EFAT Essa Foundation Academies Trust CEO: Dame Kathy August The Essa Foundation Academies Trust is a charitable company established to set up and run academies and free schools in Bolton and further afield and provide recreational and leisure facilities in the interest of social welfare. The Trust is funded and regulated by the Department of Education. Academies and free schools are independent state funded schools. The Trust's sponsor is the Essa Foundation Trust, which is an educational charity set up by the philanthropic Patel family, owners of a leading pharmacy chain in the North West of England, to encourage research, development and the introduction of best practice across schools and curriculums. The Essa Foundation Academies Trust has been a multi-academy trust since 2014: It was originally a single academy trust - the Essa Academy Trust from 2008-2014. There are currently two academies in the Trust: Essa Academy, an 11-16 school which opened in January 2009 led by Principal Martin Knowles Essa Primary Academy, a free school for primary aged children which opened in September 2014 led by Principal Joanna Atherton. We want to have stewardship of a trust which values what pupils learn, how they are taught it, and how their teachers are supported and developed to provide the strong instruction and robust curriculum that enable pupils to be successful. Without doubt, the children are at the heart of everything we do. We will make the most of our unique family of schools to give every child the best possible opportunity to flourish and develop into a decent, disciplined, well-educated, and employable young person. We also want to make a real and lasting difference to the communities within which we work. That’s why our mission is "All Will Succeed." Our values are Effort, Standards, Spirit and Achievement. Through carrying out and embodying our core values every day, and displaying the Essa characteristics and behaviours in all they do.