Principal’s Welcome

Our values and ethos at SUA

Principal’s Welcome

Here at Team SUA we make a difference. We are proud to be part of Staffordshire University Academies Trust (SUAT). Our family of twenty-one schools has a collective mission to ‘Achieve Better Outcomes’ for everyone.

SUA is a ‘Good’ school, as recognised in our last full Ofsted inspection (Nov 2023). In fact, we were delighted to have achieved a ‘Good’ judgement in all areas of the inspection. Ofsted reported, ‘Leaders have driven significant improvements, including in the curriculum, behaviour and attendance.’ (Nov 2023)

We are relentless in our mission to achieve the best outcomes for our students. Standards are high. Our students follow a simple RESPECT code which instils the right level of focus for the very best learning to occur. Ofsted reported: ‘The school has high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and pupils live up to these. They are respectful and well mannered.’ (Nov 2023)

Personal Development coupled with our strong pastoral care is recognised as an important strength for our students. This recognition should fill families with the confidence to consider SUA as the right choice of secondary school. Our CHARACTER curriculum and assembly programme address core key values with our students enabling opportunities to discuss and challenge a variety of topics and develop their life skills. Students are spoken to about the importance of ‘belonging’ to ensure they feel respected and supported by their peers and the adults working within SUA. This is an important way for us to ensure student wellbeing is considered, encouraging their engagement at the academy, supporting their happiness, confidence and academic success.

We are really proud of Team SUA and we are all excited to be a part of it. Evidence of our continued success is the confidence of our local and wider communities. We now have more children than ever before joining Team SUA and we are delighted to share that all of our key stage 3 year groups are full to capacity. These are exciting times to join and be part of our Team!

Everything is underpinned by our three academy values ‘Aspire, Believe, Achieve!’ We are innovative in our approaches to teaching and learning, sourcing ideas from international practices. We believe it is all working too, as Ofsted stated, ‘The curriculum has undergone significant positive change and careful consideration has been given to what pupils will learn and when…pupils benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum.’ We expect our students to be engaged with the curriculum, in a creative and innovative way, but not forgetting about the core values of education, ensuring they are equipped with skills necessary in today’s modern world. You can see this in action within our classrooms; the hard work of our students will pay off.

Successful learning at SUA is supported by having strong partnerships. We work to achieve these through excellent communication with our parents, governors and our local community.

Once again, last academic year we continued our strong partnerships with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and many local businesses to enrich the experiences of our students. One highlight included 131 students from Year 7, 8 and 12 going on a five day visit to Paris and in the spring term of 2026, a group of students will embark upon their visit to Washington and New York.

A further aim is to constantly explore other opportunities that provide additional enrichment for our students. Other events last year included assemblies being delivered by an organisation called ‘Show Racism the Red Card’; we had an amazing visit from Shaun Wallace of ‘The Chase’ and an interactive visit from a girl band called ‘XO’. All of these events contributed to our mission of always challenging prejudices and celebrating diversity.

We are delighted to invite you to visit our academy to share with you all of the fabulous opportunities we have on offer. Come and take a look at SUA to see why our offer should be considered by your family.

Mrs Hillier

September 2025