Our 2035 future priorities
Educational Excellence
By 2035...
All our pupils will be fully prepared for success in the next stage of their education
Why is this important?
Grace Schools exists to build the foundations to create successful futures. The most important thing we can do for the children in our schools is to ensure that they are fully prepared for the next stage of their education so they can continue to strengthen the foundations created with us and have, and be aware of, the maximum number of opportunities available to them. This is even more important for those children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with SEND who are under-represented amongst children who reach the expected standards at every stage of their education and require us to meet their specific needs to help secure success.
If our children leave us not in this position, then we will have failed them over their first years of education. We are trusted by parents and carers to educate their children; we must fulfil this expectation in line with the CofE’s vision for education.
Expanding Influence
By 2035...
Grace Schools will expand and progress to deliver education effectively across multiple DfE regions, dioceses, and educational phases becoming a national church-based Trust.
Why is this important?
All schools in Grace Schools are now rated Good by Ofsted, up from 48% since the pandemic and our KS2 outcomes now firmly exceed the national average year on year. Our reason for existing is to create the foundations to build successful futures through the provision of a good church school education, and our Articles allow us to go beyond our diocesan boundaries and current primary specialism to achieve this. We have a successful model and an obligation to support schools who share our ambition and vision for education for their pupils and communities.
The CofE’s National Society for Education highlights in their response to the 2025 DfE accountability consultation how the current ‘structural agnosticism within the education landscape’ has exposed smaller rural schools in relation to accessing a coherent school improvement offer. Our successes and sustainable model show that we can create clarity in this area and support the many schools not able to access strong school improvement support in their current situation.
Expanding our influence also supports our third priority, Sustainable Futures, as the growth of our trust will increase opportunities for further economies of scale both financially and operationally. In turn this will enable the funding of additional provision that we can utilize to support all children to achieve the highest outcomes possible.
Sustainable Futures
By 2035...
The Trust will have the capacity to manage the impact of external variables acting upon its component schools and communities.
Why is this important?
The most important focus for a Headteacher is to ensure the quality of teaching in their school is high enough. This becomes harder when external variables create distractions and uncertainty. The Trust provides stability, consistency, and structures to enable Headteachers and school leaders to focus on their primary goal whilst being aware of but not distracted by variables in the wider sector.
We know that many of our children and families face difficulties in their lives outside of the school environment and whilst we are not in a position to replace the support they receive from third party agencies we can seek to explore partnerships, and work closely with the church communities in each locality to remove some of the barriers that face our families and communities in accessing these services.
To find out more, our 2035 strategic plan can be found below