The drb Ignite Trust has been established through a shared belief that lives can be transformed by what goes on in schools. The vision of the Trust is to build an excellent organisation where every school is part of a strong and sustainable whole. We believe that by working as one cohesive group, every child can become a powerful learner and all staff can learn and develop together as professional leaders and educators.

To make our vision happen and to sustain effective performance across our schools we keep our strategy simple:

One Trust one organisation

The Trust and its schools see themselves as one organisation created with the sole purpose of advancing education for the benefit of pupils, families and the wider community. We recognise the power of schools working together in a single governance structure with clear accountability arrangements. We want our schools to respond to the diversity of their local context, taking decisions in accordance with the needs of the children and families they serve whilst also collaborating and sharing effectively together through a structured system. We believe this is the best way to provide effective levels of support and build resilience.

School Improvement model

The Trust’s school improvement model is based on achieving consistently high-quality learning across all schools. This involves a relentless focus on front-line practice, put simply, the quality of teachers, teaching and the curriculum. We are driven by a passion about every detail of a pupil’s experience. We see this as central to our social justice responsibilities to contribute to wider social good by developing schools that are able to focus on the substance of education and the diverse needs of pupils.

Cross Trust Collaboration

We believe the professional capacity and capability of our leaders, teachers and support staff is central to achieving effective teaching and learning. As one Trust, we work together to create the conditions for deep collaboration that improves the quality of education for everyone. We are committed developing improvement and intervention models that solve and overcome persistent problems, particularly for the most disadvantaged pupils.

Research and evidence informed practice

We are an outward facing Trust that actively seeks opportunities to work with other academy trusts to draw on best evidence. We are committed to system leadership that goes beyond collaboration and engages deliberate system design and system building to improve teaching and learning. We want all our schools to bring together reflection, action, theory and practice in the pursuit of improved outcomes.

Geographical focus and reach

We are constantly growing and developing as a bespoke primary school Trust across the West Midlands. Our schools are close enough to be able to share easily, travel between each other and collaborate with the minimum of logistical fuss. This is an important feature of our system design.