The AspirePlus Educational Trust is a newly formed multi-academy trust. The vision, mission and values of the AspirePlus Educational Trust have evolved directly from the ethos for improvement that has been driven by the current leaders of our two founder schools: Longdendale High School and Rayner Stephens High School. Central to this, are our ASPIRE core values and our belief that all our students must be given every opportunity to succeed in life, by seeking to develop their academic and vocational abilities, their creative talents and their wider interests.

Our trust is also an extension of the ambitious vision for educational improvement started by the A+ Trust in 2013. The leaders of this collaborative trust all recognised that the different structures, freedoms and flexibilities of a multi-academy trust have been an essential and positive step for the A+ Trust to take. Our approaches are based on the positive impact that has been at the heart of the best successes of the A+ Trust.

The AspirePlus Educational Trust is fully committed to Tameside and our local community and has been established to prioritise sustained educational improvement in this borough, although the Trust is also open to further expansion beyond. Initially, this will be for the benefit of our two founder schools, and in the future, we will seek to offer supportive solutions for other schools who may wish to join us.

Longdendale High School

Longdendale High School is a thriving, oversubscribed academy converter with a reputation locally, and beyond, for being a highly inclusive and successful 11-16 school. We are proud to be celebrating the most successful period in the school’s history. Strong levels of achievement - in comparison to both local and national figures - are a clear indication of the high standards of teaching and learning that have contributed to the school’s success. Ofsted graded Longdendale as a ‘good’ school in 2015 with the effectiveness of leadership and management judged as ‘outstanding’. Longdendale’s work in inclusion has led to the school receiving the Inclusion Quality Mark and being designated as a national Centre of Excellence.

Rayner Stephens High School

Rayner Stephens High School is a new 11-16 academy which opened in September 2017 as a sponsored academy in the AspirePlus Educational Trust. As a sponsored academy, Rayner Stephens High School has adopted the systems and approaches of the sponsor school, Longdendale. The new school leaders are committed to offering a fully inclusive curriculum which ensures the best possible progress for all students, whatever their needs or abilities.