Inspiration Trust is a multi-academy trust of academies and free schools in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

, England. The trust was founded by Theodore Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton 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, principally regulated by the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

. All the academies on the roster are in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

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

Primary schools

* Charles Darwin Primary,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

- opened September 2016 * Cobholm Primary Academy,

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

* Great Yarmouth Primary Academy * Norwich Primary Academy * Stradbroke Primary Academy, Gorleston

Secondary schools

* Cromer Academy * East Point Academy,

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

* 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, Norwich

Controversies

In 2014 an investigation took place into whether three of the Inspiration Trust's schools were given unauthorised advance notice of

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

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, 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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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