Why join Horsham Learning Alliance?
Because school leadership shouldn’t feel like you’re doing it alone.
Most school and college leaders didn’t come into the role to spend their evenings on HR issues, policies or spreadsheets.
They wanted to:
- Lead learning
- Support staff
- Make a difference to young people
But the reality can feel different:
- Tighter budgets
- Harder recruitment
- More accountability
- Bigger decisions - often taken in isolation
Trusts create the conditions for schools and colleges to work together, sharing expertise and building leadership capacity so that improvement is sustained over time.
Even strong schools can feel like they’re carrying everything on their own.
Horsham Learning Alliance began with a simple question: What if local educational settings didn’t have to face those challenges alone?
Built by local leaders, for local schools and colleges
HLA grew from conversations between Horsham school leaders who already knew and trusted one another - people working with the same families, the same communities and facing many of the same challenges.
We believed there was a better way to:
- Share expertise
- Reduce duplication
- Support each other practically
- Make decisions locally, not at a distance
So we created a Trust rooted in place - one that strengthens schools without changing who they are.
Of Horsham. For Horsham. And to benefit our local young people.
It’s working with colleagues we already know and trust, not joining something unfamiliar or distant.
Ian Straw - Deputy CEO, Horsham Learning Alliance
Partnership, not take over
One of the biggest concerns schools have when considering joining a trust is losing control.
Every HLA partner keeps their:
- Name
- Ethos
- Leadership
- Local governing body
- Connection to its community
And at the same time will get to realise all the benefits of being part of a wider family of schools.
We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all approaches or top-down directives. Instead, we work collegiately - listening first, shaping things together and moving at a pace that feels right for each partner.
Founded in September 2025, joining now, as we build the foundations of HLA, brings the rare opportunity for new partners to contribute to how it is shaped.
Joining will feel like gaining trusted colleagues, not reporting to head office.
Capacity, not control
Leaders aren’t looking for someone to tell them how to run their school. They’re looking for:
- Time
- Support
- Shared expertise
- Fewer things to carry alone
The difference is having someone to share decisions with.
Claire Champ - Assistant Head, The Forest School
That’s where Horsham Learning Alliance can make the biggest difference.
By sharing services, knowledge and responsibility, we create breathing space - so leaders can focus on education rather than firefighting. Working together as a trust creates the capacity schools and colleges increasingly need in a complex education system without losing the character and leadership of individual settings.
When staff feel supported and workload is more sustainable, students get the benefit because we are creating better conditions for great teaching.
Growing carefully, together
We’re still early in our journey only having just launched in September 2025.
Rather than growing quickly, we’re building deliberately - testing ideas, learning what works and shaping Horsham Learning Alliance alongside the schools who join us, responding to the shared needs of the Horsham educational community.
You’re not joining something already fixed - you’re helping to shape something that reflects the needs of Horsham schools.
If you’re looking for a Trust that feels local, collaborative and grounded in your community - where schools support each other and share the load - we’d love to talk.
