Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Finance

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How does the finance work?

A key principle agreed by the Trustees is that each individual school will retain their reserves and be allocated their full funding to plan their budgets, which will then be approved by the Trustees. Each school is required to make the agreed contribution to the Trust Central Charge which will pay for access to central services such as finance, HR and payroll (The school currently pays the LA for these services).
Each school must run a balanced budget. This is to ensure that funding is not diverted away from the pupils and the school it is intended for.
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How much is held back by the LA? Will we get the LA money back?

Nothing – Currently the LA are taking 12% of the school’s budget to pay for their services.
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How much will it cost to run an academy?

The incremental costs of running the Trust have been estimated by the Trustees / Finance team. In Year 1 schools will be required to make a small contribution called the Trust Central Charge, which represents a very small percentage of their current budget (Approx 4%).
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How will effective financial management be guaranteed, bearing in mind well-publicised financial crises at other academies and academy trusts in England?

A key principle of Trust financial governance is that each school has a responsibility to set a balanced budget. Each school is funded on a per pupil formula and it is only right that each school receives that funding. The Trustees will not allow schools to run into deficit and if necessary will intervene in any school that is not being financially well-run. (See scheme of delegation)
The Trust has appointed a Chief Finance Officer with the appropriate skills and expertise to manage the Trust’s finances. In addition, regular finance and risk committee meetings evaluate running budgets and risk to ensure informed decisions are then made.
The Trust publishes its independently audited accounts and financial statements. Including a breakdown of income and expenditure per school.
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Where will the extra funding to set up the MAT come from?

Each LA maintained school will receive £25,000 from the DfE to cover the costs incurred by the conversion of the school to joining the MAT, (e.g legal, land transfers etc).
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Where will the funding come from?

Academies receive the same amount of per-pupil funding as they would receive from the Local Authority as a maintained school. They also receive additional funding in the form of the Education Services Grant to cover the responsibilities being part of a MAT, in place of Local Authority, and to cover the additional costs of academy status. The whole of the school budget would come directly to the school, allowing each school to control the whole of its spending.

Learning

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How much has been done regarding areas such as curriculum development?

Each school will remain autonomous and follow its own curriculum but will benefit from MAT-wide initiatives. Year group teachers and subject specialists within the Trust will be able to share best practice and help develop the chosen curriculum areas across schools within the MAT.

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Are you going to do anything to get the children working together across schools?

The schools are already very excited about the prospect of being able to bring children from the different schools together for a wide variety of Trust activities, including sports, performing arts, curriculum projects, residential trips etc. They are keen to develop these ideas and will be seeking input from the pupils themselves as to what they would want to see from the Trust. Each school has unique strengths and resources that can be shared across the Trust for the benefit of all pupils.

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Will the curriculum be narrowed?

All schools within the Trust have a broad and balanced curriculum and will continue to do so, with all subjects in the national currciulum being taught. As academies, Trust schools have more freedom to offer a wider curriculum, ensuring the needs of all children are met.

Strategy

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How will being in a MAT protect against school closures? What would cause a local school to close?

If numbers in a school drop, the LA may decide that the school is no longer functionally viable and make the decision to close it. Once a school is part of a MAT only the Secretary of State for Education can make that decision.

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Are there benefits that we get now from the LA that we won’t get as a MAT?

Historically, the support from the Local Authority was good but following extensive government funding cuts, this capacity has diminished considerably. They now charge for a number of the services that were once provided to the schools for free, so joining a MAT will not result in a reduction of service provision.

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If we are staying as we are and only changing governance, then why bother?

Informal partnerships are susceptible to changes in leadership or changes in focus at a particular school. Becoming part of a MAT formalises these arrangements and ensures that they are sustainable longer term. Changes in the external environment are a key influence in schools joining MATs, as Local Governing Bodies want to be in control of the future of their schools rather than having changes imposed on them, such as direction to join a MAT with different ethos and values.
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What is going to be different in the MAT regarding opportunities for staff recruitment and retention?

The Trust will offer the benefits listed below to staff, which aims to aid staff recruitment and retention.
  • Enhanced professional development
  • Collabartive planning with other teachers, reducing workload
  • Resource sharing
  • Access to advice & subject specialists
  • Share phase/year expertise
  • Potential for greater career progression within the Trust
  • Support with workload management
  • Greater job security
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What are the measures of success? How will you know if you have succeeded?

In the longer term the Trust will expect partnership working to positively impact on each school’s performance including pupil attainment and progress. In the short term the overall performance of the Trust will be judged in terms of the success of Trust activities that provide support and progression for both pupils and staff.

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What happens when one school is different in nature from the other schools or starts to perform less well?

If the Trust is required to provide support to an under-performing school, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will lead the coordination of resources to deliver the improvement plan, working with the other Headteachers. They would ensure that the existing schools would not be adversely affected by deployment of resources. It is worth noting that there is wide evidence that supporting an under-performing school is a highly effective form of professional development that enhances the skills and expertise of teachers or members of staff. This benefits all schools as they apply newly learned insight and good practice. There is also DfE funding soley available to MATs to help support school improvement work in underperforming schools. Differences between schools will be valued and add to the richness of the Trust.

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What is a Trust?

The Trust is a Company Limited By Guarantee with charitable exemption. This means the Trust must comply with both company and charity law and comply with its charitable Objects as set out in the Articles of Association (in simple terms – the rules of the Trust).
The Trust does not have shareholders and cannot pay dividends. Any surpluses must be retained to be spent in ways consistent with the charitable objects. The Trustees and Trust Members are unpaid.
It has a Board of Trustees who are registered as directors at Companies House and Members who are listed in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Trustees are accountable in four ways. First, to the Secretary of State who has the power to intervene in the Trust and/or terminate the Funding Agreement that allows the Trust to run schools. Second, to Ofsted which has the same rights of inspection. Third, the Trust is accountable under company law with responsibilities such as publishing audited accounts. Fourth, the Trustees are accountable under charity law.
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Which schools are already in the Family of Learning Trust?

We have 2 schools,

Beech Hill School and Dean Field Community Primary School

School Management

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How will the MAT provide training that the LA currently provide?

The impact of reduced school funding has meant that the LA has been unable to provide the training the schools ideally require. Forming the MAT gives the schools the opportunity to develop training schemes to meet their needs.

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What difference will there be day-to-day at each school?

Very little. Parents and pupils will still have the same staff in the same school doing the same jobs. Differences come at a more senior level-governance, how the schools are financially run and staff training. There will however be a larger infrastructure of support. Any changes will only occur if a school needs them, for example sharing leadership expertise if a school requires it. This has enormous benefits for continuity of teaching for the children, for example if a Senior staff member was absent or ill in a crisis there would be other Senior Leaders from our Trust to support the school.

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Will my school have a new name?

No – Your school will keep the same name.

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Will my school still have their own events such as Sports day and Nativity Plays at Christmas?

Absolutely! They are important parts of each school retaining their own identity.

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Will staff be TUPE’d over?

Yes, staff will go through a transfer of employment, under TUPE regulations. The TUPE consultation will take place after approval at Regional Director level (Secretary of State for Education).

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Will this mean changes to our PTA and the ways in which we fundraise?

The MAT will not mean any changes to the PTA or the way you fund raise. Each school will retain its existing PTA/Friends group that will continue to raise money for your local school.

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Will you have an administrative person for the MAT?

The Trust has a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is also the Headteacher of another school in the MAT. In addition we have appointed a Chief Finance Officer,  finance team and a HR director.

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Will you have one uniform across the schools?

No! All schools will keep their existing uniforms. We want each school to retain their individual character and identity.