Agape Trust Core Offer
 

Educational Standards

Agape Trust spans the age range from 4 to 18. Its staff have extensive experience and success in raising pupil educational outcomes and performance at all levels. Working together through our peer to peer, consultant and leadership networks our aim is to be in the top 10% for progress nationally. Curriculum modelling, development and deployment expertise, together with mapping and resource generation, assists our schools in raising educational outcomes especially for EAL, pupil premium and SEND children.  Strategic leadership support at all levels improves the quality of education for all. Bespoke support targets areas of improvement across any aspects of school provision. Our facilities improvement programme targets capital funding and the skills of our site teams where it is most needed to improve the facilities within our schools. We also create schools’ annual admission policy, carry out the consultation process, if required, and provide advice and guidance on admissions strategies.

Culture and Inclusion

Our annual safeguarding reviews, training and audits ensure our schools are providing the best possible care for their children and that safeguarding is embedded throughout each school. Our Trust Safeguarding Network meets termly. Practical advice and guidance on strategies for maximising attendance at school is part of our culture. This, together with support with inclusive behaviour policies, procedures and processes means more children attend school regularly and engage positively with their learning. We assist with recruitment, retraining and retention within our schools.

Leading and Developing People

Continuing Professional Development opportunities for all staff, both to be trained and be the trainer, exist across our schools. Staff and leaders network to share best practice successes as well as areas for improvement. This training extends to preparation for OfSTED inspections and, for our Church Schools, SIAMS inspections. We aim to be the employer of choice locally. Staff well-being and workload reduction initiatives are key to our development planning. Wellbeing days and weeks, access to BUPA, strategic use of IT to reduce assessment, and an Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme are just some of our successes.

Growing and Developing Our Community

We provide a complete package for any school to join our Trust from initial conversations through to consultations, legals, working with the LA, the Regional Schools Director and the TUPE process. We look to provide development opportunities to staff to widen their professional experience, learning from and with other colleagues both within Agape and beyond. Leadership development is a core part of our offer providing headteachers and senior leaders with opportunities to learn across all aspects of school and system leadership. 

We provide governance for all schools in our Trust. This includes recruitment of, training, support and mentorship of clerks/governance professionals to Local Governing Committees.  Governance and Trustee induction and on-going training is a vital part of our core offer. Schools in our Trust benefit from a subscription to The Key Leaders, The Key Safeguarding and The Key Governors. Schools will also benefit from the Trust’s gold membership of the National Governors Association and learning link governor training courses. This gold membership provides a free advice line to Chairs of Local Governing Bodies, free places at NGA conferences and virtual events and online governor resources. The Trust is also part of the Confederation of Schools Trusts which offer online forums and training for a multitude of educational areas such SEND, safeguarding, finance, governor & trustee, people & culture and Early Years.

Operational Effectiveness

Our Executive Team, together with external partners, provide advice and guidance on all aspects of operational effectiveness and compliance, This includes Governance, legal compliance, Health and Safety, Data Protection, Human Resources, IT, Finance, Budgets, Payroll, Tendering, Contracts and Best Value. We draft over 35 statutory and best practice policies for schools including all HR and finance policies, safeguarding, Prevent, whistleblowing, data protection, freedom of information, health & safety, admissions etc. We review and update policies in light of any revised statutory guidance changes and cascade these to schools.

All schools in the trust are part of our Information Commissioner registration and we provide advice and support for Subject Access and Freedom of Information requests.

We create and keep updated the climate action plan and support schools with sustainability measures.

We seek to invest our capital resources to improve and expand schools’ facilities together with maximising revenue. We are working to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce energy costs through planned investment in solar energy capture (PV panels) and battery storage.
 

What our Headteachers say about Agape:

"Agape Trust provides excellent support with all the things that crop up when you are a Headteacher that no-one teaches you during your NPQH. This can be anything from tricky HR situations, site emergencies, parental complaints, legal questions around GDPR or suspensions, as well as always being on the end of the phone if something comes in that needs handling urgently. As a new Headteacher this year, I would not have been able to do my job as effectively without the amazing support I have received from the central team."

“The support I've received from the trust team as a headteacher has been invaluable. They've not only fostered my professional growth but also helped me effectively navigate a wide range of challenges, such as operational matters, site management, financial oversight, policy writing, and managing people. This support has allowed me to prioritise teaching and learning, minimising administrative burdens so I can focus on what matters most for our children and staff.”

“Thanks to the invaluable support of The Agape Trust, I have been able to navigate the complexities of financial management and legal compliance with confidence and clarity. The expertise and leadership from the central team has ensured that, as a school, we are well informed and advised regarding changes and developments so that we can focus on what truly matters – providing a first-class education for our students.”

Agape Executive Team

Agape’s CEO is Derren Gray, formerly Executive Headteacher at The Piggott School – an all-thorough 4-18 mixed Church of England comprehensive based on two sites. Derren has a wealth of school leadership experience across a range of schools having been a school leader for over 25 years. He is an expert in school leadership, raising educational outcomes, funding, budgeting & finance, and curriculum modelling/ timetabling. He mentors and coaches several new and established headteachers both within, and outside, the Trust. He chairs the task and finish budget group for Wokingham School Forum and sits on the Wokingham Borough Educational Partnership. Derren also delivers the NPQH programme for Forest Learning Alliance as a visiting fellow of the Ambition Institute.

The CFOO is Poonam Bhardwaj, a senior business leader with over 20 years of experience in accounting and audit roles across multiple industry sectors. As CFOO she has overall responsibility for finance, H&S, HR, IT management, and premises management. She has extensive experience as a CFO, working with a range of stakeholders, managing diverse relationships in a school setting, and communicating effectively with staff, colleagues, and third parties to achieve beneficial working relationships along with maximizing income and budget balances.

The Lead Governance Professional is Mrs Rebecca (Becci) Marr LLB (Hons), PDLP. Mrs Marr qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and has over 12 years’ experience working in legal services, 10 of those as a qualified solicitor. She remains on the Law Society’s roll as a non-practicing solicitor. She has previously been a Director of Legal Practice as well as Head of a Civil Litigation Department. Mrs Marr has been a governance professional for several schools for over 12 years.

The Trust Executive Team also includes a Primary Director, John Micklewhite. He is in his second headship at Birch Copse Primary School, which is a two-form Ofsted Outstanding primary school with Early Years provision. John has been a Local Leader in Education and a Professional Partner since 2010 and has been a National Leader of Education (NLE) for seven years. Through his work as an Executive Headteacher of two other schools, an NLE, LLE and SIA he has had the opportunity to successfully support many schools in their development.

The Trust’s Estates Manger, David Corringham, leads on estate maintenance and development. He is a very experienced site manager having worked in different industries leading on positive change to the built environment. He works with the Headteachers in the Trust and their site teams to improve facilities using his highly skilled provision. The teams undertake many forms of site maintenance and development including plumbing, electrics, flooring, IT installs and renovation. This model significantly reduces expenditure on external contractors and improves our reactive maintenance agility and site facilities for the schools within the MAT.

Some recent highlights of the successes of the executive team include the following:

Strategic Leadership

• Coaching, mentoring and induction of the headteachers within the Trust providing support and guidance on all aspects of school improvement.
• Producing dynamic and adaptive curriculum models and staffing plans to assist headteachers in efficient and effective deployment and recruitment of staff, making schools inherently more cost effective and efficient – enabling them to address the challenges of the changing funding landscape nationally and locally
• Negotiation, agreement and oversight of the £9.5 million new build programme at Wargrave which includes three new science labs, a new prep room, four RE classrooms with offices, four new floodlit tennis/netball courts and a new 750 m2 main hall, dining area and kitchen including a dedicated sixth-form area
• Following a change in pupil numbers rewriting a school’s timetable mid-year to achieve efficiencies and increase effectiveness of deployment and scheduling
• Income generation through working with local authorities including growth funding for, new sports hall doors at and improved SEN facilities
• Delivering the NPQH for The Forest Learning Alliance as a visiting fellow for the Ambition Institute for four cohorts of aspiring headteachers
• Mentoring and coaching new and established headteachers both within and outside the Trust including budget oversight, site development, policy formation and review, and resolving complex legal, exclusion, SEND, HR and policy problems
• Recruitment, interviewing and appointment of staff including Headteachers
• Growth of the Trust and working with LA and RS
• Formulation of a comprehensive site development plan with headteachers which has improved the provision for students and staff across the Trust including creating new learning spaces, a new Fitness Suite room & Sixth-form study area and flexible learning space for SEND students

Finance and Operations

• Leadership in Mentorship and Onboarding: Successfully mentored and supported the new and established Finance & Operations Managers and newly appointed Headteachers, providing guidance on financial procedures, budget management and Trust-wide financial compliance.
• Capital Project Involvement: Continues to play a leading part in the new build project at The Piggott School, ensuring financial alignment, project oversight and timely reporting.
• Successful CIF Project Delivery: Oversight of the successful delivery of the CIF-funded asbestos removal and roofing replacement projects: overseeing budgeting, contractor coordination and assurance of value for money
• Finance System Implementation and Data Transition: Facilitated the Trust-wide rollout of a co-ordinated finance system, including seamless migration of budget data and hands-on support to the Finance Managers
• Payroll Continuity and Contract Management: Payroll oversight and administration including back pay calculations for support staff pay awards maintaining accuracy and timeliness
• Contracts and Tendering: Negotiation of key contracts and tender for catering and uniform to ensure best value procurement
   

Estates Management and Development

• Compilation of comprehensive H&S Procedures document for adoption across the Trust
• Leading on Health and Safety across the Trust including external H&S audit and associated actions.
• Creation of new Fitness suit making use of multiple under-utilised areas to make a more functional gym in a better location, thus freeing up a large double classroom space for 6th form students to use as a breakout study space
• Management and consultation of the ongoing investment by Wokingham into Piggott School and its new Hall/Canteen and related works 
• Management and consultation of the installation of 4 new floodlit tennis / netball courts
• Planned and created an innovative use of under used space to create additional car parking spaces
• Repurposing of metal work room and creation of new desk area using mostly existing materials to increase teaching capacity
• Management and consultation for additional door installation in Sports hall to allow for greater occupancy and increased fire safety egress
• Full design and install of new Ready to Learn area, offices and sensory room in an un-used space.
• Management and Consultation for Installation works of CAT 5 tank for Science Labs and associated works
• Working with the site team to upgrade dated emergency lighting systems 
• Installation of access control systems on doors to meet fire regulations and enhance lettings income potential
• Design, create and decorate two new learning and AP support spaces by partitioning the staffroom and library
• Emergency repairs:
  • First aid room – floor replacement after flood damage 
  • Disabled toilet - floor replacement after flood damage 
  • Reception and server room – works under the floor level to reduce damage from flooding
  • Fire alarm – emergency repairs to fire alarm system after builders damaged infrastructure 

Governance

• Development of initiatives and supporting schools on a range of compliance matters: employer duties in relation to preventing sexual harassment, climate action plan, data protection and potential personal injury claims
• Supporting the Headteachers and Trust Board on a range of legal matters including lettings contracts, judicial review, disability claim, employment matters and associated contract issues
• Supporting Headteachers, Senior Leaders and Governance Professionals in relation to complex permanent exclusions including IRP preparation
• Producing headteacher and clerk templates for permanent exclusions, suspensions and complaints which comply with the relevant legal frameworks and regulations
• Trust wide policies and procedures on a multitude of topics drafted, consulted upon and cascaded to schools; updated where necessary in response to legislative and guidance changes
• Induction and support of new Governance Professional
• Trust Board, committees and Local Governing Board facilitation, advice and guidance
• Leading on admission consultation processes

Core Offer - Click here to download this page as a PDF

Core Offer –Services and Subscriptions offered by the Trust and/or used by schools within the Trust

Click here to download the current Services/Subscriptions list 



Agape Trust Strategic Priorities 2025 - 2029