Staff stories

Emily Cartwright, English Teacher, Dixons Broadgreen Academy

At the heart of every academy lies a dedicated team of teachers, the unsung heroes who tirelessly strive to shape the minds and futures of our next generation. At Dixons Academies Trust, we recognise the invaluable role teachers play in society and are proud to have the most inspirational and committed educators on board.

Our teachers are committed to our mission to challenge educational and social disadvantage in the North and are rooted in our core values of hard work, goodness, and kindness. Every member of our team embodies these principles in their daily work. Central to our ethos is the belief that teachers should be liberated from administrative burdens to focus wholeheartedly on imparting valuable knowledge and instilling our important values in our students. This enables our teachers to feel and maintain their passion for their profession, and to create engaging and inspiring learning opportunities for our students.

In a recent interview, Emily Cartwright, English teacher, Dixons Broadgreen Academy, shared her firsthand experience of the transformative impact of being part of our trust. "The best thing about my job is my students, they make me laugh and they are so kind. They make me love what I do."

We have high expectations for our students, and they are supported to achieve these. Centralised behaviour systems ensure that behaviour is primarily the responsibility of leadership which enables teachers like Emily to build positive relationships with the students she teaches, and focus on encouraging critical thinking, and modelling positive behaviours and social skills.

Emily also spoke about her lack of direction, and feeling like she might leave the teaching profession completely before Dixons took over the school she teaches at.

Before Dixons took over, I felt very chaotic and disorganised, and I didn’t have the direction that I knew I needed. I was close to leaving teaching completely, but then we became a Dixons academy.

 

When we transitioned into being a Dixons academy, it was an adjustment, but it was definitely for the best. I am now calm every day, I very rarely deal with behavioural issues because the children now live by the Dixons values.

We implement our highly effective strategies including our aligned autonomy model and our value-based pillars that underpin our mission, this enables our schools to operate as highly professional environments. At Dixons, we don’t believe in off-the-shelf strategies or practices, for us it is about being values driven, having a clear vision, operating strict routines and doing the simple things well everyday which allows us to build strong relationships at all levels.

We asked Emily what the most noticeable difference is, since Dixons Broadgreen Academy became part of our trust and she said, “The biggest difference since Dixons Broadgreen Academy became part of Dixons Academies Trust is the culture and the understanding that the students have of our values and our culture, and the children have a professionalism which you don’t really see in other schools.”

The transition to Dixons breathed new life into Emily's career, providing her with the direction and support she craved. Dixons Academies Trust's approach extends beyond academic excellence to instil values of professionalism and respect in students. By nurturing a culture of mutual respect and responsibility, we cultivate an environment where both teachers and students thrive.

Our teams pride themselves on being highly professional, but also energetic and positive team players who have the best interests of our students at heart. We work hard to create a culture where our staff and students are helpful, and our teams support each other.

Since interviewing Emily, we have launched our innovative flexible working campaign which aims to give all teachers at Dixons a nine-day fortnight, starting in the new academic year. We want to retain and attract passionate, committed and like-minded teaching professionals, and we acknowledge that change is needed within the education sector as it is essential that we have a well skilled and well looked after workforce. We understand that attracting and retaining talented educators is paramount to our success. Through initiatives like flexible working, we aim to create an environment where teachers feel valued, supported, and empowered to excel.

In line with our deep commitment to self-determination, we want to give our teachers more agency over their roles by offering a flexible working plan that will give them time back. Find out more about how we’re making flexible working a reality for our teachers here.

As we continue to champion change and progress within the education sector, we invite passionate and dedicated individuals to join us on our mission. If you’d like to find out more about what it’s like to be a part of Team Dixons, take a look at our interview with Emily, and view our current opportunities here.