Part 2: Sarah-Louise Johnston, Director of Essex Research School, spoke to Don Wry, CEO of HEARTS Academy Trust and newly appointed Evidence Lead in Education (ELE) for Essex Research School. Here she shares her thoughts on their conversation.
A conversation with Don Wry, CEO of HEARTS Academy Trust
In the first article in this series, Keeping Disadvantage at the Heart of the Strategy (published 17 March 2026), we explored how HEARTS Academy Trust has worked to keep disadvantage at the heart of its strategy. The emphasis was on clarity of purpose, collective ownership and ensuring that improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils is not treated as a separate agenda.
But strategy alone is not enough.
This second part of the conversation focuses on what makes that strategy work in practice. What actually shifts outcomes day to day?
For Don, the answer is simple: “It is everything.” He paused, then added something he has clearly reflected on over time: “If I ever wrote a book on leadership and school improvement, it would only be one page. It would just say: stand on the gates.”
What Don means by this is straightforward. If leaders want to improve outcomes, particularly in disadvantaged communities, they need to be visible. They need to be present. They need to build relationships.
“Just be on the gates, every single day” he said. “If you do that, the rest follows.”
This came from experience, not theory. When Don became Head of School in a school that had struggled for many years, the challenges were deep rooted: Culture was fragile; relationships with families were strained. There was anxiety at the school gates, from both pupils and parents.
So, he started there.
Every morning, he stood on the gates. In all weathers. Welcoming pupils. Speaking to families. Paying attention.
Over time, things began to shift: Attendance improved; behaviour incidents reduced and complaints dropped. But more importantly, relationships began to rebuild. Trust between school and community started to grow again. “I could name every child,” he reflected. “All 360 of them at one point. And not just their names. Things about them. The karate or football tournament on the weekend, their older siblings now in secondary, and checking on them, etc. And I did not realise, at the time, just how powerful this was. I was simply doing what I thought every school leader does and should do.”
This idea of belonging is not just anecdotal. The Education Endowment Foundation highlights that creating a sense of community and belonging is a crucial starting point for improving attendance and engagement, particularly for more vulnerable pupils. And this is also currently now reinforced in the new DfE White Paper: Every Child Achieving & Thriving.
It sounds simple. But it speaks to something deeper. Relationships are the work.
As the conversation developed, Don returned again and again to one idea.
“Relationships are everything”
EEF Build a culture of community and belonging for pupils
“If you do not get relationships right, you will fail at everything,” he said. “Your staff will not follow you. The children in your lessons will not listen. Parents will not engage. You cannot even do safeguarding properly if you do not know your families.”
This aligns closely with the evidence base. The EEF emphasises that effective teaching depends on positive relationships and interactions between teachers and pupils which underpin engagement and learning.
To bring this to life, he described an activity he often uses with teachers and school leaders. With very little prompt or background context, he asks them to write down the names of every child in their class, 1 – 30
Then he asks a few simple questions.
1. Who did you write first? Who did you write last? 2. Who did you forget? 3. Can you name something about your pupils that has nothing to do with academic performance in your classroom? What do you actually know about them? 4. Where are your disadvantaged pupils on the list?
The answers are often revealing. The pupils who demand the most attention tend to come first. Quieter pupils are sometimes the ones who are missed.
Then comes the key shift.
What do you know about these pupils beyond what they do in your classroom? And then the exercise continues, getting staff to reflect on their relationships with their students.
Belonging is not only built through relationships. It is shaped through what pupils see and experience every day.
Across HEARTS, there has been a deliberate focus on representation. This includes curriculum design, staffing and wider experiences. The trust has been explicit about “who we see in our curriculum” so that pupils recognise themselves in what they learn.
There is also a strong emphasis on shared values. The HEARTS values help create a common sense of purpose across schools; they are the ‘golden thread’ that run through everything – from curriculum design and resources, to policies and educational visits and experiences. Alongside this, greater consistency has been developed through more centralised approaches. This helps ensure pupils experience predictable expectations, regardless of which school they attend.
But belonging also connects directly to expectations. Don spoke openly about the need to challenge when expectations are too low. “This is often a culture issue.” He shared an example of introducing performances where every class would take part, to build a stronger sense of belonging and engagement, and to open doors for parents. This links back to building positive school culture. Some staff initially doubted whether certain pupils could “do it” and confidently perform on stage
“They cannot do that,” was the response, from some staff.
But the expectation remained. Every child would take part. And they did!
EEF Implementation Guidance
Culture starts with staff
A consistent thread throughout the conversation was the importance of staff culture.
“Staff culture is so vitally important,” Don said. “If the staff culture is right, often the pupil culture follows.”
Now as CEO, he sees his role as setting that tone. This includes modelling language and rejecting deficit narratives.
This is closely aligned with the EEF Implementation Guidance, which highlights that successful change depends on developing a shared culture and embedding consistent practices across an organisation. The way leaders speak, the expectations they reinforce, and the behaviours they model all shape how strategies are enacted in practice.
“The system hears your tone,” he said. “And that tone becomes the culture.”
Knowing if it is working
Alongside culture and belonging, there is a practical question. How do you know if your approach is making a difference?
At HEARTS, this is approached through a range of measures. Attendance, behaviour and outcomes are tracked carefully. But they are only part of the picture. This reflects the EEF Guidance on Pupil Premium, which emphasises the importance of monitoring and evaluating impact, not just selecting strategies.
There is also a strong focus on pupil voice, staff voice and parent voice. Surveys are used regularly, followed by a clear response to build transparency and model impact. The approach is simple: “You asked, we did”.
There are also wider indicators. Inclusion data, SEND referrals, engagement and internal tracking all contribute to understanding what is working.
Importantly, the focus is not just on outcomes, but on implementation.
1. Are pupils able to access the curriculum?
2. Are expectations consistent?
3. Are teachers making informed adjustments rather than lowering challenge?
This again reflects a key principle from the EEF’s implementation Guidance which advises schools to evaluate how well approaches are being implemented, not just whether outcomes improve.
The trust also draws on external research to refine its work, drawing upon guidance on pupil premium and high-quality teaching from the EEF.
Bringing it together
What becomes clear through this conversation is that belonging is not an add on. It sits at the centre of school improvement. It shapes how pupils experience school. It influences how staff work together. It affects how families engage and it creates the conditions in which improvement becomes possible.
In many ways, this reflects a consistent message from the EEF as well as the new DfE White Paper. Improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils requires a combination of high-quality teaching, strong relationships and a carefully implemented strategy
In the end, Don’s advice comes back to something simple: “Be visible. Be on the gates. Get the relationships right. Everything else follows.”
This article is the second in a two-part series exploring leadership and disadvantage with Don Wry, CEO for HEARTS and ELE.
1. As a CEO, how do you ensure disadvantage remains a core priority rather than one of many competing agendas?
2. How do you ensure that strategies aimed at supporting disadvantaged pupils do not unintentionally lower expectations?
3. What role do culture, belonging and pupil identity play in improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils?
4. How does a trust evaluate whether the strategies designed to support disadvantaged learners are actually making a difference?
Don will also be exploring these themes in more depth in an upcoming webinar 1 June, 4pm – 5pm.The session will build on the ideas discussed in this series and share practical insights from the work taking place across HEARTS Academy Trust.
