I took over the leadership of the school 4 years ago in April 2011, and we became part of
the Cabot Learning Federation family in September 2011. It has been a huge privilege to
lead the academy from strength to strength. We are a ‘GOOD’ school, considerably
oversubscribed and our academy now enjoys the kind of reputation which I know makes
our children, staff, parents and councillors proud. Through our website, I hope you will gain
a feeling of the vibrancy of King’s Oak Academy and the support that we give to every
individual student. I want this academy to be the best that we can be for all of our children,
and through a strong programme of continuous improvement we are achieving this. We
are proud of the achievements of our students. Most stay onto Post 16. Many progress to
university, including Russell group universities.
Ethos: The ‘feel’ of King’s Oak is rooted in a fantastic ethos based on our pursuit of
excellence in every aspect of academy life. Visitors say that behaviour at King’s Oak is
impressive. We value a smart uniform because we know that students who present
themselves well also take pride in their education. I expect myself and my superb team of
staff to know all of our children personally, value their contributions and support them in
their aspiration to make strong academic and personal progress. We recruit teaching and
support staff who model this approach in their work and I expect them to go the extra mile
in supporting and stretching our students. Our unique house system means that all parents
have a member of staff they can discuss any issues with.
Teaching: Great schools allow children and students to enjoy deeply rewarding and
memorable learning experiences and our outgoing Year 11s have been describing these in
their leavers’ reports this month. Senior staff and I spend a great deal of time in lessons
ensuring that students are able to make great progress, whilst curriculum and phase
leaders carefully monitor individual progress and attainment. King’s Oak is supported by
the CLF Teaching School which makes a real contribution to the lives of our staff and
children. Strong educational research carried out within the CLF drives brilliant pedagogy
and on-the-ground practice to ultimately benefit our children. A strong team of 40
Specialist Leaders in Education, across the CLF (there are seven at King’s Oak) work
closely with teams of teachers and support staff in our relentless pursuit of excellence in all
that we do.
All through 4-19 journey: in September 2015 we begin our all-through journey for 60
reception children. This will be the exciting start of a 15 year-long journey together! At the
end of this journey we want our vibrant, young learners to emerge happy individuals,
inquisitive and resilient learners superbly prepared for 21st century life! Over that time they
will think and learn in ways where they will not be easily defeated, and they will develop a
sense of excellence in achieving high quality work. We will together instil a growth-mindset
and an inherent self-belief that making mistakes is the path to progress because this helps
us develop our capabilities. We will constantly strive for ways to stretch our children and
work together towards excellence.
Becoming great people: As teachers, parents and support staff we will strive to grow
children’s personal qualities so that they are kind, generous, forgiving, tolerant, trustworthy
and who care for their world. We offer opportunities for student leadership including within
vertical tutoring, which ensures opportunities for working with younger and older students.
Being an all through will grow these opportunities.
Becoming great learners: At the same time we aim for our children to develop into
becoming powerful learners with strong learning habits: independence, thinker, selfcontrol, team player. Through these learning habits children become inquisitive, resilient,
imaginative, collaborative, practical and enterprising. We design our all-through curriculum,
teaching and support in our school in such a way that we grow these qualities and habits.
Global/Local: Both our international and local community links are important to us. While
we are sponsoring 20 orphaned children to receive an education at Kalalu School in
Kenya, we also support a local charity each year through our amazing Christmas Concert
at the Colston Hall. We aspire to be a global school at the heart of our local community.
We have great links with a range of our partner schools. We work closely with them to
support transition. At King’s Oak we actively seek the views of parents and carers and we
are constantly looking for ways in which to improve our communication and connection.
Please contact us!
Ian Frost
Principal