Skip to content ↓

CEO Welcome

I’m delighted to welcome you to SMART.  We are a Trust that is firmly rooted in South East Cornwall, with a mission to serve the whole community from the babies in our nurseries to the students in our sixth forms and beyond by being the employer of choice for well over three hundred staff.

Our Trust serves the needs of over 3000 young people and comprises two nurseries, a pre-school, three primary schools, three secondary schools, two sixth forms and two Area Resource Bases clustered around the towns of Liskeard, Saltash and Looe. 

I am extremely proud of the Trust we have built together since our first discussions in 2015.  From the outset we were clear that our Trust would be collaborative with every member collectively improving the life chances of all the children and adults who work in partnership with us. 

As a former international director of research and pedagogy I have been fortunate to work with outstanding schools and ministries in over thirty countries from all over the world and have ensured that, although rooted locally we continue to look globally for the very best ideas and to put into practice authoritative research in support of all our learners and staff.  Research led innovations such as our ‘Leadership Ladders’ have led to measurable improvements across the Trust and initiatives such as our STAR projects have really inspired our pupils by inspiring the staff that teach and support them.

As a child from a disadvantaged background myself I feel especially passionate about having the highest expectations for success for all the children we serve. The learning model we have built together is already proving really effective, helping us understand where the gaps in children’s leaning happen so we can be better at closing them.  Based on over a year of professional reading and research by all of our Headteachers working together and then a further three years of work by subject specialists in our primary schools and secondary schools, it shows what a Trust really can achieve by encouraging collaboration and peer learning at every level.

We aim to EQUIP every child and adult, by which we mean having the highest Expectations, teaching them to Question deeply, to Understand their own goals in life, be Inspired by learning becoming a  Positive and engaged member of their community and the wider world.

I hope you enjoy seeing the remarkable achievements of our pupils contained within this site.

Warm regards

Dan Buckley

Chief Executive Officer