Why Work With SAT

Why Work With SAT

SAT is an educational charity, multi-academy trust and sponsor of academies.

We have approaching 18000 children and young people in our academies and employ more than 2500 teachers, leaders and educational support professionals across the East Midlands. We aspire to be a leading regional high performing Trust, with a national reputation for excellence.

We currently have 17 primary academies, 8 secondary academies and one primary aged special school in our family of schools. We are opening one new Free Schools in pre-operations. All our academies share our values and beliefs, and all benefit from the collaboration and added value that being a member of our Trust offers.

SAT also is a newly registered provider of Apprenticeships and has recently been announced as a designated regional Teaching School Hub.

Spencer Trust academies share an ambition to deliver results that compete with the very highest performing schools in the country, and deliver a curriculum for students that is underpinned by breadth, opportunity and quality: one that seeks to give young people the opportunity to develop into well rounded global citizens that believe they can influence positive change in the world.

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Employee Benefits

At Spencer Academies Trust we offer a wide range of employee benefits.  We believe that by involving, developing and valuing employees and by supporting them to look after their wellbeing that our employees feel a sense of belonging to our organisation.

• We always strive to ensure every academy within the Trust develops its own uniqueness whilst ensuring a sense of belonging they are strongly part of the whole, this provides employees with a sense of belonging both at academy and organisational level.
• In addition to the training and development offer we make to our employees; we also offer some financial rewards which include Health Assured; Flu Jabs and Salary Sacrifice Schemes for example Cycle to Work and Techscheme.
• Free on-site parking and for those working in schools within the Nottingham city boundary the Trust pays a levy fee to the City Council on behalf of our employees to allow them to park for free on site.  There are also secure spaces on our site for cycles.
• We operate within or are better than the Teachers and Educational Support national pay and conditions schemes with family friendly and flexible working policies providing support for a work life balance, and generous TPS and LGPS pension and life assurance schemes.
• We recognise continuous service from other schools and trusts.

 

We are Spencer

Matt Jones

Principal, Heanor Gate Spencer Academy

My career started back in 2008 when I joined George Spencer Technology College as an NQT in Physical Education. The post was hugely attractive, largely due to the school’s reputation as a leading-edge school, and an establishment which ‘led the way’ in all aspects of education. Over the coming years I saw George Spencer evolve, both in terms of physical infrastructure and its local and national reputation for excellence. Alongside the growth of the school, academy and multi academy trust, came a wealth of opportunities for me as an individual. Alongside my early TLR responsibility within the sixth form leadership team I was afforded a number of other voluntary opportunities which included leading in-house T&L projects, working with the SCITT, leading nationally recognised staff CPD programmes across the teaching school alliance and conducting reviews in other schools as part of the Challenge Partner network. All of these opportunities were invaluable to my professional development.

The growth of the Spencer Academies Trust afforded me the opportunity to take on bigger roles within different schools and has ultimately led me to a senior position at Heanor Gate Spencer Academy. The autonomy I have been afforded by various head teachers and executive SAT leaders to implement ideas and impact change has been a hugely positive experience, and has helped me develop exponentially. The relentless focus on improving outcomes for young people, as well as but not instead of everything else is a core philosophy which I remain closely aligned to. Those experiences, alongside the desire to retain good staff and collaborate between schools of a similar context is also a key reason why as a senior leader I see my future remaining within SAT.

 

Ellé Turner

HR Advisor, SAT Central Team

I joined the Trust in May 2019 as an Administration Apprentice and following achieving a L3 qualification, I moved to the HR Team in June 2020. Now, I am looking at starting my CIPD journey with SAT from September 2022 to further develop my knowledge and understanding.

Before joining SAT, I knew I wanted to look progressing into a HR career, and in 2019 an interview opportunity presented its self within the Central Team as a Business Admin Apprentice, where I was provided information on the opportunities for development that they could provide. Looking back at my first impression of the Trust to now, I can say with confidence that I have continued to feel the encouragement and partnership that the they provide to all – I would definitely recommend them as an employer.

Not only has the Trust supported me to move into the team that I am now in, but they have made it possible for me to achieve the following qualifications:

• L3 Business Administration
• L3 HR Support
• Level 5 CIPD

 

Verity Lee

Vice Principal, Sunnyside Spencer Academy

Since joining the Spencer Academies Trust in 2011 as a newly qualified teacher, a wealth of opportunities have come my way. Over the past 12 years, I have taught from the Foundation Stage through to Year Six and had opportunities to develop teams of teachers and teaching assistants whilst in the role as an ‘Achievement Leader’.

In 2013, my passion for the use of technology in the classroom started when I had a great opportunity to work with an Apple Educational Trainer. During this time, I was a guest speaker at a number of events across the country, sharing the school’s journey on the use of iPads across the curriculum.

In 2014, I became an SLE (Specialist Leader of Education) and later I became an ELE (Evidence Leader in Education). As part of these roles, I have supported many other primary schools with the development of their curriculum and the use of technology to support teaching, learning and assessment.

In September 2015, I started my new challenge as Assistant Principal which continued when I moved to my current school, Sunnyside Spencer Academy. I also successfully completed my NPQSL, where I reflected on and developed my leadership skills.  My passion for teaching and learning continued to be recognised and this led to leading network meetings and teaching on the SCITT and NQT programmes.

In 2019, with my experience of teaching in Year 6, I was encouraged to apply to become a writing moderator for Nottinghamshire County Council, and was successful. To continue my personal development, I also had the opportunity to gain new experiences within the position of Acting Head.

In 2022, my most recent success, was when I was asked to present at BETT in London. I shared Sunnyside’s successes of our 1:1 iPad journey and our use of Showbie. As a school, I also took part in a project with the Derby Research School, where we used Reading Plus to improve reading, comprehension and stamina. The results of this research project had a positive impact on our reading results and we gained 95% in our most recent SATs results.

Throughout my career, my confidence in my ability to lead and develop others has improved greatly. This is due to the inspirational leaders, teachers and teaching assistants that I have the honour to work alongside. I am proud to be part of the Spencer Academies Trust.

 

Lindsay Wiseman

Inclusion Manager, George Spencer Academy

I started at Fairfield Primary Academy in 2015 as a Teaching Assistant and moved to George Spencer Academy in September 2018 when a promotion opportunity arose. Joining Spencer Academies Trust was the best decision I have made to further myself and my career. Every day I am learning and improving, the job is fast paced and exciting with opportunities to gain further knowledge through CPD. I wake up in the morning with excitement, anticipation and sometimes a healthy sprinkling of anxiety about the day ahead. There are not many people who can say that about their job.  Love it.

 

Harj Athwal

Digital Marketing Apprentice, Spencer Academies Trust

I joined the Trust in April 2022 as a Digital Marketing Apprentice. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far, learning more everyday and also increasing my experience within the Digital Marketing field. The job is fast paced and exciting as it includes several opportunities to gain further knowledge through the Level 3 Apprenticeship I am undertaking.

I am excited to see what my future holds here and equally excited to successfully complete my Apprenticeship within the coming months.