Our Approach to Growth

Primitas is a truly collaborative, educational venture, driven by a mission to improve the outcomes and enhance the life-chances of every child and young person within our Trust and in the wider education system.
Consequently, we see growth as an essential way of increasing our capacity, expanding our expertise and maximising our educational impact.

However, although numerical growth is essential, we do not see it as an ‘end in itself’ and so we would never adopt an aggressive growth strategy which seeks to acquire new schools for the sake of it.

Instead, we are committed to growing carefully, responsibly, and sustainably by keeping an unwavering focus on doing the right things, in the right way, for the right reasons. With this in mind, we typically seek to grow in the following three ways:

1. Organic, Relational Growth.
   This is growth which results from the positive working relationships that arise naturally from our school improvement work and professional networking.

2. Growth Resulting from Commissioned Support
   This is growth which results from DfE-commissioned support activities, such as our work as a RISE Support Organisation or any commissioned work with a standalone school who approaches us for help.
   (NB With regards to 1. and 2 it is important to note that pressure is never applied to schools to join us. We simply engage in discussions as they arise during the course of positive working relationships)

• Opening Free Schools.
  This form of growth involves opening new Free Schools to meet the demand for high-quality school places within the communities served by our Trust. Our preferred approach is to pursue the Free School Presumption route, working in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE) and LAs

We are ambitious about the educational impact that we can make by securing continued growth in the ways outlined above but we are equally committed to ensuring that growth never outpaces capacity and causes detriment to our existing schools. For this reason, before welcoming new schools into the Trust, our due diligence activities carefully assess the level of support and attention they will require and ensure that we have the people, expertise and infrastructure necessary to maintain high-quality provision.

We are mindful that our first and foremost responsibility is to the schools already within Primitas and so we must never pursue growth if the support of our current schools will become compromised as a result.

Another key principle which underpins our approach to growth is geographical coherence and so we try to ensure that all of our schools are within a 25 min drive from each other. This is because strong collaboration, the provision of support and the sharing of expertise and resources can be carried out most efficiently and effectively when schools are within a reasonable travel distance of one another.

However, we would consider schools beyond these geographical parameters if there is a compelling reason to do so; ie if they have distinctive strengths and specialist expertise, that would clearly add value to Primitas and our educational mission.

In summary, we believe that growth is essential –but this must also be responsible and sustainable i.e growth which strengthens and enhances Primitas, not overstretches and weakens us or compromises our integrity.

Associate Membership

Joining a Multi-Academy Trust is a significant decision for any school. While the opportunity to belong to a family of like-minded schools can bring considerable benefits, the importance of making a long-term, legally binding commitment join a MAT should not be underestimated. In recognition of this, Primitas offers Associate Membership to maintained schools, single academies, and smaller trusts that wish to explore what life is like as part of our family of schools before making such a commitment.

At Primitas, we have an unequivocally educational mission and so we use collaborative school improvement work as the vehicle for providing meaningful opportunities for schools to work closely in partnership with our Trust. Through a clearly defined programme of school improvement work, both parties develop a deeper understanding of each other's values, culture, and ways of working, enabling an informed assessment of long-term compatibility and synergy.

Schools interested in exploring Associate Membership can get in touch by clicking here.