1. Diocese of St Albans Multi Academy Trust
Carole Bennett
CEO

2. Why? We want all children to have access to a great education that
will change their life for the better
We believe that schools are stronger when they work
together, support each other and share excellence
We want to help schools be the best that they
can be long term, for the next generation

3. Who are we?
The Diocese of St Albans Multi-Academy Trust was established in September We are an inclusive Trust, working with both Church of England schools in the Diocese of St Albans (the Local Authority areas of Hertfordshire, Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, parts of the London Borough of Barnet and two parishes in Buckinghamshire), and community schools. We are passionate about creating and maintaining schools that serve their local communities through the provision of a rich and diverse curriculum underpinned by our values. We are driven by a desire to help schools provide an great education, which has a lifelong, positive impact for children.

4. The Trust family in 2019 Secondary phase
Manshead C of E Academy (Secondary)
Primary phase
Caldecote
Churchfield
Kensworth
Roxton
Thomas Whitehead
Totternhoe

5. Values driven Trust
The Trust has a clear vision which shapes its work:
Enabling all to flourish: Rooted in God’s Love
Together our academies work to be places of:
Hope: Nurture: Collaboration: Equality: Respect
Underpinned by our Church of England foundation :
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10 v 10

6. Trust Governance Members Founding body – Diocese of Albans
(Board of Education)
Directors of the Trust
Strategic view of MAT provision and direction
Oversight of the central team
Regional Hub Boards, Local Governing Boards
School level governance
RHB govern a number of schools; LGBs focus on one school

7. Enabling all to flourish: Rooted in God’s love
The Trust Central Team
Trust Leadership
Carole Bennett (CEO)
Julie Garstang (Trust Secretary)
Education
Gemma Barber (Trust Education Director)
Steph O’Neill (Learning, teaching and curriculum Lead)
Operations
Natalie Dalvarez (DCEO)
Rachel Palmer (Finance)
Karen Dyer (Operations) IT
Manny Hussain
Mikey Ward
Hu Mondesir
Enabling all to flourish: Rooted in God’s love

8. Provide support and guidance to schools about…
Strategic direction
Our ethos and practices
Governance
Overarching issues
Schools joining the Trust
Policies, inc Complaints
GDPR and data protection
Leadership issues, training and support
Classroom practice
Learning and teaching
Disadvantaged pupils and SEND
Ethos and curriculum
Attendance and absence
Finance and sustainability
Income generation HR
Safeguarding
Audit and best value procurement
CIF bids and site development/management
Health and Safety
Our websites IT
services
IT procurement
IT maintenance
Curriculum delivery, teaching and learning using IT
Using remote technologies for CPD and teaching
Enabling all to flourish: Rooted in God’s love

9. Practical considerations
DSAMAT believes in headteacher led schools. Our heads are part of a team that shares practice, wisdom and experience. Our school leaders are expected to be a part of our community.
We are committed to providing a wide education for our children, so seek schools that are working to develop rounded, positive citizens as well as ensure that they achieve great academic outcomes.
We support local governance, so can work with existing governing bodies and/or develop capacity through regional boards according to need.
Schools contribute 5% of their GAG funding to the DSAMAT community to provide central leadership, support, guidance and training to help our schools become greater.
We agree some central systems and support processes to facilitate efficient shared working, including finance systems, MIS, assessment, HR support, payroll
We support compliance, ensuring our community is safe and meets statutory regulations

10. Joining us
As a growing Multi-Academy Trust, we are looking to grow our family of academies to increase our ability to support pupils, staff and communities to benefit from ethical collaboration and effective ways of working. If you are interested in joining us and share our commitment to the long term outcomes of children, we would be happy to talk to you about how we could make a positive difference to the pupils in your school, working in partnership with you in the new and sometimes daunting educational landscape. We are keen to work with any schools that share our values of hope, nurture, collaboration, equality and respect, are striving to prepare their pupils for their very best life and respect our founding ethos. The formal process for joining the MAT is different depending on your current OFSTED status, and is outlined on the following pages. However, our Trust believes that all schools, whatever their category and whatever their history, can be a valued, active part of our community.

11. Any questions?
Contact us for a discussion about where you are, what your school needs/wants and how we could work together.