The Quest Academy
Mission:
Learning Changes Lives
Our School
Welcome to The Quest Academy. We are a good school where our students are committed and driven individuals who are keen to learn and grow. We are a small, but ever-growing school who has worked tirelessly over the years to improve the range of possibilities and opportunities open to our students to ensure they are well-prepared for life after school. Our dedicated and talented staff have been fundamental in achieving this and are committed to ensuring that we raise our aspirations so that the students and the Academy have an even bigger and brighter future.
We take our motto of ‘Learning Changes Lives’ very seriously and our commitment to this motto lies at the heart of everything we do. We deliver a broad and balanced curriculum to ensure that our students develop into well-rounded individuals and get to experience a wide variety of subjects. Here, at The Quest Academy, we do not solely place an emphasis on academic achievement, but also on personal and social development, which we provide through a varied enrichment programme and a range of learning opportunities, both at home in the UK and abroad.
We have recently joined The Collegiate Trust and we are already benefitting from the support that this partnership brings and are looking forward to embedding the exciting opportunities that being part of a larger learning community brings for both our staff and students.
Our Structure
We believe that providing a secure, happy and harmonious learning environment in which there is excellent teaching is vital for student wellbeing and success. Our staff are committed to ensuring that our students are happy and uphold the highest standards of behaviour and self-respect. A committed team of Achievement Co-ordinators, one assigned to each year group, examine the performance and attendance of students in their year groups to provide early support and intervention where needed and to celebrate students’ success. Each of these Achievement Co-ordinators is supported by a team of Form Tutors, who carefully monitor the wellbeing of each child and encourage them to take advantage of every opportunity given to them.
The success of our pastoral team lies within the emphasis we place on getting to know each child as an individual. Form tutors meet once a term with each of their tutees so that they have a chance to reflect on their progress and plan their next steps and create SMART goals to ensure each child gets the most out of their time at Quest. Form tutors, and classroom teachers, also develop close working relationships with home, to ensure that we all work together to achieve the best outcomes for our students.
At The Quest Academy, we are committed to ensuring high quality teaching and learning happens in every lesson. Our clear behaviour policy ensures that students display the correct behaviours for learning in the classroom and this, coupled with a rigorous expectation for high-quality lessons, means that students fulfil their potential in the classroom. Our teachers work tirelessly to ensure our students are exposed to high-quality resources and receive excellent support so that all students progress.
Our Students
Our students form a diverse learning community of which we are very proud. We recognise that our students are the leaders of tomorrow and as such, provide them with plenty of opportunities to develop this skill. Regardless of their prior attainment at KS2, at The Quest Academy, we work tirelessly to ensure that every child achieves or exceeds their full potential, whatever this may be.
We give our students plenty of opportunities to take an active role in their education and the Student Leadership Team has a role in helping to shape student experience at Quest. Students can get involved in School Council from when they first start in year 7 and can continue along this leadership pathway, gaining more experience and responsibility as they apply to be Prefects in year 11 with the culmination of applying to be a Student Head of House or Head Boy or Girl in the sixth form. These students work closely with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that student voice is heard.
For those students not interested in this route, our wide and varied enrichment programme provides them with several opportunities to develop outside of the classroom. We run a successful Duke of Edinburgh and CCF programme and encourage our students to get involved in the wider community through paired reading with younger years or local primary schools. This is all part of our commitment to ensure that our students leave us as happy and confident individuals who care about the world they live in and want to make a difference.
Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development is one of the main ways we aim to improve the quality of teaching and learning and we have put such emphasis and effort into ensuring that our staff receive high-quality development opportunities, that we have been awarded the CPLD Gold Award for staff development. This means we are one of 7 schools nationally to achieve this top status and we are still striving to ensure that our staff are given more opportunities to develop so that we remain on at the forefront of pedagogical developments.
Why Train With Us?
The Quest Academy has a clear commitment and drive to improving the quality of teaching and learning and has had a strong track record of ITT, working with Teach First and UCL, in a range of subjects including:
English, Maths, Science, Business, MFL, History, Geography and Religious Studies. More recently, we have begun developing strong Schools’ Direct trainees in English. All teachers new to the profession benefit from a specific CPD programme, tailored to meet the needs of new teachers and you will have a weekly mentoring session with a more experienced teacher. As part of your development, you will observe, team-teach and teach your own lessons independently.
At The Quest Academy, we place great value on new teachers and so invest in your development to help you make the greatest impact possible.
