Focus was Established in 1993 by Clive & Linda Davies as Focus Inspection Services and at the time was predominantly an Inspection provider. In 2001, their daughter Claire joined the company and they expanded to provide CPD in the form of inset and conferences and began selling their first publications written by Clive.
The company moved from their home office to an office in their local village and they became a publisher, publishing and retailing their ever-growing range of resources for schools.
As their consultancy team and business grew, so did the central team and in 2007, the business moved to new premises in a converted Church on the outskirts of Saddleworth.
In 2008 Clive Davies received an OBE awarded for his services to Education and the business had built a strong reputation for quality, professionalism and value for money.
In 2012, the Focus-Trust was set up; a multi academy trust with Focus Education as the sponsor. This currently has 13 Primary Academies all based in the North of England. Clive, Linda and Claire are all actively involved with the Focus-Trust. Clive sits on the Board and is also a governor of one of the Trust’s Academies. Clive describes the Trust as his legacy to primary education.
Fast forward to 2023 and the education landscape has changed, post pandemic. Focus has streamlined and adapted to work with schools’ ever decreasing budgets and the challenges they face daily. We now offer a full range of courses via live webinar and have a vast library of on demand recorded courses. We still provide high quality bespoke CPD training but with the choice of face to face or via zoom.
Our range of publications has continued to increase but these are now available as e-books and downloads. Our Learning Challenge Curriculum, which was first created over 10 years ago, has been adopted in thousands of schools throughout England and has had excellent feedback.
As we enter our 30th year, our aim for the future is simple… continue working hard to support schools nationally, increase the numbers of schools we work with whilst maintaining and improving the standard of service we give to schools and academies. Provide a personal, professional and worthwhile service.
The visions and values of Focus Education define our company. Our vision is outlined below by the areas we consider key.
Quality Education Resources
Our Education resources are designed to save time for busy school leaders and teachers. They are all written by our expert education consultants. All our resources are designed to be simple and straightforward to use.
Practical Solutions
We work hard to keep things simple. We don’t believe in jargon or being complex for the sake of it – it’s why we take the difficult topics and present them in a user-friendly manner.
Integrity
We work to do the right thing – keeping children at the centre of all advice and decision making.
Credible & High-Quality Support
All our Education consultants come from an education background as teachers, headteachers or Ofsted inspectors and use this background to speak from experience.
Diversity
We value diversity in all schools we work with and ensure that all our advice and practice reflects the diverse nature of the communities we serve.
The Best People
We employ the very best – our expert education consultants are the best in their field and their backgrounds as headteachers and Ofsted inspectors gives them a unique perspective.
A True Partnership with Schools
We work with you. Your agenda is our agenda. Our consultants want to understand your school and your needs to help make the biggest difference for your pupils.
- The paper used in our books is FSC approved – this means all our paper is from responsible sources;
- We recycle our ink cartridges;
- Recycle paper, cardboard, plastic and bottles;
- Encourage cycling and walking to work and car shares when possible;
- All the Focus reports are produced and reported electronically, this saves heaps of paper during the year;
- We use reusable glasses for our drinks.
If you have any suggestions please get in touch, we are always looking for new ways in which we can help the environment within the office.
