Welcome

Welcome

A Message from Andy Hodgkinson, CEO

A warm welcome to Zenith Trust’s website.  We are a small, locally-based Trust in South East Essex, currently comprising one primary school, one special school, and three secondary schools: Laindon Park Primary School and Nursery, Castledon School in Wickford, The James Hornsby School in Basildon, Castle View School in Canvey Island, and The King John School in Benfleet.

Andy Hodgkinson - CEO

As a Trust, we strive to secure “a quality education and experience for all” enabling all our schools to focus squarely on students’ achievement and well-being.  The children in our care only get one chance at their education, and so our core purpose must be to enhance the life chances of every child and drive social mobility.

Our core focus is on school improvement, and to this end we are investing heavily in staff training for teaching staff, support staff, and school leaders.  Being outwards-facing is a key priority for us, and we are committed to professional life-long learning and working collaboratively together to improve our practice. 

We commission external support and reviews to add both challenge and support, and harness the collective power of our Trust network, as well as wider educational networks, to raise standards and best serve our local communities. 

As a Trust, we are able to achieve economies of scale to then invest more into our schools, for example by bulk-buying resources such as textbooks and laptops.  We have a dedicated central team with expertise in areas such as finance, HR, and IT.  This frees up time and capacity in our schools so that all our school staff can concentrate on achieving the best outcomes for all our students.  Innovative provision such as the Zenith Minds team is allowing us to better support our students and complement the work already done by schools.  

Finally, we understand that strong governance is key to strong leadership.  As a result, we have a highly skilled Board of Trustees, and each school has its own dedicated Local Governing Body to provide local representation and perspective.

We know we still have a lot we want to do, and want to do better, but we are excited about the future and what our schools and their students can achieve. 

 

Andy Hodgkinson

CEO Zenith Multi Academy Trust