Consultation on a proposal to establish a Cooperative Multi‐Academy Trust between Turves Green Boys’ School, Turves Green Girls’ School and Cofton Primary School.
The Governing Bodies of Cofton Primary School, Turves Green Boys’ School and Turves Green Girls’ School have decided that it is the right time to consider the creation of a cooperative multi-academy trust (MAT). This briefing aims to assist stakeholders (parents, staff, pupils and the wider community) in responding to the consultation and offering a starting point for further queries.
Proposed Vision Statement for our proposed cooperative MAT
Our collective vision is to embrace a universal culture of excellence where students enjoy memorable learning experiences through a seamless 4-19 curriculum resulting in their rapid progress.
We aim to create and foster a culture of high aspiration and resilience in all our students, regardless of their social, economic or cultural background. The Endeavour Multi Academy Trust will lead and support in striving for excellence in teaching and learning and endeavour to shape a strong engagement in learning that instils a lifelong learning ethos.
We work to put our co-operative multi-academy trust at the heart of the community, working together to ensure that every student is successful, their talents nurtured and challenges overcome.
We will assist in building a thriving community where challenge and accountability enable us to succeed on behalf of the students and families of whom the Trust serve; The Endeavour Multi-Academy Trust works to give parents, pupils, staff and the wider community a strong voice, putting the needs of our students at the heart of all we do.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is an academy?
Academies are independent, state‐funded schools, which receive their funding directly from centralgovernment, rather than through a local authority. They control their own admissions process andhave more freedom than other schools to innovate. They do not have to follow the NationalCurriculum, but do have to ensure that their curriculum is broad and balanced and that it includesthe core subjects of mathematics and English. They are subject to inspection by Ofsted.
2. How many are there?
Currently (May 2016 figures), 2,075 out of 3,381 secondary schools are academies, while 2,440 of16,766 primary schools have academy status. The number grew dramatically under the coalitiongovernment, from 203 in May 2010, and has continued under the present Conservative government. Current trends of academy suggest most schools will be academies my 2020.
3. Aren't academies all about improving failing schools?
They were once. The policy, which originated under Labour in 2000, aimed to improve strugglingschools, primarily in deprived areas. This continues under the sponsored‐academy model, wherefailing schools are taken over and run by an academy trust. But it has changed radically to embraceall types of schools ‐ successful or otherwise. All schools ‐ primary as well as secondary ‐ have beeninvited to convert to academy status, with priority being given to the best performers.
4. What is the future of "academisation"?
In the last Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced a forced academisation plan, under whichall schools in England would either have to convert to academies by 2020 or be committed toconverting by 2022. This would have, in effect, ended the link between local authorities and schoolsthat began in 1902. However, the plans aroused strong criticism from teaching unions and others,including some Conservative MPs and councillors, and have now been abandoned. Ministers say the "goal"of academising all schools remains but forced academisation or sponsored‐academy trusts will nowfocus on schools that are "clearly failing". This definition could include any school which had a ‘dip’ in results or an OFSTED judgement beneath ‘Good’. The Education and Adoption Act states:
- 4 (A1) The Secretary of State must make an Academy order in respect of a maintained school in England that is eligible for intervention by virtue of section 61 or 62 EIA 2006 (schools requiring significantimprovement or schools requiring special measures)
5. What is a “Multi‐academy Trust”?
Multi‐academy trusts (MATs) are groups of academies that have chosen to come together to form acharitable company, with a single group of “members” (who have an overview of the governancearrangements) and a single board of “trustees”.
6. What are the benefits of this proposed change?
By far the most significant benefit to the schools involved is their increased ability to workcollaboratively; by sharing best practice and working together in areas such as school improvement,pupil attainment and progress, assessment and monitoring and enrichment opportunities, the schoolspassionately believe we can improve the educational outcomes of all of the children in the schools. We believe that all three of the schools initially involved can do better and together we are more likely to continue to improve.
There are further financial and administrative benefits to be gained through focused outsourcing ofsupplies and centralised services, identifying and securing school improvement grants and increasedflexibility and succession planning for school staff. The schools will also ensure that they remain incontrol of their futures, rather than be at risk of influence from a large corporate Academyorganisation.
7. What are the benefits to the community?
By supporting each other in the promotion of values we will develop a future generation thatdemonstrates these values in their everyday lives. An important benefit of the proposed MAT is tokeep the schools as key hubs of their local communities, retaining their individual identities butworking in partnership to help solidify those communities.
8. Will the schools be financially better or worse off?
The legal costs for conversion to an Academy within a MAT will be met via a £25,000 grant per school fromcentral government. Each school will receive its own yearly funding on the same per‐pupil basis asthe LA does for maintained schools, direct from the Education Funding Agency and the MAT itselfwill receive funds from a “top slice” from each of the schools funding; the level of that slice isanticipated as being a little lower than the amount currently withheld by the Local Authority, so eachschool should be slightly better off, but we stress that the reasons for forming a MAT are primarilyeducational and not financial; this decision is not financially motivated.
9. What are the disadvantages of conversion?
Greater freedoms do bring additional responsibilities and accountabilities including statutory duties as an academy trustcompany, but the Schools are confident that we can manage these.
A number of criticisms of the move toward academies and away from local authorities as a national government policy can be made and they are quite convincing. However this consultation does not seek to defend or promote government policy, merely to ensure that our governors are able to make a decision about how best to protect and promote our schools and our ethos within the current environment. Moreover, by working as a co-operative and with the support of the Schools Cooperative Society, we would seek to mitigate what the Government’s critics see as the worst excesses of academies policies. In particular:
1) Academy Chains do not reflect local context and needs. We believe that only a geographically local alliance of schools sharing an ethos will meet the needs of our learners and community.
2) Academies can ignore national and local agreements on pay and conditions. As a Cooperative MAT, within the family of cooperative schools and supported by the Schools Cooperative Society, respect for national pay and conditions is compulsory. As is recognition of Trade Unions and professional associations and support for faculty time to enable these professionals to represent their members. Our cooperative ethos would place the welfare of staff at the heart of what we do. A cooperative MAT may be the best vehicle to safeguard the pay and conditions of staff.
3) Academy chains top-slice money from schools to spend on executive salaries. Our model, where our Trustees are mostly current school governors, would be unlikely to allow funds needed by our schools to be wasted.
4) Evidence that Academies achieve better outcomes is mixed at best. Being part of a cooperative MAT is not a silver bullet. It may provide a framework to better support children and young people by sharing expertise and combining resources.
5) The process of forming a MAT can lead to school leaders ‘taking their eye off the ball’ and neglecting school improvement. This is not an inevitable outcome and must be guarded against in the event that governors decide to proceed with MAT formation. Working co-operatively will help us do this.
Both the NUT website and the Anti-Academies website (linked at the bottom of this document, explain their opposition to academisation in greater detail).
10. Why have these schools chosen each other for this MAT?
The schools already have several close working relationships established and moving to the stage offorming a MAT is a logical extension to that collaboration. In initial discussions on the MATsuggestion, it quickly became evident that the schools share the same vision, ethos and passion toimprove the education and hence life choices for all children in our community.
11. Will other schools be joining the MAT in the future?
This is possible. The current schools are keen to simplify the process by keeping the number offounding schools at 3, but it is envisaged that more schools will join in the future once the MAT isestablished. The decision on which schools could join the MAT and when will be the responsibility ofthe MAT members and trustees, who will ensure that the incoming school shares the same ethos,vision and values whilst recognising that for a school to join there must be a benefit to the schools,and importantly the children at those schools, in the current MAT.
12. Who would be the members and trustees for this MAT?
It is planned that there will be 5 members and 11 trustees, the vast majority of which will be peoplethat are already members of the current Governing Bodies of the threeschools, in roughly equalrepresentation. Each school will be regarded as one entity irrespective of how many pupils that school has. As a cooperative MAT changes to the members must be approved by the wider stakeholders (parents, staff and wider community) via an annual general meeting. One of the members will be appointed or elected by directly by the stakeholders, which makes the proposed cooperative MAT articles of association significantly different from the normal MAT model.
13. What happens to the leadership of each school if this proposal is approved by governors?
There will be no changes to the Headteachers responsibilities regarding the operation of eachschool. Similarly, the Local Governing Bodies of each school will also remain unchanged with apredominantly similar level of responsibility delegated by the MAT trustees that is currentlydelegated to them by the Local Authority.
14. What about other school staff?
School staff would be employed by the MAT rather than the Local Authority and their employmentterms and conditions will be transferred under a standard process known as TUPE. Unionmemberships and pensions would be unaffected. We would work with unions and professional associations to ensure that our cooperative MAT is a beacon of best practice. The NUT, NASUWT, GMB, Unison and Unite are signatories to the TUC National Agreement with the Schools Cooperative Society (the representative body of schools with a cooperative ethos), which provides a framework to reassure staff that a MAT which is a member of the SCS will work to protect terms and conditions.
15. What would happen regarding provision for children with Special Educational Needs?
Effectively nothing would change; the schools would still have to comply with the Admissions Code andany SEN obligations as set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice. TheLA would retain responsibility for pupils with an Educational Health Care Plan in an academy on thesame basis as in maintained schools. The Governing Bodies would retain their excellent ethos ofinclusion through which there is a strong commitment to providing the best possible education forthe young people of all abilities and backgrounds from our community.
16. Would there be new school names and uniforms?
There are no plans to change any of the school names or introduce a new design of school uniform.We believe it is very important that each school in the MAT retains its unique identity.
17. Would there be any changes to term dates and school hours?
There are no plans to change the length of the school day or term dates as a result of this proposal.Academies can implement such changes if they believe it to be beneficial to the education of thechildren at the schools but any such change would require a full consultation process.
18. Would any changes to the School be made as a result of conversion?
We do not intend to make any changes to the School as a result of the conversion, apart from takingadvantage of the opportunities outlined above to work more closely with other schools in the MAT. We anticipate that this opportunity to work even more closely togetherwithin a supportive Multi‐Academy Trust would further strengthen and support the School’s ethosand high standards.
19. How do I take part in the consultation process?
At this stage, we are not committing the School to conversion to multi Academy status. We areconsulting with everyone associated with our School before Governors meet again to make a finaldecision. We would like to know what you think of this proposal and are inviting you to take part inthis consultation. Your views are important to us. In addition to attending the meeting at either ourschool or PHS, or if you are unable to attend, we would also welcome comments e‐mailed to:
If you wish, letters can be handed to the school office for the attention of the Chair Of Governorsmarked – “Confidential: Multi‐Academy Trust proposal” to ensure prompt attention.
A number of meetings will take place during the consultation:
15th November at 4.15pm – Joint staff meeting for staff from all schools takes place at TGGS, chaired by Stuart Hosfield (TGBS Chair of Governors), with all Chairs of Governors present and with the Schools Cooperative Society in attendance. At this meeting a positive case for MAT formation is made, but people are given plenty of time to ask questions and make comments.
15th November at 6pm - an open meeting for stakeholders of all the schools at TGGS – including pupils. The meeting follows the same format as the staff meeting.
20. When and how will the decision be made?
The consultation process concludes on 9th December, after which all responses to the consultation will be collated and forwarded to all governors. Our Governing Body will meeton 5th January to review the issues raised during the consultation and decide whether or not thatschool wishes to proceed with the formation of the MAT. Contrary to common practice none of the schools have applied to the Secretary of State for a ‘Academy Order’ as this is a genuine consultation with no final decision yet reached.
21. If the decision is taken to proceed, when will the change happen?
The legal process can be variable and it is difficult to be sure of a conversion date but we expect it to be complete by the end of the current academic year.
22. If a governing body decides to join / form a MAT, can it later withdraw or revert to Local Authority control?
No. Once the decision is made it cannot be reversed by a school’s local governing body.
23. If our school helps form a cooperative MAT is that the end to the possibility of being taken over by an academy chain?
No. Failing schools within a MAT could be brokered to a new sponsor. Our aim would be to ensure that our partnership of schools has enough capacity for improvement that we can help each other out of difficulty before a change of sponsor is imposed.
24. If we form a MAT will we continue working with the Local Authority?
Yes – close working relationships would continue. However the powers and role of the Local Authority continues to be diminished, with responsibility limited to SEND provision and Admissions. In the future direct funding of all schools, regardless of academy conversion, will mean that the Local Authority will exist as a traded services provider.
25. Would the powers of the current governing bodies change?
The governing bodies of the partner schools would become Local Governing Bodies. Our scheme of delegation would maintain the current responsibilities for ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ schools within the MAT. However these powers are delegated – meaning that if a school’s performance declines, the Trustees may step in and provide aspects of governance directly until school performance improves.
26. Would there still be parent governors?
The Local Governing Bodies would maintain parent representation. Parent Governors may become trustees if their skill-set is helpful for the Trust. Moreover parents will help to choose one of the Members and will, along with other stakeholders, be able to veto changes in the composition of the members – offering a degree of control of the trust as a whole.