Information for and Discussion by Governors about an opportunity to join a Multi Academy Trust Some thoughts for Governors to consider before a response is made to the letter from St Neots Learning Partnership Trust
Aims: • To give an overview of differences between academies and maintained schools • To explain the governance of Academies and Multi Academy Trusts • To look specifically at SNLP Trust • To facilitate discussion
What makes an academy different from a maintained school? • Academies are independent, state-funded schools. • Academies are free from LA control . • Likewise, they don’t receive LA support , although academies can choose to buy LA services. • Academies are funded directly (from the Education Funding Agency) so their budgets are not top-sliced to pay for LA services.
What makes an academy different from a maintained school? - continued • Academies are not required to teach the National Curriculum but are subject to the same tests and inspections as all state schools. • Academies can set pay and conditions for staff (subject to employment legislation). • Academies can set their own admission criteria (within the school admissions code) and also set their own term dates and determine the length of the school day. • Academies have greater freedom over their governance structures. This last point will determine how any decision to become an academy will impact on o ur pupils.
How many academies are there? In England: • 2,075 out of 3,381 secondary schools are academies (61%) • 2,440 of 16,766 primary schools are academies (15%) In Cambridgeshire: • All 32 secondary schools are academies (100%) • 35 of 204 primary schools are academies (17% ) Primary schools haven’t exactly rushed to convert!
2016 White Paper • White Paper in March announced that all schools must have plans to become academies by 2020 and have converted by 2022. • In May the government withdrew this, saying that schools judged good or outstanding could choose whether or not to convert to academies.
However... • Coasting schools will still have to convert (as yet no very clear definition of what coasting is). • Schools in LAs where the majority of schools have already converted will have to convert. • Schools in low performing LAs will have to convert. Cambridgeshire is a low performing. We may not have a choice.
Governance of a Standalone Academy Trust An academy is a charitable company limited by guarantee. It must publish audited annual report and accounts. There are 2 layers of governance: Members ↓ Board of Trustees
Members • Academies are based on a business model. Members can be likened to shareholders or owners (although they cannot take a profit). • They meet once or twice a year. • There are at least 3 and commonly 5 members (the DfE recommendation) or more. • Anyone, except employees of the trust, can be a member. • Members give a very limited financial guarantee (typically £10 or £20).
Members - continued • Members have ultimate responsibility for ensuring the academy trust achieves its objectives. • Members sign off the trust’s Articles of Association (its constitution). • Members appoint and remove trustees from the board. • In sponsored academies the lead sponsor has the ability to appoint most of the members. The members of any existing Academy or MAT will have already been appointed.
Board of Trustees • Sometimes known as a Board of Directors. • Effectively the Governing Body of an academy – the board fulfils the 3 core functions of a GB. • DfE recommends a board of 6 – 10 people . • Anyone can be a trustee. • Currently, at least 2 trustees must be elected parents (2016 White Paper proposes to remove this requirement).
Board of Trustees - continued • No more than a third of trustees can be employees of the trust. • Proportion of trustees connected with the LA (either working for LA currently or in last 5 years – including staff of maintained schools) must not exceed 19.9%. • Boards should be tightly focussed and no larger than they need to be to ensure they have all the necessary skills to carry out their functions effectively.
Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) • A MAT contains 2 or more schools, although a single school may start a MAT with a view to expanding - most likely by sponsoring one or more other schools. • DfE preference is now for MATs rather than single converter academies and it is unlikely that any school will obtain an academy order to become a standalone academy. • At the end of July 2015 there were 846 multi academy trusts in England. • Largest MAT - Academies Enterprise Trust - contains 67 schools. (Funding of £274,251,000 in 2015) • There is a government grant of £25,000 to set up a MAT (much of this is used in legal fees).
Governance of a Multi Academy Trust Model 1 Model 2 Members Members ↓ ↓ Board of Trustees Board of Trustees ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ LGB LGB LGB Resources C&S
Governance of a MAT – model 1 • All control of and responsibility for the MAT lies with the Trust Board and ultimately the Members. • The Board may choose to set up Local Governing Bodies (LGBs) for any or all of the schools in the MAT. • LGBs are not Governing Bodies! They are more like GB Committees. • LGBs may have powers delegated to them by the board, but they may just have a monitoring and advisory role . • The LGBs in the same MAT may have different delegated powers from each other.
Governance of a MAT – model 2 • All control of and responsibility for the MAT lies with the Trust Board and ultimately the Members. • The Board may choose to set up any number of committees with delegated powers to oversee aspects of the Trust. • Committees for Resources and Curriculum & Standards are typical but there are many other possibilities. • The powers delegated to committees can vary from almost nothing to almost everything.
Governance Structures for a very large Multi Academy Trust Members ↓ ← → Board of Trustees Resources C&S ↓ ↓ Regional Board Regional Board ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ LGB LGB LGB LGB LGB LGB LGB LGB
School Leadership in Academies and MATs • In a standalone academy the Head retains the same function as in a maintained school. • In a small MAT there will most likely be an Executive Head Teacher (EHT) who leads all the schools in the MAT. • Heads in the individual schools in a MAT will have whatever powers and responsibilities are delegated to them. Often, they have a role similar to that of a Deputy.
School Leadership in Academies and MATs - continued • In larger MATs , a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is appointed. The CEO need not be a teacher . Other Chief Officers may be appointed. • The CEO will be on the Board of Trustees but, in a large MAT, it will not be possible for all Heads of School to be on the Board. • In very large MATs there may also be an Executive Board of paid Officers.
Funding of Academies and MATs • Academies are funded directly (from the EFA) via an funding agreement which is based on the number of pupils on roll. • MATs receive the funding for each of the schools in the MAT but are not restricted to spending the funds in the same proportions as given for each school. • Budgets are not top-sliced by LAs. • But a MAT may redistribute funds .
A word about Autonomy Government has always said that giving schools more autonomy, coupled with accountability, will raise standards. Becoming an academy appears to offer schools greater freedom with the curriculum, staffing, finance, governance etc. But how much autonomy do individual schools in MATs have?
Autonomy in a MAT The answer seems to be: it depends on the MAT. In many MATs (particularly larger ones) the overarching trust does indeed enjoy greater freedom, but individual schools often have less autonomy than they did under the LA. Either way the situation can change at any time as the Members and Trustees can decide to change the arrangements (subject to RSC approval).
Moral Choose your MAT very carefully! There is no urgent need for us to join any MAT. Once a school has joined a MAT it cannot reverse the process. The RSC may change the membership of a MAT if school improvement is not sustained or not rapid enough.
Due Diligence • Before admitting an additional school, a MAT must carry out DD – especially so if sponsoring a failing school – the MAT needs to know exactly what it is taking on. • Likewise, a good or outstanding school should carry out DD on any MAT it might consider joining – what exactly are we getting into? It is essential that we do our homework and that we do it thoroughly.
St Neots Learning Partnership Trust • A hard federation was formed between Longsands Community College and St Neots Community College (formally Ernulf) in September 2010. • The federation converted to academy status in August 2011. • VI form provision is entirely on the Longsands site. Ernulf VI form was closed in July 2015. • Prospect House (a provision for pupils at risk of exclusion) is also part of SNLP Trust.
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