Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) · 2015-09-21 · Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) • working alongside and in cooperation with Local Authority school improvement services

What is the DDAT offer?

Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT)

Mark Mallender Declan McCauley Andrew Martin David Channon Bishop AlastairDirector, School Improvement Senior School Improvement Officer Director, Academy Business Director of Education Chair of DBE and DDAT


What do you want to know?


Journey to Outstanding

Learningensuring the highest academic standards.

Growingproviding experiences rooted in faith, hope and love.

Outward Facingvaluing their contribution to the

community.

Healthyproviding safeplaces of welcome and belonging.

Our VisionTo offer our children and young people life in all of its fullness by:

So that they can:

Use Skills, Knowledge and

Understanding to think for

themselves and act for others

Experience and enjoy diverse

relationships

Choose to journey in faith

Be resilient, confident and

compassionate

Enjoy life in all its

fullness


Schools and Academies

• Approximately 1 million children attend CofE schools

• About 15 million people alive today went to one

• 4,500 (25%) of all primary and middle schools are CofE,

• Each diocese runs a Diocesan Board of Education supporting Church schools, which represents an annual investment of over £15 million.

• With more than 130 sponsored and 350 converter academies, the Church is the biggest sponsor of academies in England.

(Figures last updated September 2014)



Federation

SP

SPDiocese

SP

TS

HEI

SPSP

SP

TS TS

HEI

SPSP

SP

TSLASLE outside alliance

14-19 consortia

Chain of Academies

NLELLE

SBM cluster

LLE

NLE

Independent/state

school partnership

Associate

Associate

Associate

The world is changing and increasingly diverse!


Church School of The Future Review (2012)

The Church of England clearly reaffirms that Church schools stand at the centre of its mission.

It educates approximately 1 million of the nation’s children in primary and secondary schools, which enables more direct engagement with children and their families than any other contact, including regular Sunday worship.


A Diocesan Board of Education for the Future

In the light of the changing education environment, there is an increasing expectation that those who provide schools will be held accountable for the education provision within them.

If a school has ’Church of England’ over the door, then the Church of England, through the Diocesan Board of Education, will be increasingly responsible for the quality of provision within the school.

This being the case, we must ensure that our schools are effective as well as distinctive and inclusive.

Chair of the Boards of Education Rt Revd John Pritchard.


Effectiveness of Church Schools

76% of CofE Secondary schools are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted. That is 4% higher than the national average for non CofEschools. And 81% of CofE Primary schools are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, which is 3% higher than the national

average for non CofE schools.


• working alongside and in cooperation with Local Authority school improvement services

• accepting offers from the LA and school to attend support meetings

• supporting any aspect of school effectiveness as required – from self evaluation to school improvement planning to moderation of assessment and teaching over time.

• brokering support from accredited OFSTED inspectors, moderation experts and other schools including accredited teaching schools and our own church schools

• facilitating economies of scale discounts and opportunities to pilot commercial schemes

• helping schools to prepare for both SIAMS (Section 48) and OFSTED (Section 5) inspections.

Through the Diocesan Board of Education,we continue to support our maintained schools by:



External support

There is a productive and effective working partnership between the school, the local authority and the diocese. As a result, the broad range of appropriate and well- targeted additional support being provided to the school is helping to bring about clear improvements in the school’s work. The school is making good use of the support provided, but has also taken the initiative to find other suitable sources of support, which are bringing further benefits.

(HMI OFSTED report from a Derbyshire School: January 2014)

Both the local authority and the diocese have provided effective and focused support to improve the quality of teaching through advice and guidance to teachers and senior leaders. The local authority and the diocese have supported school leaders and teachers to gain a better understanding of strategies for targeting support to improve pupils’ achievement. The local authority and the diocese have continued to support the governing body to gain greater skills to hold school leaders to account for their performance.

(HMI OFSTED report from a Derby City School: May 2014)



Academies

• are only secondary schools• always have a subject specialism• don’t get inspected by OFSTED• are all organised in the same way• are the same as private schools• don’t have to do the national curriculum• were once failing schools• have nothing to do with Local Authorities• were “invented” by the Conservative party• lose their individual character when part of a chain or trust • are the same as Free Schools• always have worse terms and conditions for teachers


What is an academy?

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies

2010 Converter Academies: “Freedom and Independence”

2011 Sponsored Academies: Strong external support

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies



The reality of our small rural schools is that three schools may not be enough to provide the strength and depth needed for fruitful and long-term sustainability. In many cases, it is more likely that real interdependence will be best achieved by joining the diocesan MAT. At the moment the DfE incentivises schools to form small MATs with 2 or 3 primary schools by providing a Primary Chains Grant. This policy does not help build the resilient school system we need in rural areas. For small primary schools it would make much more sense for incentives to be given to encourage them to join the Diocesan MAT and find the interdependence that they need by belonging there.

Are two or three enough…



Among Church of England primary schools falling within the DfE definition of ‘small’, the median number of pupils on roll is 110. We have used this figure to further subdivide our small schools into “Very Small” (less than 110); “Small” (111-209) and “210+”. This is not simply a matter of abstract calculation – there are different issues, educational and otherwise – facing these schools.’

How small is small?


Policy Exchange: Primary FocusThe next stage of improvement for primary schools in England

This report concludes that the reorganisation of all primary schools into academy chains by 2020 – as determined by each primary school themselves – presentsthe only viable opportunity for the sector to mitigate against the risk of mass failure. Academy status is not a panacea in itself, but it represents the best way in which to drive greater strategic capacity and capability in the primary sector. It achieves this by establishing collaborative practices around Teaching and learning, by supporting teachers and individual school leaders to focus on what happens in classrooms, and bysupporting a culture of continuous improvement and development. In turn,these actions improve outcomes. (2014)

http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/publications/category/item/primary-focus

“Policy Exchange is the UK’s leading think tank. As an educational charity our mission is to develop and promote new policy ideas which deliver better public services, a stronger society and a more dynamic economy.”


http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/publications/category/item/primary-focus


Government direction:

Every school in England should become an academy, PM David Cameron has said, as he set out his "vision for our schooling system". (BBC News: August 2015)


Alternatively…

Labour abandons academies programme

Labour has abandoned its commitment to the academies programme and plans to return the schools to local control if it wins power. Lucy Powell, the shadow Education Secretary, announced plans to bring existing academies and free schools back in line with other state maintained schools.

Ms Powell said: “The sponsored academy programme of the last Labour government brought new resources, leadership, partnerships and higher standards to some of the most disadvantaged schools and it was very successful. However, what we have seen from this Government is the wholesale academisation of schools, with little evidence to show that that, in and of itself, raises standards. It is increasingly clear that the Secretary of State is unable to singularly manage the now thousands of schools under her control.”


Current options for Schools

• Schools remain with LA. (Singly or as part of a federation)

• Schools (Good and Outstanding) covert to a single academy.

• Schools (Good and Outstanding) group together to form their own Multi Academy Trust

• Schools choose to join an Existing Multi Academy Trust (DDAT)


Schools (Good and Outstanding) group together to form their own Multi Academy Trust

Pro• All money direct to schools• Some economies of scale• Can buy services from a variety of places –other MATS, LAs…• Group of schools have autonomy in decisions

(but still subject to OFSTED)

Cons• Economies of scale relatively poor unless 600+ pupils• MAT will require top-slice to fund services• No external scrutiny with ability to act before it is too late• What happens if schools want to go in different directions, or one

school fails an inspection –who funds the support?• Schools have to have capacity to build school as a business and be

responsible for all aspects of school including financial reporting and procurement, Legal, HR, buildings, school improvement…


Why diocesan Academies?

• To help our schools respond to;• financial pressures, particularly for small school • potential reduction in LA support, as seen elsewhere• being “forced” to become an academy without LA or diocese following an inadequate OFSTED

judgement.

• For Church of England schools, the need to ensure the ongoing Christian character. The Church (Diocese, Trustees..) are likely to own buildings and held to deeds.

• *The Church of England has a memorandum of understanding with the DfE that it is the default academy sponsor for church schools.

• For Church schools, approval to convert (or become a federation) is required from Diocese (DBE Measure)

We may approve an academy solution or federation if:

• it sustains the Christian character of the school(s)• it is financially sustainable• there is appropriate external challenge and support (as provided by the LA or diocese)


Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT)Journey to Outstanding

What does DDAT look like?

DBE

SoS*

DDATPartners / Capacity

*Regional schools commissioners and headteacher boardsEast Midlands and Humber: Jenny Bexon-Smith

LGB 3 (VC)LGB 2

(Sponsored)LGB 1 (VA)


School Level

Trust LevelMembers

Board of Directors/Governors

Academy 1

Local Governing Body

Academy 2


Academy 3


• DDAT is a single legal entity.

• The DDAT board is responsible for ensuring that academies provide the best possible education to all.

• Each academy continues to have its own Local Governing Body.


2012 Diocesan Academies: The Memorandum of Understanding

• For Church of England schools, the need to ensure the ongoing Christian character

• Church (Diocese, Trustees..) likely to own buildings.

• The Diocese is the default sponsor if it can demonstrate that it has the capacity. (DfE accreditation required)

• Approval to convert is required from Diocese (DBE Measure)

If a school has ’Church of England’ over the door, then the Church of England, through the Diocesan Board of Education, will be increasingly responsible for the quality of provision within the school. This being the case, we must ensure that our schools are effective as well as distinctive and inclusive.

.

Chair of the Boards of Education Rt Revd John Pritchard


School Improvement

Pre-conversion audit, minimum of 6 visits per year, tailored

advice and monitoring

Finance

Advice and support with budgeting, planning,

regulations, reporting and more

Business Support

Strategic and operational support, with regular academy visits by the Business Director

Legal

Access to specialists in education law

HR

Specialist advice for HR Performance management,

records, pensions, recruitment, sickness absence and more

Governance

Initial academy governance training session for the Local

Governing Body. Ongoing support as required.


School Improvement• The school will receive a minim of 6 visits a year (1 every half term) –even in outstanding

schools.

• A bespoke school improvement plan will detail significant additional support for schools causing concern.

• School performance will be closely monitored by our School Improvement Director and wider school improvement team. This monitoring linked to extensive powers of intervention to enable DDAT to take responsibility for leadership before schools fail their pupils.

• All school improvement professionals will understand the Church School context.

Our Director of School Improvement has been the headteacher of anoutstanding Church School in Derbyshire, a senior school improvement adviser in a local authority and he leads inspections for OFSTED.


School Improvement –examples of what we are doing elsewhere…

• Where teacher assessment has been found to be inaccurate, teachers have been trained and accredited as assessment moderators. (Close links with LA)

• Significant training of the Local Governing Body to ensure that they have the skills to hold the school to account. (Monitoring, Employment issues… new governors brought in where necessary)

• Broker School-School support (e.g; other diocesan schools, schools that have rapidly improved e.g; inadequate to outstanding within 2 years!)

• Deploy from massive resource pool- not just our own employees.• Accredited National and Local Leaders of Education (Teaching school partner) • OFSTED accredited inspectors employed, DDAT Board and on a retainer.

• Brokered deals with third party commercial companies (New Curriculum and Assessment without levels… We have schools in the Pilot)


Academy Finance• DDAT enter into a funding agreement with the DfE and there is a supplemental funding

agreement for each school. All school therefore receive their own money and it cannot be spent in another school.

• There is a “membership fee” that provides services... • 6 Days school improvement• Half-day visit per month to support finance • Half Termly Business Team Support• Legal, HR and Governance support.

• The membership fee varies in line with the development needs of the school. Level 1 (Outstanding) 4%, Level 2 (Good) 5%and Level 4 (Requires improvement and Inadequate 6%) Additional funds provide additional support for the school.

• School level is based on up-to-date DDAT monitoring, not the last OFSTED report which may be out of date.

Funding should not be the incentive to convert. However, start-up funds (PCG, Sponsorship..) may provide additional funds at the outset.

DDAT are currently subsided by the diocese and have also benefitted from various grants from the DfE.


• Half-termly Business Team visit• Half day support visit per month to provide monitoring and support using our

Management Information System • Insurance, Legal and procurement support –named contacts• Robust human resources –companies with a track record of being able to resolve

employment issues quickly, legally and with humanity so that pupils do not suffer.• Economies of scale across DDAT –may help smaller schools.

Our business manger also advises on academy issues for the Church of England in a National role.

DDAT help look after business -so the school can focus on pupils learning


When a school converts to academy status, the conversion is covered by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE Regulations). This means employees are legally protected when the School converts to an academy and they will transfer from their old employer (in this case, the Governing Body of the School) to their new employer (in this case, the Multi-Academy Trust) on the same employment terms and conditions. Certain terms with statutory protection will instead have contractual protection after the conversion.

Teachers' pay and conditions?


Under employment legislation, the current employer of School staff will conduct a consultation process in accordance with the TUPE Regulations with elected representatives of all staff (both teaching and non-teaching) and including relevant unions, as part of the staff transfer process.

Consultation


Staff working in an Academy fall within the scope of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) just as if they were employed in a LA maintained School. Membership of the TPS will automatically transfer with teaching staff when the School converts to an academy.

Academies mandatorily fall within the TPS but it is open for an individual member of staff to opt out of the TPS if they prefer to make other pension provision for themselves.

Teachers’ Pension Scheme


Support staff at schools fall within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). As the new Academy will be provided with ‘Admitted Body Status’ to the Local Government Pension Scheme, employees’ membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme will continue.

Academies mandatorily fall within the LGPS but it is open for an individual member of staff to opt out of the LGPS if they prefer to make other pension provision for themselves.

Pensions for Support Staff


DDAT: The members

The three legal ‘layers’ Members, Directors and the LGB

• the DDBE (acting in its corporate capacity);• 2 nominees of the DDBE who are also members of the DDBE;• the Diocesan Director of Education (DDE);• the chairman of the board of directors; and• any other person nominated by the members and approved by the DBE.

Members will receive the statutory accounts and appoint the Auditors. They also have sole power, subject to charity legislation, to change the constitution of the MAT, change the name of the MAT and wind it up;


DDAT: The Directors (Executive Board)


• 2 Head teachers and 1 recently retired headteacher (2 Outstanding schools, 1 NTI>Good within a year)

• 1 OFSTED 10+ years as an Additional Inspector• 1 Chartered accountant• HR specialist -may be added• Some representation from Local Governing Bodies to be added.

The Executive Board has the ultimate legal responsibility for the DDAT and therefore has the vast majority of the significant powers vested in it.


DDAT: The Local Governing Body (LGB)


Each Academy within the MAT has its own Local Governing Body.

Legally speaking, these are all constituted as Committees of the Executive Board. All their powers are derived from a Scheme of Delegation put in place when the MAT is formed.

It is up to the Executive Board to decide how much discretion is granted to the Local Governing Bodies, through variable Scheme of Delegation.

In DDAT our LGBs mirror the structure of the Instrument of Governanceof the predecessor school and can vary from school to school.


Day 1 after becoming an Academy with DDAT

Many things will stay the same:

• Children turn up as usual. (No need to re-register, buy a new uniform…)

• Children will continue with the same teacher as on the previous day.

• The New National Curriculum will continue to be taught and effectively implemented. (Good or better schools may be allowed to modify their curriculum)

• The school will continue be subject to inspections from OFSTED (Section 5) as well as Church School inspections (Section 48) as with all Church schools.

• The school may still be called: XXXXXXXX Primary School.


Day 1 after becoming an Academy with DDAT

Some things will be different.

DDAT

• will take on responsibility for the school and governance –a new Local Governing Body (LGB) will replacing the Interim Executive Board (IEB)

• will take responsibility for School Improvement

• will become the employer of all staff (Previously Governors were the employer)

• will have a funding agreement with the DfE so that money to run the school comes via DDAT rather than the LA.

• may continue to use services from Local Authorities where these are judged to be effective.


How to join DDAT

Registration

Application to convert

Funding Agreement

Pre-opening and opening

DDAT provide support for the academy conversion process, which typically takes 3-4 months. For more details see the hand-out “A guide to joining the Derby Diocesan Academy Trust”.


Website and Further details…


Benefits Summary

+ A revised organisational structure where the achievement of pupils underpins all decision making and legally defines who is in charge of the school. (SODs)

+ Experienced DDAT team who understand church schools.

+ Distinctively Christian support at all levels (school and MAT board).

+ DDAT model accredited by DfE and deemed capable of supporting schools in an OFSTED category.

+ Governors remain in place for local accountability and creativity so that school is right for local contexts.

+ Greater economies of scale.

+ Supportive business infrastructure so that schools can focus on pupils.

+ Freedom to buy services from the best (not just our own people)

+ Opportunities for successful schools to be used in school-school support – keeps money and resource in schools.


What this is NOT about:

• Narrowing the Curriculum: DDAT expect schools to meet or exceed National Curriculum requirement.

• Becoming a Faith School: Church Schools are not faith schools now, character does not change atconversion.

• Narrowing RE teaching: VA schools can already have their own RE syllabus but most followour advice - the same locally agreed RE syllabus as non-church schools.

• Changing Dates and Time: VA schools can already do this. Conversion makes no difference here.

• Paying staff less: Same pay and conditions (LA not the employer in a VA school)

• Removing governors Same governing body, same methods of election after conversion. Local governors in an outstanding school still “run the school”

• Changing admissions VA schools are already their own admissions authoritySchool continues to serve its community.

• Fixing the unbroken An opportunity to protect what the CofE has been doing well a full 60 years before the government.



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Documents

Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) · 2015-09-21 · Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) • working alongside and in cooperation with Local Authority school improvement services