WORKING IN TKAT ACADEMIES –

AN NUT GUIDE (FEBRUARY 2013)

This guidance document gives a brief overview of TheKemnal Academies Trust(TKAT) and working in Kemnal Academies, including information about:

  • Kemnal Trust and its Academy programme
  • The national trade union recognition agreement
  • Pay and conditions of service
  • Employment policies and procedures

The Kemnal Academies Trust operates common pay and conditions for employees and central negotiating machinery, within which the Union negotiates alongside the other recognised teaching and support staff unions. Arrangements have been established within the NUT for consultation and communication with NUT divisions, Academy representatives and members.

Detailed information about pay and conditions of service in Academies can be found in the NUT document Teachers’ Pay and Conditions in Academies: Guidance for NUT Members at

ABOUT KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST

The Kemnal Trust (now the Kemnal Academies Trust) was established in 2008 and is centred on the KemnalTechnologyCollege in Bromley. The Trust comprises a number of primary and secondary schools in Bexley, Bromley, Essex,Hampshire, Medway, Kent and West Sussex.

Kemnal’s website is

THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST

At the time of writing the Kemnal Academies Trust had 31 open Academies and were planning to open a further 6. They are:

  • Bromley
  • Kemnal Technology College (open Sept 2010)
  • Gray’s Farm Primary School (due to open Sept 2013)
  • Bexley
  • Welling School (open May 2011)
  • EastWickhamInfant School (open April 2011)
  • CleeveParkSchool (open Sept 2012)
  • EastWickhamJuniorSchool (due to open May 2013)
  • Essex
  • DebdenParkHigh School (open April 2011)
  • King Harold Business and EnterpriseSchool (open Nov 2010)
  • HylandsSchool (open Aug 2011)
  • HeybridgePrimary School (open Dec 2012)
  • SouthminsterCOEControlledPrimary School (due to open Sep 2013)
  • Kent
  • OrchardsAcademy (open Nov 2010)
  • HorizonPrimaryAcademy (open Sept 2011)
  • PluckleyCOEPrimary School (open April 2012)
  • SmardenPrimary School (open Oct 2011)
  • DrapersMillsPrimaryAcademy Thanet (open Dec 2012)
  • DameJanetInfantAcademy (open Dec 2012)
  • SalmestonePrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • NorthDownPrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • NewlandsPrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • Medway - RainhamAcademy (open Feb 2011)
  • Surrey – WeyfieldPrimary School (due to open Jan 2013)
  • Hampshire
  • BridgemarySchool (open Sept 2012)
  • HavantAcademy (open Sept 2010 and joined Kemnal in 2012)
  • Front Lawn Infants and JuniorSchool (due to open Feb 2013)
  • East Sussex – Red Lake Community Primary School (due to open Sept 2013)
  • West Sussex
  • The Academy Selsey (open Sept 2011)
  • ThomasBennettCommunity College (open Sept 2012)
  • TangmerePrimaryAcademy (open April 2012)
  • SealPrimaryAcademy (open April 2012)
  • The BewbushAcademy (open April 2012)
  • PortfieldPrimaryAcademy (open Sept 2012)
  • BroadfieldEastInfant School and Nursery (open Sept 2012)
  • BroadfieldEastJuniorSchool (open Sept 2012)
  • SeymourPrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • The OaksPrimary School (open Sept 2012)
  • HilltopPrimary School (open Sept 2012)

NATIONAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT

A national recognition agreement in respect of Kemnal Academies Trust came into effect inSeptember 2011. The agreement was signed by Kemnal Academies Trust, the teacher unions - ATL, NASUWT and the NUT - and support staff unions, the GMB, Unison and Unite.

The agreement provides that Kemnal will continue to employ staff on nationally determined pay and conditions of service for teachers.

As part of the national agreement, Kemnal have undertaken to encourage staff to join a union. The agreement also provides for the entitlement to reasonable time off with pay for union representatives and a number of other facilities such as confidential roomsfor reps to meet with members, dedicated space on notice-boards in staff rooms and consultation with local union representatives in respect of workplace, staffing and employment matters.

The recognition agreement may be found on the NUT website in the pay and conditions > academies section at

PAY AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

In General

All Academies are able to set their own pay, conditions and working time arrangements for newly appointed teachers joining the Academy. In some Academies, pay and conditions arrangements for such teachers are similar or identical to those for teachers in local authority maintained state schools. In others, teachers’ pay and conditions can be very different.

Teachers transferred from predecessor schoolsreplaced by an Academy are covered by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE). The TUPE regulations provide that, where an Academy replaces an existing school(s), teachers’ previous pay and conditions entitlements transfer. These include statutory provisions on pay, professional duties and working time and national and local agreements on teachers’ conditions of service, redundancy payments and recognition of the NUT as a trade union. Where the Academy is a new institution, however, all teachers are in the first category of newly appointed teacher and no teachers are protected by TUPE.

Pay and Conditions in Kemnal Trust Academies

Kemnalhas agreed with the teacher unions that it will apply STPCD and Burgundy Book arrangements for all its teachers – including newly appointed teachers - across its network of Academies.

In line with its agreement to apply the STPCD to its teachers, however, teachers’ pay - for those on Kemnal contracts and those who remain on TUPE arrangements – did not increase in September 2012 due to the Government’s two-year public sector pay freeze.

EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

As indicated, the recognition agreement provides for machinery to negotiate on a range of issues.

The trade unions will be discussing with Kemnal a number of employment policies and procedures. So far agreement has been reached on TKAT appraisal / performance management, capability and redundancy policies

Recently, the NUT and the other trade unions were also able to secure an assurance that TKAT would recognise all Burgundy Book service at any other employer covered by the national agreement for the purposes of continuity of service (i.e. sick pay, maternity).

NUT SSEE Dept.

February 2013

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