DUE DILIGENCE PROCESS FOR VOLUNTARY CONVERTERS (PRIMARY SCHOOLS)

Transcription

1 DUE DILIGENCE PROCESS FOR VOLUNTARY CONVERTERS (PRIMARY SCHOOLS) The following outlines the East Anglia Schools Trust due diligence process and criteria. The process has three stages which are outlined in detail in this document: - Stage 1 Key principles The school and Governors will advise the East Anglia Schools Trust CEO or Directors of their interest in joining the Trust following their interest in, and scrutiny of, the Trust s vision and key principles outlined in the introduction of this document. Stages 2 and 3 Performance review and acting on the outcomes Detailed conversations between the school and the Trust as these stages are worked through This process does not exist in order to be selective, but rather to make sure that the expertise, resources and support on both sides - the prospective joining school and the Trust - are fully understood and are within the capacity of both parties to fully commit. INTRODUCTION About the Trust and our governance structure East Anglia Schools Trust, formerly Cliff Park Schools Trust, was incorporated in March 2013 as a Charitable Trust and Company Limited by Guarantee. As such our Board ensure that they comply with charity and company law requirements. As a Multi Academy Trust, the Board of Directors is appointed by the members and is responsible for the governance of all of the academies in the Trust. We do this by delegating functions to the Local Governing Body of each academy through a Scheme of delegation. Each Academy is therefore represented within East Anglia Schools Trust and can be confident that its interests are well represented. The Trust holds ultimate responsibility for all decisions regarding the running of the individual schools. However, whilst key functions and services such as finance and budgeting, payroll and HR, premises maintenance and ICT, insurance and admissions can be managed and supported centrally where appropriate, East Anglia Schools Trust delegates decisions relating to the curriculum and learning and teaching to the governing bodies of the individual schools. This enables more focused local control, though Cliff Park Schools Trust remains legally responsible for 1

2 standards across all of its schools. To this end, it encourages rigorous monitoring and selfevaluation at a local level and ensures there is a strong and clear collaborative link between the schools involved. Opportunities are given to share best practice and to participate in shared opportunities for professional development. 2

3 Our vision and core purpose We place a strong emphasis on the community that each school serves we know how important this is to achieving educational success. We value the identity of the school, its ethos, and the links the school has with its communities i.e. families, pre-schools and businesses - we seek to foster these links and ensure the school is placed at the heart of the community at all times How will we achieve this? By working with all our children and families across the Trust to support successful learning which will help them to secure a better future. Our schools will: - Be happy, welcoming learning environments that children, staff and our community feel proud to be part of Be a truly exceptional place to learn where children are at the heart of everything we do Ensure strong partnerships with children, families and local communities which are inclusive and open 3

4 Provide an irresistible curriculum which prepares children for life in our ever changing world Ensure staff have access to high quality training and development The principles by which we manage the organisation are as follows: - Openness to build trust, be transparent, sharpen accountability and drive improvement Operate an effective & strong governance framework Operate a simple efficient low cost organisation Apply tight control of our resources to achieve economies, efficiencies and effectiveness across our operations Strengths of our Trust and earned autonomy East Anglia Schools Trust is ultimately accountable for the performance of each of its academies but individual schools can benefit from the flexibility that the Trust offers to manage the funding available, which is allocated on an individual Academy basis via a supplemental agreement between the Secretary of State and each Academy within the Trust. It can agree to delegate as much or as little power to the local governing bodies of the schools involved as is appropriate, according to their circumstances. The Board believes that best results will be achieved when they receive a level of responsibility and autonomy appropriate to its specific circumstances. Financial Models and Approach The Trust has adopted a bespoke model to manage the existing schools within the Trust, where Cliff Park Infant school acted as a converter academy sponsoring the Junior school. To the extent that it is permitted through the Funding Agreement, the Trust has combined the individual Academy s General Annual Grant income and used the money to fund shared central services, whilst allocating a day to day budget for the purchase of educational supplies and services to each school. This has enabled us to: - Maximise economies of scale through negotiating shared contracts and services which achieve much better value for money than if each school was to negotiate individually Continually assess and invest in our priorities, regardless of which school ultimately directly benefits from that spend Reinvest the money saved in creating the best the teaching and learning environment and agenda for the pupils in both schools 4

5 We believe the model for new schools joining the Trust should be similarly bespoke, although in principle each school would retain their own funding with services and support provided centrally through an agreed financial arrangement where the Trust will charge a top slice (representing a % of GAG income). This would enable each school to take advantage of our cost effective infrastructure and established supplier service relationships. Firstly, we will provide school improvement co-ordination and teaching/learning direction, including: - Identifying strategic school improvement priorities Head Teacher performance management Teaching and Learning curriculum reviews School self-evaluation Trust CPD relevant to the needs of the school In addition, as a single legal entity a central function of administration and business expertise is required to ensure compliance and oversight to the entity as a whole, and maximise the opportunities of running services centrally. This would include the core central support, business and governance functions listed below:- Multi Academy Trust governance and administration functions Advice and support in ensuring compliance with the Academies Financial Handbook, including the management of, and costs associated with, financial oversight/control and audits Preparing and submitting statutory MAT financial statements in line with the Department for Education (DfE), Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Academy accounts direction requirements this would include day to day advice and support on using the school finance system on an accruals basis, and the management of funds Strategic budget ownership, monitoring and support, including the submission of the MAT annual budget forecast in the format required to the EFA HR and legal support/advice and retainer costs, including production of new contracts of employment Co-ordination and execution of updates to Trust governed finance, HR and statutory school policies, plus support on individual school LGB governed policies as required Payroll processing and costs, including the administration and submission of pension scheme updates and returns Strategic procurement advice to ensure adherence to tendering policy, plus advice/support on LA services to schools and other bought in professional and business fees to help drive efficiencies Membership of the MAT insurance via. the DfE Risk protection arrangement (the costs for which will be deducted from the schools GAG income at the published rate, currently 25 per pupil) 5

6 Access to the staff communication platform and employee benefit scheme via. the Trust website Finally, the financial model can also include additional chargeable functions in areas where the Trust can offer additional support, expertise/resource and cost savings. Each school can choose to pay for these based on their circumstances and needs. For example: - Premises management support including large projects and bid submissions ICT management including strategic infrastructure advice and user platforms, on-site support and helpdesks Monthly management accounts and VAT returns Capital asset management and co-ordination including depreciation and disposals Membership of the MAT staff absence insurance including well-being and occupational health support services Re-design and management of the school website, including updates and related communications School staff training For all of the core central governance or chargeable support services the motivation of the Trust is to ensure the most efficient and cost effective approach to managing them is adopted. We are committed to, and have a track record of achieving, best value for the school s investment at all times. It should also be noted that Cliff Park Schools Trust is the employer for all staff within its Academies, which allows for the movement of staff across schools if this is desired. This is an attractive option that offers greater security of employment for staff in schools with fluctuating populations. Finally it is worth noting we would expect the governing bodies to carry out their role effectively, namely: - Be prepared and equipped to take their responsibilities seriously, including undertaking all necessary training and support Be acknowledged by the lead professionals in the schools and accountable to the Trust Board Be willing and able to monitor and review their own performance All of which to be line with the pillars of their core business: - Reviewing and monitoring the Academy School Development Plan Monitoring and reviewing progress and attainment 6

7 Financial Accountability for delegated budgets - making sure that the budget is on track and money is spent well Monitoring and reviewing the curriculum School Improvement strategy East Anglia Schools Trust exists to enable academies to preserve and nurture their ethos and to achieve educational excellence for all students through mutual support and challenge. The Trust is committed to ensuring that all children in our schools, particularly the least advantaged, receive excellent teaching and make progress which matches the best. We believe in high quality professional development for teachers and school leaders at all levels, and we encourage opportunities for learning outside the curriculum which encourage wider interests and help support the development of young people s character. Our approach would start by getting to know our academies, to take full account of their own plans and identified priorities. This will include data analysis, looking at all documentation including RAISE online and Ofsted reports and undertaking an in-school audit of provision. We will also establish the academy s own areas of strength and expertise that can be shared across the Trust, including the skills of staff within the academy. Self-evaluation Our aim is to support all of our schools to be judged by Ofsted as at least good with the capacity to become outstanding Once per year, each of our schools will be subject to an Ofsted style review of its work initiated by the Trust, involving the headship team (the executive Head teacher and each of the Heads of School working within the Trust) and external consultants as required. Formal reviews of each school s progress towards targets are presented to the respective Governing Body of each school on a regular basis and received by East Anglia Schools Trust. At local level, governors from each of the schools within the Trust will play an active role in monitoring the quality of learning and teaching and outcomes for learners. Through regular training across all of the schools within the Trust, governors will be supported to question and challenge information presented to them; gaining the level of awareness and understanding that will enable them to accurately judge their school s capacity for further improvement. 7

8 Our monitoring processes will continuously inform self-evaluation and planning within each of the schools, which will include: - Tracking of learner progress and planned interventions to support each learner s success Analysis of attendance and punctuality (with a consistent strategy agreed across all of our schools to reduce persistent absence) Analysis of data relating to learners behaviour and safety Scrutiny of learners work Analysis of standards of learning and teaching (including moderated lesson observations to ensure consistent judgements about standards across all of our schools) Learning walks involving senior and middle leaders and governors Consultation with students, staff and parents across our schools and partners across our wider community (this will be done through formally constituted groups, focus groups and surveys arranged throughout the year. Ultimately, the critical success factors we will judge all our academies by are: - To be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted or other appropriate external bodies within a maximum of 2 years after joining the Trust All teaching within our academies will be good or better Progress and attainment in our academies will not only exceed floor targets but will be comparable with the very best for pupil progress and outcomes Our academies will demonstrate good leadership including governance and this inspirational leadership will be shared across academies Our academies will be able to accurately self-evaluate and will have a high culture of continued improvement and high aspiration High quality CPD of staff will mean our academies will attract and retain the very best teachers Being recognised as the school of choice by local parents STAGE 1 KEY PRINCIPLES The school is expected to review, discuss with the Trust as necessary, and confirm their acceptance of the following key principles that outline their commitment to the wider Trust family: - The school s vision and ethos are in harmony with the Trust s vision The school will proactively engage in mutual school to school partnership/s, working with individual schools and groups of schools to develop and innovate 8

9 The school will be supportive of partnership working at all levels of the academy s life; committed to developing learners across their own school and the Trust The school will specifically support the leadership, teaching and learning of a school that is underperforming within the Trust, where is possesses appropriate capacity and expertise The school adopts an agreed scheme of delegation and service level agreement A top-slice is mutually agreed between Trust and school The school will take part in an annual collaborative review to validate and moderate school self-evaluation The school is asked to acknowledge that if after joining the trust they become vulnerable in relation to either financial or performance measures then the Scheme of Delegation will include powers for the level of delegated decision making to be reviewed. For community schools the Trust provides a vehicle for academy conversion which will respect the predecessor school s heritage and values whilst expecting the school to interpret the Trust s vision and ethos within the context of their own community The Trust and the convertor school will be committed to supporting each other to secure individual and shared vision The Trust will support each school to further develop and to celebrate what it does well, develop mutual partnerships and through joint practice development improve the practice of all partners, leading to innovation The Trust is committed to a deep model of school improvement which has adult professional learning at its centre. The Trust will support the development of CPD opportunities, for example, leadership development; the improvement of teaching and learning; curriculum planning; coaching and mentoring, which would be more difficult for an academy to achieve on its own The convertor academy will be entitled to draw on the Trust s school improvement personnel to provide moderation of the school s self-evaluation, in a working relationship that is robust, transparent and supportive The convertor academy will be entitled to draw on the Trust s central service personnel and expertise in line with services provided as part of the negotiated financial arrangement. These include: - - Executive Head Teacher - Business Manager - Facilities Manager - HR and Admin Manager - Finance Manager - SENCO - Teaching and Learning Assessment lead 9

10 The Trust is able to offer support for succession planning, including the potential of career progression across the Trust The Trust is able to offer mechanisms to create economies of scale, procuring across the Trust where appropriate e.g. purchase of school services and consumables STAGE 2 PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS REVIEW A School Performance Review will be undertaken by the Trust in full collaboration with the school s leadership. This will take full account of the school s own evaluation, and the reviewer will produce a report for the school and for the Trust Board in relation to the school s overall effectiveness in a teaching and learning context: - The achievement of pupils at the school The quality of teaching at the school The behaviour and safety of children at the school: education performance, attainment and progress The quality of leadership in and management of the school, including governance Consideration of the outcomes of the most recent Ofsted inspection and progress towards achieving the priorities set out for improvement. The School Performance review will also be supported by an assessment of non-teaching functions, covering financial viability and liabilities, premises (capacity/suitability/maintenance) and human resources/legal. STAGE 3 - ACTING ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW Based on the outcomes of the review process the following criteria will be used to inform the level of delegation the Trust is able to pass down to the local governance, and whether any mandatory improvement services are required in order for the school to enter the Trust. All of this will be discussed, documented and shared in a transparent way with the current governing body and leadership of the school. Educational performance progress and attainment From each different starting point, the proportions of pupils making expected progress, and the proportions exceeding expected progress, in English, reading and writing, and in mathematics are close to or above national figures over a three year period. For pupils for 10

11 whom the pupil premium provides support, the proportions are similar to, or above, those for other pupils in the school or are improving Progress across year groups in a wide range of subjects, including English and mathematics, is consistently strong and evidence in pupils work indicates that they achieve well The learning of groups of pupils, particularly those who are disabled, are looked after children, are from ethnic minority groups or are those who have special educational needs, those for whom the pupil premium provides support and the most able, is generally good Attainment is at or above national expectation for both English, reading and writing and mathematics combined outcomes at Key Stage 2, where relevant End of KS1 data from RAISE is near to or above national, where relevant Where attainment, including attainment in reading where relevant, is low overall, it is improving at a faster rate than nationally, over a sustained period We will also consider any additional evidence which the school feels is significant in evidencing their performance. Inspection outcomes The last two Ofsted inspection grades, with a specific focus on: - Capacity to improve, outcomes, leadership and management, each judged to be at least good; Leadership with elements that are deemed outstanding, with focus particularly on judgments for overall effectiveness, capacity to improve and leadership and management Additional evidence Any other matters that the school may wish to use in order to demonstrate that it is performing well in other aspects of educational provision e.g. sport, citizenship, music, RE Vision and ethos The school s vision and ethos are in harmony with the Trust s vision Financial viability and liabilities The trend of number on roll - evidence of robust and sustainable intake including children from within the local community Current and future budgets reflect a balanced approach supporting an appropriate staffing model, and supported by a viable three year trend and forecast Consideration to bought in services and any contractual liabilities 11

12 Cluster arrangements (e.g. SEN deals) Premises capacity/suitability/maintenance Any split site is financially viable with educational provision judged to be good on all sites Building maintenance is fit for purpose and effectively managed - where there are buildings issues there is a managed plan for resolution Human resources and legal Evidence that the staffing profile is effectively managed e.g. capability processes, grievance, and redundancy requirements 12