How King’s Oak Academy is rebuilding trust in South Gloucestershire
At King’s Oak Academy in South Gloucestershire, the leadership team is on a mission to redefine the school’s place in its community. Historically, the school has faced mistrust from local families due to longstanding negative perceptions.
Today, King’s Oak is driving change by listening deeply, fostering strong community ties, and embracing the cradle-to-career approach. This transformative work aims to make King’s Oak the “community school of choice” and inspire trust leaders nationwide.
NB: The information included in this post is based on research carried out by The University of Exeter in the spring/summer of 2024 and is not indicative of the current progress of the C2C model, school or community context.
King’s Oak Academy
Setting the scene
King’s Oak Academy has been a cornerstone of its community for over a century, with many families attending for generations. While this history provides a strong sense of local identity, it also presents challenges, including entrenched negative perceptions and low parental engagement. The academy, now an all-through school for children aged 4-16, is located in a Priority Neighbourhood facing high levels of deprivation.
Despite these challenges, the school’s unique structure—divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools—offers a rare opportunity to create seamless transitions for students and families. From Reception to Year 11, the school is reimagining education as a pathway for long-term community transformation.
Why take a cradle-to-career approach?
For headteacher, Katherine Ogden, joining the C2C Partnership was about more than collaboration; it was about addressing the root causes of educational inequities. By participating in the partnership, King’s Oak has been able to:
Improve its local reputation by addressing historical mistrust and fostering stronger relationships with families.
Fulfil its civic responsibility to uplift the community, particularly as it faces post-pandemic challenges like financial hardship.
Leverage its all-through structure to engage with families for over a decade, shaping positive outcomes for both students and their wider community.
The design of Middle School provides a continuation of some of the familial environment of Lower School—such as a central library space. There is also a playground exclusively designated for Middle School students, whilst other outdoor spaces are for both Middle and Upper School students.
Transformative actions at King’s Oak
The school’s leadership team has embraced bold strategies to rebuild trust and drive positive change:
Listening deeply
Staff engage with families through open conversations, often starting with the question: “What is putting pressure on you and those around you?” This approach uncovers local challenges and identifies opportunities to collaborate with community organisations and create a cohesive support network.
Meetings with parents and children take place in a room that’s been remodelled to look and feel like ‘your nan’s front room’. This can help to put parents and children at ease, re-framing the dynamic of conversations between families and the school.
Building a communication framework
To ensure transparent and respectful communication, the school conducted a comprehensive audit of its interactions with parents. Staff underwent training to foster a culture of mutual respect and spaces like parent meeting rooms were redesigned to feel welcoming and familiar, described as “like your nan’s front room.”
Launching a Family Hub
In partnership with the local authority, the school developed a pilot Family Hub to provide holistic support. The Hub’s offerings include mental health services, parenting classes, adult education, employment support, and even a food bank. By co-locating providers such as youth workers, mental health teams, and local councils, the Hub serves as a vital resource for families.
What enables this work?
Several factors have been instrumental in King’s Oak’s progress:
Strong relationships with external partners:
Collaboration with local authorities, police, and healthcare organisations has bolstered the school’s efforts. This includes South Gloucestershire Local Authority, the police, the Integrated Care Board, South Gloucestershire Council’s Children’s Partnership and the council’s Best Start in Life Network and Fair Access Panel.
Securing staff and trust buy-in:
Alignment with the broader trust’s priorities and clear communication of the C2C vision have galvanised staff support.
Dedicated time for reflection:
Participation in the C2C Partnership has provided invaluable opportunities to pause, reflect, and plan collaboratively. The Partnership’s regular touchpoints have provided time to think and chat through challenges and opportunities with other schools developing a C2C approach.
Patience and perseverance:
The leadership team recognises that meaningful change takes time, setting realistic milestones to track progress. This includes managing your own (and other people’s) expectations and setting short and long-term goals with clear milestones so you can recognise where progress is occurring.
The road ahead
King’s Oak Academy’s journey is ongoing, with two critical areas of focus:
Sustainability: Ensuring the Family Hub’s financial security through long-term funding partnerships.
Measuring Impact: Tracking improvements in parental engagement, first-choice applications, attendance, exclusions, and academic outcomes.
Through these efforts, the school’s leadership aims to create a lasting legacy of trust, equity, and opportunity.
If the challenges presented in this post resonate with you and your school’s context—and you’re interested in developing a C2C approach as part of your school or trust’s development—we invite you to explore how our Cradle-to-Career Partnership could support you in this work. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss what this might look like for you.
by Victoria Hirst
Director of Communities
The Reach Foundation
