Inspiration Trust is a multi-academy trust of

academies An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

and free schools in East Anglia, England. The trust was founded by

Theodore Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton Theodore Thomas More Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton, (born 17 January 1961) is a British businessman, Conservative life peer and former Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. He also founded the Inspiration Trust, and is the ...

as the East Norfolk Academy Trust in 2012, changing its name to the Inspiration Trust in 2013. Although technically a limited company, as a multi-academy trust the company is an

exempt charity An exempt charity is an institution established in England and Wales for charitable purposes which is exempt from registration with, and oversight by, the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Exempt charities are largely institutions of furth ...

, principally regulated by the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

. All the academies on the roster are in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, except East Point Academy, which is located in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Primary schools

* Charles Darwin Primary,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

- opened September 2016 * Cobholm Primary Academy, Great Yarmouth * Great Yarmouth Primary Academy * Norwich Primary Academy * Stradbroke Primary Academy,

Gorleston Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Bo ...

Secondary schools

* Cromer Academy *

East Point Academy East Point Academy is an Academy (English school), academy sponsored by the Inspiration Trust, located in the Kirkley district of Lowestoft, in the English county of Suffolk. It educates children from ages 11 to 16. In its latest Ofsted inspect ...

, Lowestoft * Great Yarmouth Charter Academy * Hethersett Academy * The Hewett Academy, Norwich * Jane Austen College, Norwich * Thetford Academy * Wayland Academy, Thetford

Sixth forms

Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form is a specialist maths and science sixth form with free school status located in Norwich, owned by the Inspiration Trust. It has the capacity for 480 students aged 16–19. It specialises in mathematics and science ...

, Norwich

Controversies

In 2014 an investigation took place into whether three of the Inspiration Trust's schools were given unauthorised advance notice of Ofsted inspections. The main finding of the investigation was that there was no evidence the schools had received unauthorised prior warning. There was a secondary finding that the trust's Chief Executive, Dame Rachel de Souza, had mistakenly seen a planned inspection date for one of the schools during her own training as an inspector; however, this date had been changed as a result. There was further concern about Ofsted's judgements of one of the trust's schools in 2018. In 2015 a local

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, Clive Lewis, questioned the Trust's fitness to run schools. In 2018 there was concern about Sir Theodore's continuing role in the trust given that he had become Academies Minister, although he was no longer "a person of significant control". He resigned from the trust the same year. In the same year there was criticism of Dame Rachel de Souza's salary. In 2019 there was publicity about the amount the trust was deducting from schools' budgets to fund development of the curriculum. In summer 2020, de Souza took a high-profile decision to reopen her schools in mid August in response to the educational time lost due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic.

“Every hour makes a difference! Particularly in schools with disadvantaged cohorts, that time in front of a teacher is critical.” (de Souza)

Some students have had no contact with the internet for six months, others will have been diligently following online lessons, de Souza explained. Students, starting with year 11s, will self isolate in year group bubbles, in school and on the school buses. They will have longer school days and be offered Saturday school with catch-up sessions.

References

{{authority control 2012 establishments in England Organizations established in 2012