WORKING IN WOODARD ACADEMIES –
AN NUT GUIDE
This guidance document gives a brief overview of theWoodard Academies Trust and working in Woodard Academies, including information about:
- Woodard Academies Trust and its Academy programme
- The national trade union recognition agreement
- Pay and conditions of service
- Employment policies and procedures
The Woodard Academies Trustoperates 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 WOODARD ACADEMIES TRUST
The parent organisationof the Woodard Academies Trustruns the largest group of independent Church of England schools in England and Wales. The Trust says that it has a Christian ethos butadmits children of all faiths or none. Woodard’s website for its Academies is
WOODARD TRUST ACADEMIES
At the time of writing the Woodard Academies Trust had 5 open Academies. They are:
- Kent – St. AugustineAcademy (open Sept 2011)
- Stoke on Trent – St. PetersAcademy (open Sept 2011)
- North Tyneside – KingsPriorySchool (open Sept 2013)
- West Sussex
- LittlehamptonAcademy (open Sept 2009)
- SirRobertWoodardAcademy (open Sept 2009)
NATIONAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT
A national recognition agreement in respect of Woodard Academies Trustcame into effect in March 2012. The agreement was signed by the Trust, the teacher unions - ASCL, ATL, NAHT, NASUWT and the NUT - and support staff unions, the GMB, Unison and Unite.
The agreement provides for national discussions which will determine arrangements for pay, conditions of service and working time across Woodard Schools Academies. It also provides for collective consultation at individual Academylevel through the establishment of Academy Consultation Groups as well as time off with pay and facilities time for trade union representatives.
The recognition agreement may be found on the NUT website in the pay, conditions and pensions > 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 Woodard Academies
The Woodard Academies Trustdoes not apply STPCD and Burgundy Book working time arrangements. Instead, it will continue to employ current and newly appointed teachers on national terms and conditions. Although it has not undertaken to do so in perpetuity, the agreement provides for consultation prior to any change.
EMPLOYMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
The trade unions have entered into discussions with the Trust in respect ofemployment policies and procedures which the Trust will adopt in place of predecessor LA policies for new appointees.Agreement has been reached on discipline, grievance and sickness absence policies.
NUT SSEE Dept.