Three Spires Trust, a Church of England Multi-Academy Trust in Staffordshire is driven by a commitment to holistic education, writes Aimee Williams, Director of School Improvement. Our mission is to empower young people to embrace learning, unlocking both academic and vocational success. We believe in nurturing the whole individual, fostering growth in every aspect of life. Our senior leadership team has been carefully shaping a bold new strategic plan to bring our vision to life, which we shared with staff during our most recent inset day. Crafting the strategic plan was a journey in itself – one of reflection, collaboration, and vision-building. We were fortunate to have support from Edge Foundation and Deeper Learning UK (DLUK) and through connecting with this broad community, we’ve realised our work is part of a national effort to transform education.
We wanted our staff to feel this too – to understand that they are an integral part of something larger, and that not only do they have permission to innovate, they are actively encouraged to shape the future with their ideas. To underline this sense of shared purpose, we invited members of DLUK to lead sessions during our development day. We began with a powerful performance from the St Regis Gospel Choir – a joyful reminder of the young people we are here to serve.
Edge Executive Director Olly Newton then led the discussion with a useful external perspective, highlighting the national scope of our mission. His presentation offered stark truths about UK skills shortages and the challenges facing young people. But he also injected hope – change is already underway in places like XP School in Doncaster and, internationally, at the Academies of Nashville in the USA. Our CEO, Emily Verow followed on with Olly, discussing the scope and aims of our mission and we heard thought-provoking ideas from many in the room - from the teacher with 40 years experience, to the new trainee. For me, this was a standout moment – an early spark showing that our vision had captured hearts and minds. We kept the momentum up with a series of workshops covering everything from metacognition to meditation in the classroom.
Four of these workshops aligned with the pillars of our next-generation curriculum: financial literacy, careers education, AI, and oracy and two sessions stood out in particular. Fran Wilby from Rethinking Assessment led a workshop on learner profiles. This corresponded closely with our goal of valuing each child holistically and moving beyond traditional assessment methods. Fran’s session was informative and action-based. Andy Sprakes’ session on project-based learning was a powerful reminder of the transformative impact of hands-on, real-world education. It emphasised the value of deep engagement, critical thinking and creativity, while reinforcing the importance of a meaningful outcome – a tangible product that students can take pride in, something they own.
Collaboration has been instrumental for us. Early on in our journey, Edge encouraged us to connect with external partners to explore the innovations already happening, before creating a strategic plan of our own. This advice connected us with so many members of the Deeper Learning UK network that we have, by default, become active members in our own right. Meeting so many authentic leaders and receiving such enthusiastic input has been a real source of strength and inspiration. Implementing this kind of change is never easy, but the DLUK network has validated our goals and offered countless learning opportunities. Three Spires Trust has now formed partnerships with individuals and organisations from Malcolm Groves to Big Education and we are ready to put our plan into action.
There’s plenty to do. With schools across Staffordshire, we want to address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities the region offers.
We’ll be diving into research, forging partnerships with employers, and doing everything we can to ensure our next-generation curriculum is not just relevant, but perfectly aligned with the needs of our students and local communities. Our initial challenge was bringing everyone on the journey. And we’ve taken those first important steps – staff are inspired, energised, and ready to make change happen. Now, as a community, we stand poised to transform our vision into action as we shape the next-generation curriculum together.
Written by
Aimee Williams, Director of School Improvement, Three Spires Trust, Staffordshire