At Embark Federation our vision is to create ‘stand out’ schools at the heart of their communities. Our four core values of Family, Integrity, Teamwork and Success are at the heart of everything we do.
Whilst we understand the need for some common systems and procedures and how the team benefits from these our schools are all unique and therefore have autonomy and freedom to shape a curriculum for their own context.
However, there are things that make our schools special places to be and ways they ‘stand out’ which are identified below.
It is the Embark Practice, Embark Offer and Embark Way which could also been described as the ‘POW’ effect!
We encourage and support all our schools to deliver a creative curriculum that meets the needs of its learners. High quality professional development of our staff is crucial to this and we invest in this as a priority. Also, there are so many examples of exceptional teaching and learning across the schools in our trust which are shared across our family.
Therefore, our directory of excellence is a crucial document and schools know where to look within the trust for expert advice in certain areas. We encourage teaching and learning that is challenge based and involves children developing key skills alongside their knowledge.
We always expect our children to be working harder than staff in lessons and teachers should be providing a climate for learning where children can thrive.
As a trust we are determined that the offer for our children and families will be very clear. The Embark Award is at the heart of this and symbolises our commitment to our pupils. It is based on 100 activities around our core beliefs which are activities that we would want our children to have experienced by the time they leave Primary School. These activities encourage family learning, though we will make sure children have opportunities to complete them at school as we are mindful that children may not be able to do so at home.
In addition to this we expect all our schools to deliver a broad, balanced and exciting curriculum that meets the children’s needs and is not a narrow diet of just English and Maths that is geared towards the end of Key Stage tests. However, we want our schools to achieve success in all areas and don’t dismiss the importance of high academic standards. We believe this can be achieved by learning key skills through other subjects.
This is all about the culture in our schools and the importance of a positive atmosphere for pupils, staff and parents. We are committed to positive behaviour management and want our children to feel part of our family.
We want the very best for our staff too! Embark was selected for a national case study on staff workload and well-being that was used for the main national teachers' union. We want our staff to be fresh so they can deliver exciting lessons in the classroom and bring their passions into school to make it a richer environment.
Also, we look to develop a clear career pathway for our staff and use our 10-year career plans and talent identification to ensure this happens. Our commitment to staff development is crucial to this.
Visitors often comment on the positive atmosphere and family feel at our schools. We will always work hard at this as a trust.
Integrity at every level is important to Embark. The way we speak to our children, staff and parents is very important to us. ‘Doing the right thing when nobody is watching’ has become a key mantra for Embark and we expect the highest standards at all levels including our trust leadership and governance.