Chester Diocesan Academies Trust

About CDAT

Chester Diocesan Academies Trust (CDAT) has a vision for the growth of thriving learning communities, that provide everyone with the opportunity to achieve to the very best of their gifts and abilities.

Christian values and service are at the heart of all we do, as we help young people to develop excitement in learning.

We:

• work in partnership with Chester Diocesan Board of Education, the education authority for the Diocese of Chester;
• are a multi-academy trust established to support schools across the Diocese of Chester;
• welcome interest in joining from all Church of England schools in the Diocese and others who wish to join our Christian organisation.

The Trust has overall responsibility for the education of the children and establishes a local governing body to oversee each school on a 'day to day' basis. Some members of the local governing body are appointed by CDAT and others are elected by parents.

CDAT Education Vision

CDAT has a distinctive ethos that is clearly rooted in the Gospel. Christian values impact on every area of our work and are communicated and shared in such a way that all member schools can understand them. These are more than general moral values which people of different faith backgrounds or no faith might share. Rather they are distinctively Christian values, based on the Bible and centred on the example of Jesus Christ. Our church schools fully demonstrate and exemplify these values whereas our non-church schools demonstrate the values shared by our society but will not be expected to adopt church specific policies.

It is important that all those engaging with CDAT have a clear appreciation of its distinctively Christian vision.

CDAT will seek to be a successful family of schools providing distinctive and loving environments which ensure effective education for all children, through excellent teaching, innovation and the sharing of good practice as schools work together across the Trust. We will:

• build a thriving community of schools with common moral purpose rooted in Christian values and ambition for children, but encouraging each academy to develop in the best way to serve its community;
• provide a culture of healthy dialogue and listening between CDAT and its academies;
• provide mutual support and improvement to develop the practice of all our professional staff so that all can improve;

• empower effective school leaders and local governing bodies to take courageous decisions in the best interest of young people;
• provide systems and services that aim to reduce the administrative burden and support school leaders with the professional management of their academies;
• provide purposeful and supportive early intervention for academies that would benefit from accelerated school improvement.

CDAT will seek to provide the very best education for every child in its schools so that they succeed and are well prepared to move onto their next phase of education. Our strong Christian ethos will be the foundation of all we do and by guiding and informing the actions of children, staff and governors we will:

• ensure that all children achieve their full potential – making at least the expected level of progress and with many exceeding;
• value and respect children from all faiths and beliefs – and taking into account their beliefs when planning for their learning and the learning of others;
• provide a curriculum that is broad, rich and balanced; focused on developing knowledge and skills; and meeting the needs of each child;
• provide learning opportunities that are inclusive, engaging and challenging for every child;
• create a learning environment within which children are happy and motivated learner;
• support our leaders to be highly effective in leading school improvements;
• support our teachers and support staff to be outstanding practitioners – providing high quality teaching so that every child learns;
• listen to the children and taking their views into account;
• work with parents to enable them to contribute to their children's learning;
• work with other schools and the wider community to ensure that we maximise on the learning opportunities that they can provide for our children and staff.

Further information about CDAT