It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to TDMS, part of Four Stones Gateway Trust. At TDMS we are ambitious and welcoming; our aim is to deliver excellence in all areas beginning with high quality teaching and exceptional pastoral care. We both support and challenge every child from Year 6 to Year 13 to leave our school with strong academic qualifications, a varied collection of extra-curricular experiences and clear values that will steer them through to long term success. We are proud to have been finalists in the Worcestershire ‘School of the Year’ award for the last two academic years.

“Pupils are proud of their school; they know they are cared for.

They feel safe and happy in school. Pupils are specifically taught ‘The TDMS Way’.

They talk about this positively and understand the high expectations of the school.”

Ofsted ‘Good’, 2023

‘The TDMS Way’ encapsulates our shared values of Ambition, Commitment, Creativity, and Integrity and asks that everyone in our school community – both staff and students – show us their best. This means being ambitious in their thinking, resilient in the classroom, hardworking in all tasks and gritty in the face of everyday challenge.

We are proud to be part of Four Stones Gateway Trust and as such have high expectations of both our students and staff and respect the traditional values of hard work, good manners, and self-discipline. A key factor in ensuring your child is successful at TDMS is the level of overall co-operation and communication between the parental body and the school. As part of our celebration culture, we will endeavour to communicate successes whenever we can. Underpinning all that we do are incredibly high standards and we will, via an array of channels, directly communicate any issues with you too.

“Pupils from Year 6 upwards show positive attitudes to learning.

They apply themselves well in lessons. They work calmly and studiously.”

Ofsted ‘Good’, 2023

Learning is at the heart of everything we do but our educational offer is not confined simply to the classroom. We pride ourselves on giving every student the opportunity to show us their best through a diverse range of enriching opportunities, activities and experiences which prepares and equips them to secure places at the very best universities, apprenticeships and employment. We are confident that all our students will achieve everything that they set their minds to.

If you are looking for an environment that can offer your child the stability of an education from Year 6 to Year 13 which promotes personal development, hard work and success then TDMS is the place for you! The best way to find out more about our school is to come and see for yourself. Our doors are always open, and we would be delighted to share our experience and time with you.

Anna Allen, Headteacher

At TDMS we live and breathe our values – they are embedded into everything we do and are a part of who we are as members of the community at TDMS. The TDMS community is made up of students, staff, parents/carers and the Governors. We all aim to embody the values of our school as we believe this will make us all successful but most importantly will ensure that our community is a safe and happy place where positive relationships allow you to thrive.

Throughout the year we teach students how to show the school values in all aspects of life, which we believe will help them to become well-rounded individuals who are kind and who have high expectations of themselves. We believe that every student is capable of achieving the very best and that they can be kind to everybody in the community. Our mantra at TDMS is that ‘we have high expectations of you because we care about you’; this is why we have a warm/strict approach in our school where we aim to build positive relationships, but we also ask students to take responsibility for their actions. We do these things because we care about students and their futures.

“…we have high expectations

of you because we care about you.”

We are dedicated to improving standards and driven to achieve excellence by living and breathing our core values of:

AMBITION

We are ambitious for ourselves and our students. We set high expectations and standards and strive to achieve excellence in all that we do. We are unashamedly ambitious for the students we serve. We want to provide access to opportunities within the classroom and beyond. We will continue to strive to be the best we can be

COMMITMENT

We are committed to being the best we can be. We consistently deliver on expectations, go the extra mile to get the job done and give 100% in all that we do, approaching everything with a “can do attitude”. We constantly look to improve ourselves and our service, cultivating our knowledge, skill, and attitudes to achieve excellence

CREATIVITY

We always seek innovative solutions for our students so that they achieve everything they are capable of. We believe that creativity is only truly possible when it is based on a bedrock of knowledge. We cultivate creativity by providing a broad base of academic knowledge that students need to be properly creative. The knowledge we deliver is powerful in that it changes students’ perceptions, values and understanding. It encourages students to ask new questions and explore alternative explanations.

INTEGRITY

We always do the right thing. We treat others with respect and honesty, take care of our environment and utilise knowledge and understanding wisely. We nurture our students so that they become young adults of principle and character who support each other in their quest for excellence.

HOW WE SHOW THESE VALUES TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY?

How do we show ambition? We have a growth mindset

How do we show commitment? We show up, both physically and mentally

How do we show creativity? We think outside the box

How do we show integrity? We do the right thing

A key part of our Trust Dividend is that we are kind and driven, because these two qualities are not incompatible. We believe that happy, well-motivated and well-trained staff make the most effective teachers, leaders and support staff and, in turn, ensure excellence and opportunity for all. As our jobs are demanding, we strive to remove barriers and find ways to make life easier. From high-quality professional development to ensuring that there is an opportunity for a break and a cup of tea, caring for and investing in our staff is a high priority to ensure that they enjoy their time at work and thrive professionally.

We also recognise that working more flexibly can help our staff achieve a better work-life balance, as work is just one aspect of our lives and balancing our home lives can be difficult at times. To do this, we value our family-friendly policies and constantly review and evaluate our thinking to best accommodate our staff where it is possible to do so.

At The Four Stones Gateway, our staff have extensive access to an excellent package of benefits, including access to Teachers’ Pensions or Local Government Pension Scheme, the Employee Assistance Programme, staff long service recognition, Cycle to Work Scheme, Lifestyle Discount schemes and a free annual flu jab.

We have several established practices that make our Trust an excellent place to work, including:

• A strong commitment to professional development and growth: we offer access to recognised, accredited training and leadership courses such as the National Professional Qualifications
• Opportunities for promotion: we focus on growing and developing our staff through succession planning and by providing opportunities for promotion from within our schools
• Designated buddies: we ensure that staff always have someone to work alongside in order to soundboard, discuss ideas and solutions, have their thinking challenged and to challenge the thinking of others
• Ringfenced mock-marking time: each December, we have a Trust-wide TED which gives teaching teams dedicated time to the marking and moderation of Year 11 mock examinations
• A work-life balance: we do not expect our staff to answer out of hours emails and we discourage the use of personal mobile phones to retrieve and respond to emails
• Admin support: we lighten the load of our middle leaders by providing admin support throughout the year so that they can focus their time and energy on strategy and the biggest levers to develop practice
• Ringfenced time: our school teaching leaders have a reduced teaching load to ensure that they are highly visible and have maximum impact in supporting staff and achieving excellence for our students
• A focus on wellbeing: in each of our schools, a member of the senior leadership team is in charge of wellbeing and workload to evaluate our practices and provide essential support to all staff
• Refreshments: on training days, parents’ evenings and other evening events, food is always provided