From the CEO

MacIntyre Academies is a Multi-Academy Trust of special schools. We believe all children and young people deserve the best education possible. As a Trust we're ambitious for our children and their families, and we want them to be as ambitious for themselves in turn.

Having joined our trust as the founding Principal of Venture Academy in 2020, I have enjoyed working with my colleagues, our Local Advisory Boards and our Trust Board as we have developed our practice and provisions. Most importantly though (sorry to the aforementioned) I have had the privilege to work alongside our incredible learners and their families. Watching the journey of learners who join us, whom despite the barriers they face, make significant progress with us both academically and socially is the greatest joy in my work.

We know that the journey many of our learners and their families have been on before they find themselves part of our trust can be exhausting, frustrating and even traumatic for some. Our approach is to treat every learner as an individual, understand and show due regard to their lived experience in and out of education and work collaboratively to ensure the best possible future, in terms of experience and outcomes. We adopt a variety of methodologies in our work, but at our centre we are trauma sensitive and attachment aware. Our learners and their families need to know we will show curiosity, not judgement when days are tough. However, we are a family of schools and have a clear mandate to educate our learners while they are wish us. Because of this we are constantly reviewing our pedagogy and approaches to give the best possible learning experience to our learners who may be Autistic, have ADHD or have other social and emotional barriers that affect how they learn. Our individual approach should mean that learners can engage in learning in a way that gives them increasing confidence, helps them to develop strategies that make their days and lives more positive and ultimately gives them the successes they need to enter the next stage or their life and learning when they are ready to leave us.

Our trust values of Compassion, Ambition and Partnership show up in our work and interactions at MacIntyre Academies every day and are embedded in how we show up, how we work together and the outcomes we ensure. I expect our adults, whether employed, contractors or volunteers, to model the highest expectations in terms of behaviour, a willingness to learn and their general conduct. In practical terms, this should look and feel like people who see the best in those around them, have the highest ambitions for themselves and others, treat everyone with respect and even know when and how to say sorry if they get things wrong. In turn I ask that all of our partners, whether the families and support networks around our learners, strategic partners or visitors to our schools do the same. By working together we will ensure the strongest possible futures for our learners, because they know and feel that we are united in our shared ambition and direction for and with them.

Emily Hopkins-Hayes
CEO