VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
Building resilience through the Excelsior Entitlement
H
azel Pulley, CEO of Excelsior Multi- Academy Trust, on redefining success for today’s children.
Tell us about your Trust.
I aExcelsior is a Multi Academy Trust of eight schools across Birmingham and Dudley. Our schools serve 2950 children, committed to academic excellence and whole-child development. Guided by our four values – Aspiring from the Start, Engaging Learning, Succeeding Together and Ensuring Equality for All – Excelsior empowers every pupil to attain, grow in resilience and be ready for life beyond school.
Why has resilience become such a critical focus for schools today?
Resilience has always been an important quality, but it has become a central concern for schools in the aftermath of the pandemic. Across the country, we have seen a rise in anxiety, social isolation and disengagement among children. Increasingly, pupils are finding the daily setbacks we face in life more challenging – whether that’s
a difficult maths problem, a disagreement with friends, or the transition to secondary school. The challenge is that children today are growing up in a world that is both more connected and more isolating. Digital skills and online access are essential, but they can also reduce opportunities for natural social interaction. Fewer children are shopping in person, taking part in community activities, or playing outdoors unsupervised. This has created an insularity in many young people’s lives, limiting the chances they have to develop the robustness that comes from conversation and navigating real-world experiences.
At Excelsior, we see resilience as more than just bouncing back from difficulties. Resilience also means equipping children with the confidence, curiosity and courage to thrive, whatever challenges life brings.
What is the Excelsior Entitlement, and how does it address these challenges? The Excelsior Entitlement is our Trust-wide framework that sets out the experiences,
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opportunities, and support every child in our schools will receive. It reframes the conversation away from purely academic outcomes – which we see as a given in any great school – and towards holistic child development.
The entitlement is structured around three promises to pupils:
1. I will achieve – academic success in reading, maths, and a broad curriculum.
2. I will have a range of opportunities – from theatre trips and residentials to sport, music and creative expression.
3. I will be ready for what’s next – developing life skills, resilience, leadership and mental wellbeing.
It is this third strand – “I will be ready for what’s next” – that really sets Excelsior apart. It recognises that children need more than grades; they need the personal resilience, social skills and life experiences to transition confidently into secondary school and beyond.
October 2025
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