Questions to ask before joining a MAT

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Last updated on 08 Jan 2016

What should governors consider before joining a MAT? Two of our associate education experts suggest questions for a governing body to ask, in various areas, when considering joining a multi-academy trust (MAT). This article also highlights the National College's video on MATs.

Contents [Hide]

  1. 1Achievement and progress of pupils
  2. 2Sharing resources
  3. 3Governance
  4. 4Expansion and values of the MAT
  5. 5Early years provision
  6. 6Multi-academy trusts: National College advice
  7. 7 Sources and further reading

For this article, we consulted two of The Key's associate education experts, Fred Birkett and Bill Dennison.

They have suggested questions to ask and points to think about, in different areas, when your governing body is considering joining a multi-academy trust (MAT).

Achievement and progress of pupils

Fred said that the principle underpinning all the governing body's questions should be how joining the MAT will benefit the achievement and progress of pupils at the school. He said that governors should be clear how accountability for pupils' achievement and progress will be arranged in the MAT.

Governors should question how good practice in teaching and learning will be shared

He also said that governors should question how good practice in teaching and learning will be shared.

Governors should question how the MAT will keep track of pupil data in each school effectively. For example, how will data be shared across schools?

Bill said that governors should answer the following questions about their own school, before comparing it with schools in the MAT:

  • What is the performance of our school against predominant national indicators (for example, GCSE English and maths)?
  • What progress do our pupils make during their time at our school towards these key indicators?
  • How successful are we in closing the gap between children eligible for the pupil premium and other children?
  • What have been the trends in all of these measures over the previous three years compared to the national picture?
  • What proportion of our teaching is regarded as good or outstanding by senior management?

Sharing resources

Fred said it is important to establish how resources such as personnel, premises and financial resources will be shared across the schools in the MAT.

He said governors should ask how such sharing will be of benefit to all schools in the MAT.

What percentage of our annual budget will be taken by the MAT?

Bill suggested asking:

  • What percentage of our annual budget will be taken by the MAT?
  • Who decides this figure?
  • Will it be the same every year?
  • Who determines how it is used to provide HR, premises expenditure and any other support services?
  • Who determines our own internal budget and how it is distributed on staffing, CPD, teaching support?
  • In an emergency, who decides how much of our budget requires re-distribution to another school in the MAT experiencing financial difficulty?
  • What will be the MAT policy on inter-school pupil transfers?

Governance

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Fred said that a key area to learn about is the governance structure of the MAT.

For example, will there be a local governing body for each school in the MAT? Or will there be a single board of trustees for the MAT with representatives from each school?

He also noted that, if there are local governing bodies, you should question how these are constituted and whether they can have their own committees.

He said that governors should also ask how the strengths of each school’s governing body are or will be capitalised on. For example, how will the MAT ensure that collaboration results in the schools being stronger than if separate?

Bill suggested asking:

  • What are the envisaged powers of our own governing body in relation to:
  • Numbers and categories of members, terms of membership
  • Appointment of staff
  • Staff pay policy
  • Staff appraisal
  • Financial decision-making
  • Establishment of service level agreements
  • Who appoints the headteacher?
  • To whom is the headteacher directly accountable – our governing body, the MAT board, an executive headteacher appointed by the MAT board?
  • Who organises and conducts our headteacher’s performance management process?

Another article from The Key explains how governance in MATs is arranged:

Multi-academy trust (MAT): governance and conversion

Expansion and values of the MAT

Fred stressed the need to be clear about the future plans for expansion of the MAT. There should be agreement about the potential for adding schools to the MAT.

He said that governors should also establish what the MAT's values are. Do they match the school’s values? What is the vision for the future of the MAT and does it comply with the school’s own vision?

Bill suggested asking:

  • Who determines individual membership of the MAT?
  • If MAT members are likely to pursue an expansion policy, how will that influence the answers to the previous questions?

Key questions to ask about early years

The Key suggests some additional questions you may wish to ask about joining a MAT if your school has early years provision.

  • Do the MAT board’s existing trustees have experience with early years education?
  • How will joining the MAT benefit early years children?
  • (In the case of infant schools) Will we be a feeder school for junior schools in the MAT?

Early years provision

A member asked us what questions governors could ask in relation to their school’s early years provision. We also put this question to Bill Dennison.

Bill suggested the following questions:

  • Are there other schools in the MAT with early years provision?
  • If so, what opportunities will there be to share best practice?
  • Are the other schools with early years provision ‘strong’ or ‘weak’?
  • Will we be expected to support other schools with early years provision?
  • Will there be new opportunities for early years staff to undertake CPD?
  • Will our admissions policy for early years children have to change?
  • Are the MAT’s policies on early years compatible with our own? Will ours have to change?

Bill explained that many of the most important questions governors can ask before joining a MAT will apply to any phase of education the school covers.

He said that much is determined by the governance of the MAT, and the "power arrangements" in relation to local governing bodies and the MAT's board. Suggested questions to ask on this issue can be found above, in section 3 of this article.

Multi-academy trusts: National College advice

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (National College) produced a video, hosted on YouTube, which outlines some matters to consider before joining a multi-academy trust.

It says that schools should be clear on their "collective strategic aims" before collaborating.