Lives transformed through entrepreneurial education

Welcome to the Aldridge Foundation’sFamily of Schools and Colleges

Our GoalBy the age of 25 all Aldridge graduates will have experienced anoutstanding and enjoyable education and be able to sustain the lifeof their choice. They will be independent, thriving economically andmaking a real, positive contribution to their communities.

Real Skills for Real LifeWe focus on the development of entrepreneurial attributes, ratherthan just enterprise skills. We don’t think everyone should set up abusiness, although we want to help those that wish to. We dobelieve that an entrepreneurial mindset gives people the life skills toachieve whatever it is they want to achieve. We are seeking outinnovative solutions to help more young people succeed, be ‘lifeready’, ‘work ready’ and independent.

I have loved being at a school that has so much emphasis on

enterprise and entrepreneurship. I feel like I am ready to enter the real world!Portslade Aldridge Community Academy student

A good education gives people skills and qualifications, and it instils confidence, along

with preparing young people for the challenges of life.Everyone has the right to expect an exciting, engaging and relevant education, regardless of who they are, or where they live.Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, Founder

WelcomeWelcome to the Aldridge Foundation. We are an educationalcharity that helps young people to reach their potential andimprove their communities, principally through the sponsorshipof entrepreneurial academy schools and colleges.

Sir Rod Aldridge launched the Foundation in 2006 after retiring from Capita plc, the business he set up and whichbecame one of this country’s most successful companies. Our non-selective community schools and colleges have astrong focus on entrepreneurship and on rapidly improving the quality of education on offer in order to transform the life-chances of young people.

The Foundation sponsors schools in different communitiesacross England, with students currently attending Aldridgesponsored institutions at primary, secondary and sixth-formlevel. We work in areas where the opportunities for youngpeople, the outcomes they leave education with and theirprospects are most limited, and where the introduction of ourentrepreneurial approach to education can have most benefit.

I am proud of the students we are here to support, of the staff I am lucky enough to work with, and of the schools wesponsor. Together we have secured significant increases inacademic standards for the communities where our schools are based, and we have been recognised with both national and local awards as a result. Links to our individual schools are on our web site.

What makes us a ‘family’ are the values and principles of workingthat we ask all of our schools to adopt, and which all of our

school leaders share. I hope that thisleaflet will give you an overview

of those core values – thosethings which define what itmeans to be an Aldridgeschool or college. Honor Wilson-Fletcher MBE,Chief Executive

The Way We WorkWe are entrepreneurial and our passion for high quality, inclusiveeducation drives our work.

We have shared goals and shared approaches which are tailored forthe local context. We help each of our schools and colleges todefine how best to achieve those goals for their community.

We encourage students, staff and members of the local communityto develop a passion for learning as well as an entrepreneurialmind-set, enabling people to help take responsibility for their ownfutures and their neighbourhoods. The core entrepreneurialattributes we promote are:

CREATIVITYThe ability to look at things in a new way and seek different solutions.

DETERMINATIONResolution in moving towards a goal and resilience to difficulties along the way.

PROBLEM-SOLVINGDiscovering, analysing and overcoming challenges.

RISK-TAKINGThe ability to recognise pitfalls but also the value of actions.

TEAM-WORKA coordinated effort in the interests of a common cause, and the active recognition of the talents of others.

PASSIONThe positive drive to achieve and succeed.

We want all our schools to be ambitious and entrepreneurial -inside and outside the classroom, in strategic planning and everydayactivity. This means that the emphasis on entrepreneurial thinkingprovides context for all the learning that takes place and everyaspect of academic life. Staff make a commitment to supportingentrepreneurial behaviours, and to acting as a role model by usingthese behaviours themselves in their work.

Our schools have a shared vision for our students, developed jointlybetween all our Principals. We want every student at an Aldridgesponsored school or college to be:

EXCEPTIONALLY SUCCESSFULAchieving academically beyond initial personal expectations andprior attainment.

CAPABLE, INDEPENDENT and ENTREPRENEURIALHaving the practical skills (and experience of using them) to accessevery opportunity they want in life.

PROUDValuing the opportunities and challenges they are offered and beingproud of their school.

PRAISEDAll students will be praised and rewarded for their progression andpersonal achievements.

RESPECTFULRespecting their teachers and each other. Working together tosupport each other.

SAFE AND HAPPYOur students will enjoy school as a safe, welcoming and engaging environment.

WELL-EQUIPPEDWith the confidence, social skills and networks needed to accessevery opportunity they want.

WELL-ADVISEDSupported and given guidance to ensure ambitious, appropriate‘next steps’ after leaving school.

RESPONSIBLEHaving a social conscience and understanding the rewards of active citizenship.

HEALTHYBeing physically active, respecting and looking after their bodies and their minds.

ALDRIDGE CREATESEach Aldridge school has a dedicated area called ‘Creates’. Whilsteach Creates centre is bespoke, they all share the same aims - tofoster social enterprise, create opportunities for links with the localcommunity and local businesses, and to offer training, advice andentrepreneurial challenge for students and community members.All Creates areas include incubation units to foster the developmentof new ideas in a professional, supportive environment.

OPENING EYESAll our schools and colleges are encouraged to offer challenging andvery ambitious experiences for our students, for older studentsoften overseas, and always with an eye to developing those coreentrepreneurial behaviours. A good experience will put students, andthe adults with them, into tough but rewarding situations, givingthem a chance to be surprised by their own skills and capacity. Thestaff and students return to school with greater confidence, agreater sense of opportunity and ambition, and with a heightenedunderstanding and social conscience. The Foundation’s Opening Eyesprogramme is always looking for opportunities to help our schoolsto run and fundraise for these kinds of life changing experiences.

COMMUNITYIn addition to improving life chances through skills acquisition, we aim to support community regeneration. We focus our work incommunities identified as being in greatest need or where there hashistorically been a lack of investment. We help young people fromprimary level upwards develop as active citizens and socialentrepreneurs through volunteering; generating ideas and undertakingprojects that celebrate and develop what is best about the localcommunity; working with the support and input of local businessesand social enterprises. We seek increasing levels of engagement withboth young people’s education and with the community as a whole.

What Can Our SchoolsExpect from Us?At the Foundation we provide advise and data driven improvementplanning led by our Education Director. Each school also has anAcademic Partner, highly experienced in their Key Stages, to giveadvice and support. In addition, schools receive support from,amongst others, a Governance Manager, a Director of ExternalAffairs and a Director of Construction - for a full list of AldridgeFoundation staff please visit our website.

Each Academy or group of schools also has an Academy/RegionalDirector appointed by the Foundation during its developmentphase and as it establishes itself fully. The Director is responsible for effective liaison between the Foundation and the school;identification of and support for issues relating to the school;representation at Governing Body meetings and close working withkey reporting bodies including DfE, EFA and other sponsors.

The Foundation has a binding agreement with each school, closelyallied with our goals and values, to ensure that a high quality service is provided for the benefit of our students and their localcommunities, and that in return each school as part of the familydevelops and retains the distinctive character which defines anAldridge school.

Tatiarna has come home having had amazing experiences and

with once in a lifetime memories. Thishas been an amazing opportunity forher so once again we would like to say a big, big, big, thank you!Parent of a Brighton Aldridge Community Academy student following school socialenterprise trip to India

The Aldridge SpecificationThe Foundation has developed the Aldridge Specification, which definesall the key elements of any Aldridge sponsored school, includinggovernance, leadership, quality assurance, entrepreneurship and so on.The Specification is at the heart of the agreement with our schools. It includes, for example:

The Quality Framework To support the achievement of our shared goals we have developed aQuality Framework which focuses on continuous improvement ofstandards in our schools. The Framework provides regular challenge andsupport by an Academic Partner from our Education Team, as well asaccess to best practice from within our family of schools and from ournational network of partner organisations in the field of education.

OUR APPROACH TO GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIPEach school that we sponsor is unique. The students, staff andparents are unique. The history of predecessor schools and the local community is unique. Therefore, each school is locally governedby its own independent Charitable Trust, or as a member of a localMulti-Academy Trust. The Aldridge Foundation is accountable to theDepartment for Education for the success of the schools it sponsorsand therefore is represented on each of these trusts and alsoappoints the Chair of Governors.

Each school or multi-academy trust has its own Board of Governorsthat is made up of sponsor appointed governors, the Principal,elected staff and parent governors, and sometimes governorsrepresenting the Local Authority. Each Board can also co-opt anumber of members and has three committees - Education, Businessand Performance Review. The role of the Board is to act as a ‘criticalfriend’ to the school, providing support and challenge.

Every term Sir Rod Aldridge chairs a meeting which brings togetherthe Chairs of each Board to discuss planning and improvement and to consider any issues arising at individual academies or at a pan-academy level. Regular meetings between our Principals, Vice-Principals, Finance Directors, Chairs of Governors and otherkey staff help foster effective joint working and skills sharing toensure that every school succeeds. The development of an informalonline platform, Aldridge Exchange, is creating further opportunitiesfor staff at our sponsored schools to share ideas and best practice.

OFSTED’S VERDICT“The Principal and senior leaders work in close partnership withthe governors and the Academy sponsors to provide excellentleadership. Governors have a clear understanding of how theAcademy’s results compare with those of other schools and of the progress made by different groups of students.”Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Inspection Report Dec 2012

“The work of the Academy is supported exceptionally well by thesponsor and the Academy Trust... The Governors are well-informedabout the data on the performance of the Academy and hold thePrincipal and staff closely to account for students’ performance. They are aware of the quality of teaching within the Academy and havesupported the use of the appraisal system to reward effective teaching.”Darwen Aldridge Community Academy Inspection Report Jan 2013

STAYING IN TOUCHWe create a regular newsletter which gives a snapshot of life acrossour schools and colleges. If you would like to receive the newsletterplease email: alan.brooks@aldridgefoundation.com You canalso follow Foundation news on Twitter through @aldridgeonline.

We are always seeking to improve the way that we engage with our communities. If you have any ideas that would help us achieveour goals more effectively, would like to find out more about theFoundation or our schools, or would like to work with us to helptransform opportunities for young people in the communities weserve, please get in touch.

… this wonderful, innovative place. The Darwen Aldridge

Community Academy is ground-breaking. I am convinced the Academywill transform the lives of families inDarwen and, through its example,countless others elsewhere.HRH Prince William of Wales

I can’t believe that I am going toUni! I can’t thank my teachers

enough; I will be the first in my family to go to University.Saba Ali Shah, 6th Form Student, Darwen Aldridge Community Academy

Lives transformed through entrepreneurial education

Contact DetailsTo learn more about the work of the Foundation, and our Board ofTrustees who oversee that, please visit our web site or contact. Honor Wilson-FletcherChief ExecutiveThe Aldridge Foundation10 Piccadilly, London W1J 0DDTel: 0207 297 0340Email: honor.wilson-fletcher@aldridgefoundation.com

To find out more about each of our academies, please visit ourschools’ and colleges’ web sites, which can be accessed throughwww.aldridgefoundation.com

Registered charity number: 1102285

Trustees:Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, Carol Aldridge, Richard Benton, Jennifer Lavender, Janice Shiner CB and James SporleIndependent adviser to the Trust - Robert Hill

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I have managed to get A grades and distinctions in work I have done.

Everyone has helped me greatly and I wouldreally recommend this school to other people.Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio School student

She’s absolutely loved it. Hopefully she’s showed you’re never too young to start

in business. She really enjoyed squeezing all the lemons too!Sharon Chapman, mother of entrepreneurial 5 year oldPortland student Rhiannon, who turned a £10 investment into £200 in the National Tenner Challenge competitionmaking and selling her own lemonade