School pupils in Chowley

School Improvement & Support

What is on offer for schools in the Trust?

Sandstone Trust is a Multi Academy Trust which has all members of each school community at the heart of every decision made.

“Experiencing excellence through dynamic partnership”

The Trust vision is an ambitious one; we are determined that every child in the Trust is given an enriching education and wider school experience which challenges, encourages and supports them to achieve excellence in all areas and therefore thoroughly prepare them for their next steps as well as a love for lifelong learning.

A school led system allows us to work in an open, respectful and collaborative manner which enables schools to challenge one another, share best practice and ideas. In addition to looking at how the latest educational research could support school improvement, we look to innovate and refine our practice which will support the professional development and workload of our staff and improve the school experience and educational outcomes for our students. Each school has its own identity and context which is enriched by adopting these ideas in a way which works for their school community.

We benefit from having expertise from nursery, through to primary school, secondary school and Sixth Form and our work across all educational phases benefits all in the Trust.

Trustees, Governors, Senior Leaders and Executive Leaders have identified key areas which they feel the Trust can support with and which Headteachers can utilise, based on their own self-evaluation and strategic priorities. These are:

The Trust has also centralised its Finance, HR and Estates teams who work together on providing these services and support to schools in the Trust.

Examples of ‘school to school’ support impact within and beyond Sandstone Trust

Ofsted

Eaton Primary School was placed in Special Measures in February 2019.

The Trust made significant changes at Eaton, working closely with senior Leaders staff and governors. Improvements were rapid and have been sustained as reflected by the Ofsted inspection in November 2023 where the school was moved from Inadequate to Good in all areas.

In 2019, the school was in the bottom 5% of schools nationally for results; in 2023, it was in the top 20%. Our experiences at Eaton Primary School can be used to support schools in similar circumstances.

Additionally, we have prior experience of leading the Cheshire Vale Teaching School Alliance which supported a range of schools in different contexts, contributing to a number of schools judged as Requires Improvement by Ofsted moving to Good through the successful deployment of SLEs, LLEs, NLEs and NLGs. We have maintained the infrastructure of the Teaching School and continue to be able to offer subject and leadership support.

Examples of some of the school-to-school support undertaken through our Teaching School

Sixth Form reviews

The review of a school when it was in ‘Special Measures’ which led to a successful emergency fund bid of almost £70,000 and which supported the deployment of significant support. The previous OfSTED report noted the poor progress of PP students relative to their peers, a subsequent OfSTED report noted that: ‘The external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium highlighted widespread weaknesses in the school’s approach to improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders have started to address the recommendations from the review in a systematic manner’.

Pupil Premium reviews

An RI school where leadership was judged as RI, we facilitated middle leader training as well as NLE support for the Headteacher and the Head of Sixth Form. A subsequent OfSTED inspection judged the effectiveness of leadership and management as ‘Good’.

A whole school review of a school which had been judged as RI. As well as support of leadership and management, SLEs were deployed in a range of subjects. The subsequent OfSTED visit moved the school to Good

An RI Pupil Referral Unit, as well as support of leadership and management, SLEs were deployed in a range of subjects. The school was also given support with a review of governance – following recommendations of a previous OfSTED, as well as SLE support in subject areas. Subsequently, it was judged as ‘Good’ with inspectors noting that ‘Teachers have benefited from support and advice provided by local specialist leaders of education’ and governance is now a strength of the school’.


Although Teaching Schools no longer exist in the same way, we have maintained our infrastructure and continue to train SLEs who are deployed to support schools within and beyond the Trust.

We are a lead partner with the Cheshire Teaching School Hub, delivering on the range of NPQs through Best Practice Network as well as leading the ECT delivery programme.

We work closely with the Maths Hub and currently lead the secondary maths network.

We have worked with Evidence Based education on research trials and on adapting our approach to assessment.

A number of staff across the Trust have been trained by the Schools Partnership Programme which has informed reviews and follow up work in other schools.

We lead the recruitment and delivery of ITT through our partnership with Liverpool John Moores University (moving to the University of Chester from 2025).

The following gives an overview of the support that is available or that is being developed for schools in the Trust. We know that every school can benefit from drawing on the expertise that exists within the Trust as well as contributing their own expertise and bringing further partnership opportunities to others.

Trust staff

School Improvement staff

We have someone who can conduct Pupil Premium reviews and a number of trained Subject Specialist Leaders (SSLs) across a range of subjects. These can be deployed for a range of short or longer term support, including:

Schools joining the Trust can also nominate staff to be trained and deployed as SSLs. As well as contributing to the support of other schools, we have found that this provides professional development to the SSLs themselves.

Central Office staff