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Bourne Education Trust
Bourne Education Trust (‘BET’) was established in 2011 and has grown steadily since then. It is largely Surrey based but has also expanded into Hampshire and Richmond. It is made up of 22 academies, 3 associate schools and Hopescourt School, which will be its first specialist free school. Of its 26 schools, 14 are primaries, 9 are secondaries and, including Hopescourt School, 3 are specialist schools. It is responsible for the education of approximately 12,500 pupils and employs just over 1,300 staff. The Trust is organised into both phases and clusters to support specialist and cross-phase collaboration.
The size of BET's schools range from a one-form entry primary to an 8-form entry secondary school with a sixth form. Schools are equally important and carry the same influence in terms of decision-making within the Trust. Each school has its own Head and Local Governing Committee. The Trust is led by a core team of Alex Russell, Chief Executive Officer ('CEO'), Kate Sanders and Rob Isaac, Joint Chief Operating Officers ('COO'), and Penny Alford, Chief Education Officer ('CEdO').
Since 2012 it has taken 9 schools from special measures or requiring improvement to good or outstanding. The rest have maintained their good status whilst in the Trust. BET has transformed the finances in 12 of its schools so that no school in the Trust is in deficit.
BET’s values are summarised by our strapline: ‘Transforming schools; changing lives’. We absolutely believe that all children regardless of context or background deserve a great education, hence our involvement in schools and communities that have not always experienced this. Whilst we want our schools to retain their own identity, all BET schools share environments that are extremely warm and welcoming, professional, relentlessly positive, highly aspirational and characterised by happy and safe pupils with excellent relationships between them and the staff. In all classrooms and beyond pupils enjoy creative and effective teaching and learning that fosters belief and confidence.
BET's philosophy is to have schools working as effectively as possible and serving their community. We err towards independence but never forget we are one organisation working together. BET schools welcome the support of the Trust and its collective ethos but relish their remit as local schools and the responsibility that brings. We are highly focussed on our work on equality, diversity and inclusion ('EDI') and environment, social and governance ('ESG') to ensure our organisation is highly sustainable and a driver for social justice. This permeates through our Trust-wide think tank, BET Futures, our CPD offer and our quality assurance approach.
