The Diocese of Gloucester Academies Trust (DGAT) is a multi-academy trust established by the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) in 2012. Our purpose is to provide children of all faiths and none, with excellent educational provision which transforms lives within a caring and supportive Christian ethos.
Our family of schools is fully inclusive:
Enabling human flourishing by encouraging pupils’ and adults’ gifts and talents
Nurturing the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of our community, as well as maximising the progress, achievement and attainment of every child
Celebrating the intrinsic value of every person, made in the image of God.
There are currently 16 primary schools and one infant school within the Trust. Sixteen of the 17 academies have a religious designation as Church of England schools. All of the academies are located in Gloucestershire Local Authority.
Every DGAT school ensures that:
Christian beliefs, values, principles and practices underpin the development of each school
Pedagogical practice promotes opportunities for communal enquiry and dialogue, reasoning and reflection
Creative approaches to curriculum delivery promote opportunities for personalised learning
Relationships between school, parish and the wider diocese are maximised
A rich and varied range of extracurricular activities support learning, service and enjoyment of life beyond the classroom
Opportunities to celebrate success are shared within, and across, the DGAT family.
Supporting the spiritual, moral, social, cultural and physical development of each child, as well as maximising their progress, achievement and attainment to ensure their intellectual growth, is key. In tandem with this is the drive to support and develop the staff within the family of schools.
In order to build strong learning communities, the Trust ensures that schools are confident and outward-facing in all that they do, building strong, effective links with parents, parishes, local schools, community groups and the wider educational community.
The Trust has a high level of expertise in school improvement at a central level and within individual schools. This is used to support schools on their journey towards outstanding.
The MAT is accountable for the performance of each school in the group, although each can still have their own governing body which operates subject to delegation of power from the MAT.
A master funding agreement with the MAT, and supplemental funding agreements with each individual school, is signed by the Secretary of State for Education. The MAT is the employer of all the staff.
Some multi-academy trusts can have 30 or 40 schools, some will be a much smaller group of perhaps half a dozen. There are obvious advantages to working as a group of schools, for example in terms of creating common policies, streamlining, school organisation, sharing expertise, central procurement – including schools in the trust lending staff to each other.
The MAT provides a range of support, guidance and challenge across all its schools.
