1. This session What RSCs do MATs – features Coasting Schools
Church of England – Memorandum of Understanding
White Paper – Education Excellence
Green Paper – Schools that Work for Everyone

2. Regional Schools Commissioners
Role - Help raise standards:
Challenge academy underperformance
Decide on the development of new academies
Address underperformance in maintained schools
Make recommendations to Ministers about free school applications
Encourage organisations to become academy sponsors
Approve changes to open academies
With the help of a Headteacher Board
Chosen due their extensive knowledge as education practitioners
What do RSCs not do?
Intervene in well-performing academies: RSCs do not have a role in relation to academies that are performing well, except perhaps to encourage them to become a sponsor or support another school.
Provide improvement themselves: An RSC may encourage academies needing school improvement to access support from Teaching School Alliances, National Leaders of Education (NLEs), and other sector-led school improvement in their region.
Maintained schools: RSCs have no remit in relation to maintained schools, other than providing advice on sponsor matches. RSCs’ only interactions with good and outstanding LA maintained schools is to make decisions regarding any applications to convert to academy status.
Financial underperformance: RSCs do not have a direct role in tackling academy financial underperformance; this is led by the EFA. However RSCs can report any concerns about an academy’s finances to the EFA.
Preventing extremism: RSCs do not have a direct role in tackling extremism but will add local intelligence to strengthen the DfE due diligence process.  RSCs will also work with local authorities, Ofsted and others to ensure that any concerns are identified and reported to the DfE.

3. Four main blocks of work: first, underperformance
Balance support with challenge where academies are underperforming
Visit academies to understand context before deciding how to intervene
Use local intelligence and relations with trusts to identify performance issues early
Use formal intervention in cases where academies have underperformed for a period of time or where we are not convinced by trusts improvement plans
When required transfer academies to other trusts
Ensure that maintained schools judged inadequate by Ofsted become sponsored academies with strong sponsors

4. Second, build strong sponsors
Identify those with potential to grow or and those who need support
Use a trust evaluation tool to identify areas for development and offer support, for example mentoring, CEO leadership training
Target Sponsor Capacity Funding to help develop trusts
Identify more sponsors, including from outside of the education sector, and facilitate sponsors moving into areas of geographical shortage

5. Sponsors: an effective MAT?
Strategic vision and plan that moves seamlessly from implementation into impact
Accountability framework for Trust performance
Quality assurance systems to improve consistency and performance
Delegated framework for governance at Trust Board and local governing body level
Trust-wide school improvement strategy that recognises different stages of the improvement journey
Systematic programme of school to school support that is focused on the need of individual academies
Skilled management of risk
Clear succession plan for key posts within the MAT
Trust commitment to making a contribution to networks beyond the MAT

6. Third, open high quality new schools
Facilitate and create new academies and MATs – explaining what we see
Encourage existing high quality trusts to apply to open free schools
Work with LAs on need for new places to ensure new provision is opened where it is most needed
Headteacher Board members play an active role in the interview process for free schools

7. Fourth, facilitate collaboration
We hold events to get system leaders to meet, share knowledge and best practice and form new networks
We have run regional sub-groups with representation from LAs, trusts, Diocese, Teaching School Alliances to help shape work and direct interventions
We work with Teaching School Council representatives to identify capacity gaps
We work with Teaching School Alliances and the National College to ensure school to school support goes to institutions most in need

8. Coasting schools
The ‘Schools Causing Concern’ guidance sets out the action RSCs take with coasting schools. This includes:
Notifying schools once final 2016 performance tables published.
Asking to see the school’s current plan for improvement and/or requesting a meeting with the school leaders / Trust.
Discretion to decide which schools have sufficient capacity to improve
Action appropriate for those that do not – considering data, its context, and what led to it meeting the coasting definition.
This could result in:
No further action by the RSC
Some additional support and challenge
The GB of the school being required to enter into arrangements.
Additional governors or an Interim Executive Board (IEB)
A sponsored academy solution

9. RSC/CofE Memorandum of Understanding
sustaining the formal and statutory partnership between the Church of England and the state in education;
ensuring the religious character of every church school is protected;
ensuring every pupil attending a church school receives the best education possible, including taking prompt action to address any concerns about the performance of a church school; and
maintaining clear and open lines of communication between RSCs and diocese regarding all decisions relating to academy conversion, intervention and sponsorship in each region, on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Ongoing commitment between RSCs and DBEs to consistency and transparency in its decision-making;
a clear expectation that model documentation agreed between the National Society and the department will be adopted and applied as per the key principles at all times.
Where a bespoke solution is required which requires specific documentation this will be formulated with input and advice of the National Society and DfE.
We were keen to ensure RSCs and delivery teams have good understanding of the core principles that shape the department’s relationship with the Church of England and how Church schools operate.
The principles echo commitments made by ministers during the passage of the E+A Act to preserve the faith ethos of Church schools when they become academies
They demonstrate the shared commitment to improving standards and ensuring all children receive the best education possible and to strive to make that a reality
Most important the show a clear commitment on both sides to clear, transparent and open communications – this is crucial and will help to build and strengthen our relationship with dioceses

10. The White Paper joins up a lot of challenges in the system
Attracting more great teachers
Developing more great leaders
More school improvement stimulus
Everywhere….developing Achieving Excellence Areas
Academy status ambition

11. White Paper - Key Aspects
Supporting excellent teaching, including replacing the current ‘Qualified Teacher Status’ (QTS) with a more challenging accreditation based on a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, as judged by great schools
Improved leadership training, world-class qualifications and attracting the best leaders to challenging areas, including through the new National Teaching Service
A school-led system where every school is an academy and where pupils, parents and communities are empowered to have a more significant voice in schools, with a clearly defined role for local government

12. White Paper – key aspects
Preventing underperformance through improvement that includes transferring responsibility for school improvement from local authorities to school and system leaders.
Focus on areas where too few children have access to a good school and there are not yet enough high quality teachers, school leaders, governors and sponsors
National funding formulae for schools, improved effectiveness of the pupil premium and making the best possible use of resources.

13. White Paper – next steps
The government wants to see all schools, over time, become academies so that they can benefit from the autonomy and freedom to innovate
But will only be requiring academy status for inadequate schools and others that may be eligible for intervention (i.e. coasting and warning notices).
In parallel we will continue to build capacity in multi-academy trusts and communicate and evidence the benefits of academy status and MATs.
Education Bill this session to implement proposals.

14. Green Paper: Schools that Work for Everyone
The Prime Minister outlined the government’s ambition to extend opportunity to everyone, not just the privileged few.
This, as the Secretary of State has also said about social mobility, is a major priority for the government.

15. Aims
The Prime Minister has set out three aims, which are also reflected in the consultation document:
Expanding the number of good schools and school places;
Removing the barriers and increasing the incentives for high performing schools and universities to support state schools; and
Delivering a diverse school system that supports children of all backgrounds to succeed.

16. Consultation
Independent schools setting up new schools, sponsoring academies, and supporting other schools in return for benefits associated with charitable status;
Universities playing a greater direct role in improving school quality and pupil attainment;
More selective school places – through setting up new selective schools, expanding existing ones, and enabling non selective schools to become selective; all with obligations to educate children from less affluent backgrounds; and to improve schools in their local area; and
Removing the 50% cap set on new faith free schools, supporting more faith free schools to be set up, but replacing the cap with other proposals to ensure that they are inclusive of all sectors of the community.

17. Consultation
As well as a suite of consultation questions in these policy areas, there are also ‎some important questions about how to identify those children and families which are 'just managing‘.
A group wider than the current free school meals target group of families.
This is therefore just the beginning of a big debate about the next phase of how our schools system evolves – a consultation which will run during the autumn term.
Any legislation which is needed will follow from early next summer in the new Parliamentary session onwards. 

18. Overview of the sub-region

19. Hertfordshire Maintained schools, including special: 419
Academies/free schools: 100 (including 2 UTCs and 2 SSs)
Total: 519
19% of all schools are academies
Number of MATs with 3 or more academies: 7

20. Central Bedfordshire Maintained schools, including special: 83
Academies/free schools: 51
Total: 134
38% of all schools are academies
Number of MATs with 3 or more academies: 5

21. Bedford Borough Maintained schools, including special: 49
Academies/free schools: 28
Total: 77
36% of all schools are academies
Number of MATs with 3 or more academies: 3

22. Luton Maintained schools, including special: 49
Academies/free schools: 16
Total: 65
25% of all schools are academies
Number of MATs with 3 or more academies: 3

23. London Borough of Barnet
Maintained schools, including special: 115
Academies/free schools: 29
Total: 144
25% of all schools are academies
Number of MATs with 3 or more academies: 1