The Circle Trust was borne out of a desire that all children and young people have an excellent well-rounded education and flourish in first-rate schools where the best teaching, the best facilities and the most up-to-date resources are made available to them.
Our History
The Circle Trust, established in 2018, was created to serve the local area and be geographically committed to Wokingham and the surrounding counties (within half an hour travel of the Trust’s shared location “The Oval Offices” in Wokingham).
The Circle Trust was borne out of a desire that all children and young people have an excellent well-rounded education and flourish in first-rate schools where the best teaching, the best facilities and the most up-to-date resources are made available to them.
In the early days we spent hours debating our name! On the one hand a name seems a rather frivolous thing, but on the other we do think names matter. We chose “The Circle Trust” as it symbolically reflects our approach, our way of working, indeed the ethos of how we operate. It is a name that is deliberately neutral and without association of a specific school.
In our Trust, we know it is important to treat every school as individual and unique and feel strongly that a name shouldn’t be connected to a single institution. One of our core values is that of being inclusive and so we wanted our name to encapsulate all sorts of schools, whatever their type or phase. Our logo circles give a pictorial sense of inclusivity which can naturally expand, with the overlapping circles depicting our desire to collaborate.
The Circle Trust was created by a secondary and a primary school through the crucible and strong foundations of two schools, across the full educational phase with top-rate Governing Bodies! We began the work with the view that if we were not utterly convinced that it would improve the educational experience and provision for children and young people for whom we were responsible then we would not continue. The material advantages of creating and being part of a Trust were clear, thus we began with not the what but critically the how and why.
Governance and Leadership took a very considerable period to diligently curate the fundamental beliefs and values of the Trust before seeking approval and incorporation. This time was not wasted. Far from it. It meant in the very early years of operation we worked with aplomb and could build quickly from this strong foundation.
The Trust currently comprises eight schools: two Secondary (St Crispin’s and The Emmbrook), 1 primary (Nine Mile Ride), 2 Junior (Westende and Emmbrook Junior) and 3 Infants (Emmbrook Infants, Wescott and Shinfield).
Schools nine and ten are currently in or about to embark on due diligence with the hopes of joining the Trust in the next year.
We work in a very transparent way, where schools have the opportunity to influence and their views are taken into account.
As a trust we are rooted in this approach and our ambition
is clear; to improve the educational outcomes for children and young people.
Would you like to find out more?
If you would like to know more about The Circle Trust, please contact us via contact@thecircletrust.co.uk