The Ambition Imperium Trust - TAIT - Consultation

The Ambition Imperium Trust

The Ambition Federation of Schools and the Imperium Federation are consulting with all partners on the development of a new Multi Academy Trust - The Ambition Imperium Trust (TAIT).

Our rationale is outlined below as is the dates for our stakeholder and staff meetings.

The proposal is founded on a simple principle: children should benefit from the very best expertise available across the education system, irrespective of whether they attend a mainstream or specialist setting.

We want to be a different MAT.

A clear choice for others to align to.

Bringing together the complementary strengths of mainstream and specialist education within one Trust creates an opportunity to build a genuinely inclusive, collaborative and place-based education system. It provides a structure through which expertise can be shared, professional practice developed and support strengthened across schools, while retaining the individual identity and distinctive strengths of each school.

This is not a merger driven by organisational efficiency. It is a strategic opportunity to create something new and ambitious for children, families and communities: a Trust that is central to the delivery of exceptional education for every child and a key partner in the wider local education system.

Our proposal is strongly aligned with the direction set out by the Department for Education in Every child achieving and thriving. The White Paper sets out an ambition for a more inclusive mainstream education system alongside high-quality specialist provision, with stronger partnerships between mainstream and specialist settings. It also recognises the important role specialist settings can play beyond their own pupils, acting as catalysts for improvement across the wider education system through outreach, professional development and collaborative working.

The White Paper places collaboration at the heart of the future school system, recognising that individual schools cannot deliver the best outcomes for children in isolation. It identifies school trusts as an important vehicle for structured collaboration, shared expertise, innovation and collective responsibility for children's outcomes, while also envisaging stronger and clearer relationships between local authorities and school trusts.

The formation of TAIT is a direct response to this direction of travel.

The combination of mainstream and specialist expertise within a single Trust provides an opportunity to model precisely the type of collaboration envisaged by national policy: one education community in which specialist knowledge strengthens mainstream practice, mainstream expertise enriches specialist provision, and schools collectively take responsibility for the success and wellbeing of all children.

There is already clear evidence of support for this ambition as we have nationally recognised and highly respected colleagues willing to serve as Trustees or Members.

We have explored with our partners within the DfE the potential for Ambition and Imperium to join forces, in creating the Ambition Imperium Trust (TAIT). We have received positive feedback from the DfE on the potential of this approach.

Supporting Greenwich's SEND ambitions

Our proposal also directly supports and strengthens the Local Authority's ambitions for SEND reform and inclusion.

The development of Experts at Hand provides a significant opportunity for specialist education expertise to be deployed more effectively across mainstream settings. The national approach envisages local authorities working with education, health and other partners to provide earlier access to specialist advice, including through outreach from specialist settings. Its intention is to strengthen mainstream schools' capacity to meet SEND needs effectively and inclusively, without support being dependent upon families reaching the point of statutory assessment.

TAIT is exceptionally well placed to contribute to this ambition.

Its structure will enable specialist expertise to be shared systematically across the Trust and, where appropriate and agreed with the Local Authority, beyond its own schools. This could include:

supporting specialist outreach and advice to mainstream schools;
joint professional development and training;
sharing evidence-based approaches to inclusion and adaptive teaching;
collaborative approaches to early identification and intervention;
supporting transition between phases and settings;
creating opportunities for staff to learn from specialist practice;
developing inclusive provision within mainstream schools; and
working collaboratively with the Local Authority, health partners and other agencies to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

In this respect, TAIT can become an important delivery partner in the Local Authority's SEND strategy, rather than operating as a separate or parallel system.

Its commitment to working alongside the Local Authority will be fundamental to its purpose. TAIT will seek to complement, enhance and extend existing local provision and expertise, rather than duplicate it.

The formation of TAIT also provides an opportunity to support and strengthen the principles underpinning the Local Authority's STARSS approach. We will seek to operate as part of a wider local system, contributing our expertise, capacity and resources to shared priorities.

Our schools will remain connected to their communities and to other education settings, recognising that the strongest outcomes for children are achieved when schools, specialist services, health, social care, families and the Local Authority work together with a common purpose.

This is particularly important in the context of SEND. Children's needs do not fit neatly within organisational boundaries. A child may move between mainstream and specialist provision, require additional support at different points in their education, or benefit from specialist expertise while remaining in their local mainstream school.

By bringing mainstream and specialist provision together, TAIT will be uniquely positioned to respond to this reality. It can help create a more connected continuum of education in which the right support reaches the child, rather than the child having to navigate organisational boundaries to find the right support.

Protecting what works and creating capacity to do more

The formation of TAIT is not about losing the identity, culture or successful practice of the two existing federations. Its purpose is to bring together our strengths and create the capacity to achieve more collectively than either organisation could achieve alone.

Both federations bring significant experience, expertise and established relationships. The new Trust will build upon these foundations while creating new opportunities for collaboration between schools, leaders, teachers and specialist professionals.

The Trust will therefore be characterised by:

respect for the distinctive identity and ethos of each school;
protection and development of successful practice;
shared professional learning;
greater opportunities for collaboration;
stronger leadership and governance capacity;
increased access to specialist expertise;
greater resilience and sustainability; and
a shared commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.

The creation of TAIT provides an opportunity to establish these principles from the outset and to design the organisation around its shared educational purpose.

A stronger partner for the Local Authority

TAIT is committed to maintaining a strong, constructive and strategic relationship with the Local Authority, building on the close working relationships we have already developed through a number of challenges.

The establishment of TAIT should not be seen as a withdrawal from the local education system. Instead, it provides an opportunity to create a stronger partner within that system.

The Trust will work collaboratively with the Local Authority to support local priorities, contribute to strategic planning, share expertise and help develop sustainable solutions to the challenges facing children and young people.

We see the Local Authority as a strategic partner, not simply a commissioner or regulator. Our ambition is to work with the Local Authority to ensure that the collective expertise of schools, specialist provision and wider services is used to maximum effect for children and families across the area.

This is particularly important as the national education system moves towards greater collaboration between trusts, local government, health and other public services. TAIT can contribute to that wider partnership by bringing together expertise that currently sits across different organisational structures.

Ultimately, the rationale for bringing Ambition and Imperium together is about educational ambition.

TAIT will be founded on the belief that every child deserves an exceptional education, high expectations and the opportunity to achieve and thrive.

The proposed Trust will therefore seek to become more than a group of schools under common governance. It will be a local educational partnership with a clear moral purpose: to use the combined expertise, experience and resources of its schools to improve the life chances of children and young people.

In doing so, it will contribute directly to the national ambition for inclusive mainstream education alongside high-quality specialist provision, while supporting the Local Authority's own SEND priorities and wider vision for children.

The creation of TAIT is an opportunity to put collaboration at the centre of education in the local area – connecting mainstream and specialist expertise, strengthening partnership with the Local Authority, and creating a system in which every child can access the right support, in the right setting, at the right time.

We hope that our communities will see TAIT, as we do, as the logical evolution of both federations: an opportunity to build on what has already been achieved, bring our respective strengths together, and provide an even stronger and more ambitious educational offer for the children, families and communities we serve.

So what does it mean day to day?

In short ... nothing will change.

Our schools will look and feel the same.
Our staff will be the same.
Our Governing Boards will be the same.
Our uniforms will remain the same.
No terms and conditions will change for staff.
Pay scales ; Pensions ; every entitlement already afforded to staff will remain the same.

To reassure our communities and answer any questions they may have, we have scheduled the following :

Staff and Stakeholder Meeting
School	Date	Staff	Stakeholders
Cardwell	2.11.2026	3.30pm - 4.15pm	4.30pm - 5.15pm
Eglinton	3.11.2026	3.30pm - 4.15pm	4.30pm - 5.15pm
Henwick	4.11.2026	3.30pm - 4.15pm	4.30pm - 5.15pm
King’s Oak/Oak Lodge	5.11.2026	3.30pm - 4.15pm	4.30pm - 5.15pm
Unions	6.11.2026		1pm via Zoom
Waterside	9.11.2026	3.30pm - 4.15pm	4.30pm - 5.15pm

And our consultation letter with link to the consultation form can be found here.