Leading Derbyshire tech company 'Flying High' after partnering with one of UK’s top performing multi-academy trusts

L.E.A.D. IT Services in Pride Park has now signed up to partner with the highly rated Flying High Trust which runs 35 schools across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City.

The trust is ranked second in the country among multi academy trusts of the same size for pupils’ combined progress across English and Maths.

After establishing the partnership, L.E.A.D. IT and Flying High are now working together to strategically invest in IT across the next three years to ensure digital equity across all its schools, with L.E.A.D. IT Services on board as the main service delivery partner.

L.E.A.D. IT Services has audited all 35 primary phase schools in the Flying High family to establish their IT requirements moving forward.

Now each school has begun working with Flying High Trust and L.E.A.D. IT Services on creating a comprehensive IT investment and development plan.

The plans involve fitting schools with high-speed broadband to ensure smooth teaching, learning and business operations. All Flying High schools will move to a purely cloud-based, serverless IT system to reduce the costs associated with replacing servers, as well as ensuring resilience for continuity of service, improved accessibility, plus back up and disaster recovery. They will also be equipped with devices such as up-to-date iPads suitable for education and business.

Trust leaders are using expertise from L.E.A.D. IT Services to schedule works for each school so they can all benefit from the same exceptional, reliable IT.

Flying High Trust Operations Manager Nick Layfield said: “This is exactly what our schools needed – high quality information to ensure each school is clear as to how to invest in IT to deliver for our staff, children and communities.

“Digital equity is ensuring all children and staff have access to high quality IT that supports learning. L.E.A.D. IT has provided the catalyst for development and we are proud to work in partnership with them for the benefit of all schools in Flying High.”

Flying High Trust leaders are also keen to ensure children at their schools are fully equipped for the 21st century world through being given access to IT and having the skills to use it.

Graham Livesey, IT Service and Development Manager for Flying High, said: “Having a digital strategy means our staff can develop their IT skills to deliver for our children – equipping them for life in the fast paced world of IT development is essential to provide them with the knowledge and confidence in IT to achieve their full potential.”

One of the first schools in the Flying High Trust family to benefit from the new IT overhaul now has 1:1 devices, which have been shown to be particularly beneficial for a range of children including those with English as an Additional Language and those with special educational needs. Forward thinking headteachers have embraced the development, focused on how this will benefit their school communities.

Innovative tech provided through L.E.A.D. IT Services to schools includes ‘Smartboards’ with clever design features such as QR codes for accessing homework.

Richard Jones, headteacher at Killisick Junior School, one of Flying High’s schools in Arnold, Nottingham, said: “At Killisick Junior School, we believe technology is not an add-on or a substitute—it’s a vital tool that supports and enhances learning across the curriculum. With over 60 iPads and 30 Chromebooks, IT is embedded in our daily teaching to deepen understanding, unlock creativity, and prepare our pupils for a digital future. We use technology to support inclusion, personalise learning, and bring the curriculum to life—ensuring it strengthens, rather than replaces, great teaching.”

Lee Jepson, director and founder of L.E.A.D. IT Services, said: “We are very proud to be working with Flying High Partnership in helping them implement a comprehensive IT strategy across all their schools.

“We aim to take the stress of IT away from teachers by liaising with third party contractors and doing all of the behind the scenes work so that they can use tech effectively where it matters: teaching children.

“Our work includes everything from assessing risk; updating equipment; ensuring security is up to date; keeping abreast of when equipment needs to be replaced, and advising on the best value for money solutions for schools.

“We are very proud of our work with schools and the relationships our IT team have been able to build with teachers and students. We look forward to our partnership with Flying High to continue flourishing in the future.”