Founders

STEVE & PAULA KENNING

CO-FOUNDERS AND TRUSTEES OF ASPIRATIONS ACADEMIES TRUST

Aspirations Academies Trust was launched in 2011 with the intention of building a group of schools with a shared vision and ethos: combine academic excellence with the guiding principles of self-worth, engagement and purpose.
The Trust started its journey towards growth with a moral imperative and two schools: Banbury Academy (now Wykham Park Academy) and Dashwood Banbury Academy.
Explain Steve & Paula Kenning: “As educators, we have always considered the national model of education to be significantly outdated as it does not prepare young people with the skills they need to succeed in this century. We saw creating the Trust as an opportunity to convince policy makers that our approach to education is so much more fit for purpose. By developing work and world-ready learners who
are able to hit the ground running in any workplace, focussing on developing know-how alongside knowledge, we are truly preparing young people for the modern workplace and lifestyle.”

“The moral imperative is huge for us – we have never shied away from helping a school, no matter how enormous the task ahead, because we have always simply felt compelled to serve the pupils better than their current, usually dismal, provision.”