Partnerships that put relationships and safeguarding first.

Watch how Fierté Multi-Academy Trust (nine primary schools across Staffordshire) partnered with Wave9 to bring transparency, reliability, and safeguarding confidence to its IT services.

Like lots of things, it comes down to relationships. Responsive to what we want and happy to adjust their approach.

The Challenge

Fierté Multi-Academy Trust is a values-driven organisation of nine schools in Staffordshire. As the Trust grew, its IT provision struggled to keep pace. Costs were unclear, reliability was patchy, and the service experience varied across schools. Leaders also wanted confidence that safeguarding tools and reporting were robust, and that the services in place could adapt as the Trust developed.

Key challenges included:

Lack of transparent costing.
Ongoing unreliability of IT provision.
Inconsistency of IT service experience across the Trust.
Rising expectations around safeguarding tools and reporting.
The need for scalable, future-proofed solutions.
A desire for a true partner who would work alongside the Trust, not just supply technology.

The Solution

Wave9 worked with Fierté to design a service that addressed both technical requirements and the Trust’s values of family and belonging.

WaveConnect managed secure broadband

Wave9 deployed WaveConnect broadband across all schools, with Sophos filtering. This provided DfE-compliant filtering with per-user reporting, backed by centralised monitoring and reporting for the Trust’s IT team. The service was designed to minimise barriers between teachers and resources, improve productivity, and scale with future growth. Just as important, it was backed by robust service level agreements with service credits, giving schools confidence in performance. The Trust also had flexibility to self-manage with unlimited Wave9 helpdesk support, ensuring staff could choose how much control they wanted. Delivery was handled by a dedicated project management and technical implementation team, ensuring the rollout was smooth and low risk.

WaveTalk telephony

To strengthen communication across schools, Wave9 introduced WaveTalk telephony. This provided predictable ongoing costs, inclusive calls, remote working via mobile and PC clients (presenting the school’s number), inclusive support for changes, and low-cost call recording to support safeguarding. The service was simple to manage, consistent across schools, and delivered on time and within budget.

The Trust has worked with Wave9 for some time now and we’ve always felt that partnership is really strong because it’s built on trust… always forward facing and willing to listen to an expert in their field to say, ‘Have you thought of this? Would you like to consider piloting something new?

Maria Hamblin

CEO

Fierté Multi-Academy Trust

Key Results

Reliable connectivity: fast, resilient broadband across all nine schools.
Safeguarding confidence: DfE-compliant filtering with per-user reporting, plus optional call recording to support safeguarding.
Transparency: clearer, predictable costing for the Trust.
Consistency: a common IT service experience across all schools.
Future-proofing: scalable services, including mid-term upgrade options, designed to grow with the Trust.
Improved communication: WaveTalk telephony delivered a unified, easy-to-manage solution across schools.
Responsive support: Wave9’s partnership approach meant issues were resolved quickly and ownership was clear.
Delivered on time and within budget: both broadband and telephony projects completed as planned.

At a Glance

9 schools connected

WaveConnect broadband

WaveProtect filtering (Sophos appliances, DfE-compliant reporting)

WaveTalk telephony across the Trust

Delivered on time and within budget

When you’re thinking as a Trust about IT and connectivity, the partnerships you foster are absolutely vital.

Our reaction to them is really positive one, because we weren’t being told what we needed. We were presented with different options and they showed an understanding of how schools work.

Closing Note

For Fierté, the impact went beyond technology. Transparent costs, consistent services, safeguarding assurance, and responsive support all mattered; but above all, it was the relationship and trust in Wave9 that made the difference.

Download

Download the case study in PDF format using the following link:

Wave9 Fierté Multi-Academy Trust Study.pdf (501kb)

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