How to join
Slough and East Berkshire Church of England Multi-Academy Trust (SEBMAT) has been established to form a group of schools which can support each other to ensure the best possible outcomes for the young people in Slough and the nearby areas. It includes primary and secondary schools and has a Christian ethos.
The Trust is focused on providing high quality and effective education for all of its pupils. It is determined to achieve and maintain school improvement to ensure long term sustainability. Within the Trust there is a commitment to sharing, collaboration and pooling resources to increase effectiveness and efficiency, as well as maximise resources. All of this is underpinned by a suite of specialised central support services which can free up schools to concentrate on their key educational priorities. There is a responsibility towards the common good. In this regard the Trust is pledged to supporting the community, which includes reaching out to support other local schools which may need assistance.
The Trust is committed to the pursuit of well-considered and proportionate expansion to provide children with enhanced opportunities arising from greater efficiencies and economies of scale, increased professional development opportunities and training for the staff, and a more flexible and creative learning environment. At this stage we envision a moderate expansion to somewhere in the range of eight to ten schools which could amount to somewhere in the region of 3-6,000 pupils. While SEBMAT is a Church of England Trust it is very open to other schools with or without a designated religious character joining as it enshrines a wide values base. SEBMAT can support schools to excel through coaching, sharing good practice and helping to secure good value for money. The three Church of England schools - Slough and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College, Colnbrook Church of England Primary School and Eton Porny Church of England First School - were the first three schools to join. More recently Lynch Hill Enterprise Academy and Lynch Hill School Primary Academy joined the Trust in 2019. Currently, there are plans to increase the size of the Trust which will create even greater benefits in terms of capacity, strategic advantage, curriculum developments, advances in teaching and learning and improved performance. With this in mind Woodlands Park Primary School joined the Trust in November 2022.
The Trust is open to approaches from other schools to develop informal links, such as sharing information and advice, or more formal commitment to the Trust. More importantly, we are very open to exploratory meetings to consider possible ways of linking and working together for the benefit of the pupils. For us these formal partnerships are not about losing control but about developing competences, autonomy and independence and maximising the advantages of sharing and supporting each other in achieving excellence for all.