One of England鈥檚 biggest academy trusts has changed the name it has held for the last 16 years. Academies Enterprise Trust will now be called Lift Schools. The MAT said it is 鈥渁 different organisation today鈥� to the one formed in 2008. It spent 拢45,000 creating the new brand, but would not provide costs for the full name change, which includes things like replacing signs outside its academies. CEO Becks Boomer-Clark said: 鈥淔or 16 years, our previous name served us well. Becks Boomer Clark 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e a different organisation today: we鈥檝e grown and so have our ambitions, and our name no longer represented us or what we aim to achieve.鈥� Lift 鈥� which has 57 schools 鈥� aims for 90 per cent of pupils to achieve expected standards in phonics, SATS, reading ability and GCSEs by 2028. It鈥檚 not the first large trust to have a major rebrand. Reach4 was renamed Astrea seven years ago. The MAT was a spin-off of the country鈥檚 largest primary-only MAT Reach2 鈥� but the move cut off any remaining ties to its founders. Delta Academies Trust underwent a similar rebrand shortly after chief executive Paul Tarn took over the reins in 2016. This came after the chain, previously called School Partnership Trust Academies, received criticism for low standards. AET also faced criticism more than a decade ago for growing too quickly and was placed on the government’s paused list for a few years. The Park View Education Trust, which ran schools involved in the 鈥淭rojan Horse鈥� investigation in Birmingham, to the in 2015.
Brian Williams 3 September 2024 What a disgraceful waste of tax payers money when funding should be spent on children’s education. Sadly the Academy organisations throughout the country have lost sight of the classroom. That funding could be better spent on resources such as teachers.
Nick Gunning 4 September 2024 So, the businesses running what we used to own are now playing around with names, just as dodgy businesses do. The usual, lots of gimmicks, little delivery as you’d expect from another phoney privatisation.