The Thinking Schools Academy Trust is a
multi-academy trust
Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or school trust is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local autho ...
serving a family of schools mainly in the
Medway
Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...
authority.
The Trust bases its philosophy on the work of
Bob Burden
Bob Burden is an American comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''Flaming Carrot Comics'' and the ''Mystery Men''.
Early life
Burden was born the eldest of three siblings in Buffalo, New York. His father worked at Westin ...
and the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
Postgraduate School of Education.
The schools teaching and learning is based on
cognitive development
Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of the developed adult bra ...
and sees its duty as teaching children how to think rather than memorising content.
Thinking tools
Children are taught to discuss their learning, this is done by using Thinking Tools and Strategies. These include:
*Thinking Maps
*Thinking Hats
*Thinkers’ Keys
*
Habits of Mind
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
*
CoRT Thinking Tools
** Q-matrix
**
SMART targeting
**
Growth mindsets
*
Philosophy for Children
Philosophy for Children, sometimes abbreviated to P4C, is a movement that aims to teach reasoning and argumentative skills to children. There are also related methods sometimes called "''Philosophy for Young People''" or "''Philosophy for Kids''". ...
[
]
Accreditation
It is an objective of the trust that all its schools will receive Thinking School accreditation.
It is a whole school process that starts with the planning:
*Thinking Skills
*Reflectional Questioning
*Visual Mapping
*Collaborative Networking
*Developing Dispositions
*Structuring the Environment
Associated Schools
These schools are all in the Thinking Schools Academy Trust:
Secondary
* Goodwin Academy, Deal
*Holcombe Grammar School
Holcombe Grammar School (formerly Chatham Grammar School for Boys) is a grammar school with academy status in Chatham, Kent, England. It is a selective school. From the 2017-18 academic year, the school planned to become co-educational and rema ...
, Chatham
*Plymouth High School for Girls
Plymouth High School for Girls (PHSG) is a girls' grammar school founded in 1874. It is located on St Lawrence Road in Plymouth, Devon, England, close to Mutley Plain and Plymouth city centre.
History
In February 1874 the Devon and Cornwall Gi ...
* The Portsmouth Academy
*The Rochester Grammar School
Rochester Grammar School (known as Rochester Grammar School for Girls until 2006) often abbreviated to RGS is a grammar school for the education of girls between the ages of 11 and 18. It has academy status. It is now known as just "Rochester Gr ...
* The Victory Academy, Chatham
Primary
*All Faiths Children's Academy, Strood
*Cedar Children's Academy
*The Gordon Children's Academy, Strood
*Isambard Brunel Junior School
*Meon Infant School
*Meon Junior School
*Moorings Way Infant School
*New Horizons Children's Academy
*Newbridge Junior School
Other
*New Horizons Teaching School Alliance
*Thinking Fitness
Academies under construction
*Maritime Academy, Strood: After many delays, the school is projected to open in 2022. The site off Parsonage Lane and Berwick Way, Strood was purchased in 2020, after Medway Council unwrote the costs of overage Overage may refer to:
* Cellphone overage charges
* Land-sale overage
Overage or land-sale overage (also called “claw back”) is a term in land sales used to describe a sum of money in addition to the original sale price which a seller of lan ...
.[
The Grade I listed Manor Farm Barn will be extended to provide a wedding/conference facility. Conversion and extension of a former cattle barn will provide overnight accommodation.]
Management issues
In April 2016 the Chief Executive Officer of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, Rochester Grammar School
Rochester Grammar School (known as Rochester Grammar School for Girls until 2006) often abbreviated to RGS is a grammar school for the education of girls between the ages of 11 and 18. It has academy status. It is now known as just "Rochester Gr ...
's former headteacher, Denise Shepherd was suspended due to allegations of snooping on staff emails, bullying staff and doctoring parts of an external inspection report. Shepherd has since resigned.
References
External links
Thinking Schools Trust official website
{{authority control
Multi-academy trusts