Nottingham Free School

Overview of the Trust

Nova Education Trust is a dynamic and growing Multi Academy Trust based in the East Midlands. Our Trust Group is committed to providing high quality education to all our students, regardless of their backgrounds. Our portfolio of schools covers both secondary and primary phases, working in a range of contexts.

Our values are central to the positive ethos that we develop throughout our group of schools. This approach is focused on securing success for all our learners and providing them with the very best life opportunities.

We believe nothing is more important than making a difference to children.

Overview of the School

Our core purpose is to nurture and enable the learning of every child.

Our vision is for every learner within our vibrant and diverse school community to experience transformative and personal growth.

Our ambitions for our students are that they will have:​

• The depth and strength of character needed to succeed and thrive in an ever-changing world.​
• The academic credentials that will afford them choice in their future endeavours. ​
• A meaningful awareness and genuine appreciation of the global community to which they belong.

Our ambitions for our staff are that they will:

• Have the personal development opportunities to learn, grow and fulfil their potential. ​
• Feel valued, supported and heard.​
• Enjoy working in a school where their emotional and physical well-being is prioritised.

Curriculum

High quality learning experiences and equality of opportunity were the founding principles of Nottingham Free School, and they remain at the core of our ambitious and inclusive curriculum. Our curriculum intent is aligned with our school vision for every learner within our vibrant and diverse school community to experience transformative academic and personal growth.

To achieve transformative academic growth, we will deliver a curriculum that:

• Is broad and balanced with a focus on achieving deep learning in core skills and knowledge.
• Is effectively sequenced to build on and further deepen existing learning throughout the curriculum journey.
• Provides opportunities for all our learners to develop the elevated levels of literacy and numeracy required for success in the wider curriculum and in adult life.
• Is challenging and aspirational for all our learners, regardless of any barriers to learning they may face.
• To achieve transformative personal growth, we will deliver a curriculum that:
• Enables learners to secure a deep understanding of how to nurture and protect their own wellbeing alongside developing a respect for themselves and others.
• Expands our learners’ perspectives and promotes their sense of social and moral responsibility.
• Ensures that all our learners are safe and understand how to stay safe.
• Is enriched to reflect and celebrate the diverse nature of our school community.

Our intent is for our curriculum to empower all learners at Nottingham Free School with the academic credentials that will afford them choice over their future endeavours and the strength of character to succeed and thrive.

Learning Support Department

We believe that all students deserve the very best choices and chances in life. Students who require additional support, guidance and encouragement in order to successfully access our curriculum, work with our learning support department. The team is led by our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo). The learning support team also liaises directly with parents and carers, to ensure that they tailor support to each of the students they work with.

Below are some of the ways in which our Learning Support team helps students:

• One-to-one interventions for reading, spelling and numeracy
• Bespoke support for particular needs, such as dyslexia or handwriting support
• TA in-class support
• Small group work during lesson time with a TA in the Learning Hub
• Mentoring for individuals or small groups, covering both academic      and social areas of need
• Support groups and activities at break times and lunch times
• Assessing and securing access arrangements for examinations

Pastoral Care and Guidance

At the heart of our school is our pastoral structure, which is based upon year groups. Each cohort is divided into four tutor sets and led by a Head of Year. We provide students with the care they need, whilst allowing them to nurture friendships and develop a strong sense of community. Our tutors play an active role in ensuring that our students are happy, well supported and fully engaged in school life, and they serve as the first point of contact for our students’ families. There are regular updates for parents and carers regarding our students’ attitudes and attainment through termly reports, subject-based parents’ evenings and tutor-parent consultation days. We also keep parents and carers up to date via our online ‘My Child At School’ platform.

We do not accept or tolerate any form of bullying or anti-social behaviour.

Achievement

Our ambitious curriculum, enriching extra-curricular activities and caring pastoral system combine to give every student the greatest chance of success. We encourage all of our students to develop their own goals and actively work towards them. We have very high academic aspirations for our students, and while we do not value one pathway over another, we do explicitly aim to increase the number of students accessing higher education from our community.

Continuous Professional Development

A comprehensive continuous professional development programme for teaching staff is delivered through weekly sessions. These support the development of teachers as reflective practitioners who focus on outstanding teaching and learning.

Student Voice

Student voice plays an important part in the daily operation of Nottingham Free School. Our student council consists of an Executive Committee of Year 13 students and representatives from each year group. Candidates invited for interview will be lucky enough to meet some of these amazing young people.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Nova Education Trust and all of its schools and staff are committed to safeguarding and the promotion of the welfare of children. All Nottingham Free School staff are expected to share this commitment. All new staff within the Trust will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Every Nova school has a designated senior member of the leadership team who is responsible for referring and monitoring any suspected cases of abuse. All members of staff will receive training in line with our child protection policy.