The Stour Academy Trust recognises that our education system needs to quickly and more radically shift to close equity gaps and to better prepare our young people for the 21st century. We are transforming our schools from passive forms of learning focused on direct instruction and memorisation, by moving towards interactive methods that promote the critical and individual thinking needed in today’s innovation-driven economy. Our pedagogical model combined with the intentional deployment of technology will help us deliver personalised learning in an enabling environment. Technology will accelerate our progress but will not be the driver of our vision. We aim to nurture a community of learners that challenge thinking, where our staff are empowered to take risks and develop their practice to meet the needs of an evolving school system, which is not held back by traditional restrictions and ideologies. By limiting routine or unnecessary tasks we allow professionals to focus on learning behaviours and interactions which will promote emotional intelligence and the development of children as life-long, curious learners. There will be no barriers to achievement within our learning community and our teachers will build strong relationships that facilitate the learning of others. Collaboration will open doors, minds and possibilities and enable individuals to meet their personal goals.
