Cost of living pressures are being felt up and down the country, and perhaps nowhere more so than in London. As a growing family of specialist autistic schools, Liberty Trust are dedicated to advancing equality of opportunity for their students, and this commitment extends into the workplace, and the values that underpin Liberty as a trust and employer, as educators and colleagues.
Workplace culture
Dr Nicola Crossley, CEO at Liberty Academy Trust
Dr Nicola Crossley, CEO at Liberty Academy Trust says: “We have worked hard since we formed in 2022 to create a working culture in which everyone feels supported, motivated and empowered.
“As part of our offer, we took the decision earlier this year to pay all Liberty Academy Trust staff the Real Living Wage – meaning everyone who works at Vanguard School, in Lambeth, will be paid a minimum of £13.15 an hour, regardless of their experience, grade or length of service.
“Every colleague at Vanguard School, and indeed across our trust, is a valued member of our team, and critical to the high-quality education, experiences and opportunities we are able to offer our students. We are committed to acknowledging their contribution through the Real Living Wage and it is fantastic to know our staff are receiving a living wage, set to reflect their real-life costs.
Helping schools to thrive
“Our people are instrumental to the success we can have in schools. As we believe that paying the Real Living Wage will help recruitment and retention of teaching and non-teaching staff, so too will it have an impact in helping our schools to thrive.
“Of course, all organisations will have their own local context and budgetary issues but for us, the process has been straightforward to implement and overall, this has been a really positive change.”
More information
-
- More about the Vanguard School
- For more on support from Lambeth Council on accreditation, email livingwage@lambeth.gov.uk.
