St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Woking and Weybridge Deaneries Multi-Academy Trust Consultation St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Wednesday 3 rd February

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Academies Introduction What is an Academy? Academies are publicly funded state schools that are independent of the Local Authority and receive funding directly from central government. The School will still be a Catholic School under the authority of the Bishop of Arundel & Brighton and its religious designation will not change. Arundel and Brighton Diocese Direction The Bishop has told Catholic Schools in this diocese that we can only become academies in deaneries within the Diocese and that each Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) should cover two deaneries and be cross-phase (Primary and Secondary together) Why is this being considered? As a successful Voluntary Aided School, gaining Academy status would give us the autonomy to continue to develop our School and to continue to achieve high standards. As a multi-academy trust, there will be greater opportunities for working more closely with other local Catholic schools and the wider community of schools. 2

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Academies What is an academy? Independent state school-charitable company limited by guarantee Funded and accountable to the Secretary of State and not the Local Authority (LA) Freedom: From LA control To set staff pay and terms & conditions From following the National Curriculum To change length of terms and school days 3

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Academies Legal status Academies are run by the Academy Trust, subject to company and charitable law (but exempt from Charities Commission regulation) An Academy Trust is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee Academy Trust have a 7 year legally binding Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State for Education The Academy Trust does not ‘own’ the school, nor can it profit from the Academy. Academy Trust members have a legal duty to act in the interests of the Academy 4

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Academies Conversion Criteria The Academies Act 2010 Enabled maintained schools to become academies Who can convert? Schools that are “performing well enough” 3 years data above floor standards- stable or improving KS results Ofsted report – Outstanding school or good with outstanding features showing capacity to improve, outcomes and leadership and management Good financial health 5

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Proposed MAT Structure Diocese DfE Multi-Academy Trust Multi-Academy Trust Local Governing Body Bishop Academy (School) Academy (School) Local Governing Body Academy (School) Academy (School) Local Governing Body Academy (School) Academy (School) Legal Operational Strategic Secretary of State for Education Education Funding Agency (EFA) Trust Board of Directors Diocesan Academy Strategic Board

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 MAT Board of Directors Responsibilities Ensure the quality of educational provision Challenge and monitor the performance of the academy Manage the academy trust’s finances and property Employ staff 7

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Woking Deanery and Weybridge Deanery Schools Expressing Interest in Forming a MAT 8 KeySchoolTypeLocation/ParishDeaneryPupils Per Year Group Distance from St. Augustine’s Travel Time from St. Augustine’s 1 St Augustine's Catholic Primary School PrimaryFrimleyWoking St Hugh of Lincoln Catholic Primary School PrimaryKnaphillWoking miles18 minutes 3St John the Baptist SchoolSecondaryWoking miles26 minutes 4 Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary PrimaryHershamWeybridge miles38 minutes 5Salesian SchoolSecondaryChertseyWeybridge miles22 minutes 6 St Alban's Catholic Primary School PrimaryMoleseyWeybridge miles42 minutes 7 St Anne's Catholic Primary School PrimaryChertseyWeybridge miles25 minutes 8 St Charles Borromeo Catholic Primary PrimaryWeybridge miles28 minutes 9 The Holy Family Catholic Primary School PrimaryAddlestoneWeybridge miles22 minutes 9 schools have come forward at this point:

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Woking Deanery and Weybridge Deanery Proposed MAT Schools Map 9 1 St Augustine's Catholic Primary School St Hugh of Lincoln Catholic Primary School St John the Baptist School The Holy Family Catholic Primary School St Alban's Catholic Primary School Cardinal Newman Catholic Primary St Charles Borromeo Catholic St Anne's Catholic Primary School Salesian School

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 MAT Opportunities We would be working with schools with a very similar vision and ethos and the Catholic identity of our schools is preserved There is improved stability for Catholic schools at a time when there is more lobbying against faith schools We are able to travel to all of these schools within a lunch break All of the schools in this MAT are high achieving being either good or outstanding so there would be much good practice to share Research has shown that the most successful MATs are those built upon existing relationships, that you can travel to in a lunch break and are between 6-12 schools in size Two of the schools in this MAT are teaching schools, training primary and secondary teachers and have maths hubs. These schools have already been working together within Deanery groups already for a number of years 10

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 MAT Additional Responsibilities & Challenges Greater freedoms do bring additional responsibilities including statutory duties as an academy trust company, but the School is confident that we can manage these These are not schools ‘on our doorstep’; the distance to a couple is quite far – travel time will need to be considered How will we continue to maintain good working relationships with our local colleagues? 11

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Proposed Draft Vision and Values Continuous improvement of quality of teaching and learning for our children Raise standards (sharing of good practice, ideas, training, consultancy) Retain maximum autonomy Open culture / trust Equal footing Commitment to improve / Peer Reviews Bulk purchasing Improved services Staff development opportunities More inter-school activities 12

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Finances How do the finances compare for an academy to LA school? We have spoken to a number of academies and they state that their budgets are fairly similar to what they had before but that they have greater choice about what to do with it At present the LA hold back some of the funds given to schools and this would be additional funds that the school would receive directly following conversion All the schools would need to use the same finance system and report fully audited accounts 13

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 What are the advantages of conversion? Formalise and strengthen our existing partnership work with other Catholic schools which will enhance our catholicity, reinforce our shared values and promote a culture of openness and trust; Support the continuity of Catholic education in this area for pupils from 4 to 18 years and ease their transition from primary to secondary school; Enable all schools both to access and to deliver peer-led school-to-school support, sharing outstanding teaching and learning expertise across the Trust schools; Provide additional opportunities to share resources and facilities, developing a collaborative way of working and ‘joined-up’ provision for the benefit of all of our pupils and families; Secure additional finance to invest in resources for our pupils and schools by providing access to funding that the LA would otherwise receive and spend on our behalf; Enable member schools to respond more effectively to the budget pressures all schools are facing by securing economies of scale whilst retaining individual school autonomy; Reduce the impact of any future reduction in LA services by developing our own capacity to meet the needs of our pupils or commissioning our own specialist support services – for example, to support pupils with SEN. 14

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Benefits Benefits to Children Working collaboratively to improve the quality of teaching and learning across our schools Sharing best practice and ideas (all schools involved are good or outstanding) Improved primary to secondary transition for many children Continuous improvement of teaching Shared training Access to teaching schools Benefits to the Community By working together collaboratively, the schools will be better placed to support the work of the parishes The development of the MAT will also give strength to the Catholic voice and viewpoint within local communities and the education sector By supporting each other in the promotion of gospel values we will develop a future generation that demonstrates these values in their everyday lives 15

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Changes Affecting the School Will any changes to the School be made as a result of conversion? We do not intend to make any changes to the School as a result of the conversion, apart from taking advantage of the opportunities discussed earlier to work more closely with other schools in the MAT. The Catholic character, ethos and values of the School would remain unchanged, should the Academy conversion take place We anticipate that this opportunity to work even more closely together within a supportive Catholic Multi-Academy Trust would further strengthen and support the School’s ethos and traditions 16

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Consultation Wide stakeholder group: Parents Teachers Parishes Survey: Online: Paper copies Timeline: 25 th January 2016 to 12 th February

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 Proposed Target Dates Academy conversion application 4 th March 2016 Full Academy Status 1 st September

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School 2016 MAT Benefits Summary 19 Building on Best Practice and Ideas Commitment to Improve by Working Together Securing Long Term Future for Our Schools Inter-School Challenge and Support / Peer Reviews Exceptional Quality of Teaching & Learning Raising Standards Better Schools For All Our Children Whole School Improvement Strengthened Catholic School Partnership Improving Our Children's Educational Provision from 4 to 18 Years