Our story began with Greensward Academy, a secondary school in Essex. In 2008, the Greensward Charitable Trust, which supported the school, set up Academies Enterprise Trust.
Over the next 15 years, Academies Enterprise Trust grew to include 57 primary, secondary and special schools, spread across England.
In 2024, our trust changed its name to Lift Schools. In our new incarnation, we remain committed to providing every single one of our pupils with the best education possible.
Our commitment to excellence is expansive - academic excellence is just one dimension. We are just as serious about the wider curriculum and the overall experience of being at school. We believe schools should be joyful and fun, places where children want to be, where they are eager to learn, and where they can truly excel.
We value the distinctive colour and character of each community we serve and see ourselves as stewards of our schools. The Lift maxims are at the heart of how we do things in every school, each school bringing them to life in their own way.
citizens of tomorrow
fun and fundamentals
high expectations and high performance
results without excuses
equality and diversity
people first
We have set ourselves an ambitious set of goals, which we believe will transform the lives of every student in our schools:
Our values reflect what we believe is most important in our schools – and what we want our pupils and team members to achieve.
We're not afraid to make the right call – and we challenge wrongs, even when it's difficult to do so.
We create eureka moments for our pupils, helping them to discover new possibilities and opportunities.
We don’t settle for anything less than excellent – and we won’t allow our pupils to, either.
We choose to treat each other with kindness, warmth and care. We believe that everybody matters equally.
