national conference in 2015. All academies have full membership which demonstrates to Ofsted that they are committed to PE. In addition, all secondary academies have been involved in the My Personal Best programme which is funded by the Department for Education and delivered through the Youth Sport Trust.

The benefit of this partnership is that it provides academies with regular updates regarding the national landscape of PE as well as superb discounts on equipment, athlete mentors, resources and conferences.

The YST also provide access to high profile sports ambassadors who support the Trust. Special guests at Trust events have included Leon Baptiste, Leslie Owusea, Anthony Clark, Baroness Sue Campbell, Fran Willliamson, Paul Hart, Andrew Sullivan, Casey Stoney, Lauren Steadman, Leon Baptiste, Daniel Caines and Jade Windley.

 

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