Academy Consultation

FAQs about Academies

• What is an Academy?
  Academies are schools that are state-funded and state-governed but are not under the direct control of the Local Authority (LA) and so have more independence over what they teach, how they operate and how they spend their budget. All academies are charities and therefore are entirely non-profit making.

• What is a multi-academy company?
  A MAC is a group of two or more academy schools working in a legally agreed formal collaboration called a Multi-Academy Company.  The MAC is the legal employer for all staff and determines a number of common practices and procedures across the MAC, whilst still encouraging each academy to have its own individual identity.   The MAC is run by a Catholic Senior Executive Leader (CSEL/CEO) with a Headteacher or Head of School in each member academy.  The CSEL/CEO is held responsible by the Board of Directors.
  
  For more information on the Our Lady of the Magnificat please visit the website: 
  Our Lady of the Magnificat – Catholic Multi Academy

• What is the position nationally on academies?
  The Labour government introduced the first academy schools in 2002. At the time, academies were only for long-term under-achieving secondary schools in inner city areas and for brand new secondary schools in areas where there was a shortage of high achieving schools. They were sponsored by charitable organisations such as religious bodies, or by entrepreneurs and companies. The Conservative-led coalition government moved quickly after the election in 2010 to offer academy status to all good and outstanding schools and introduced the free schools programme (legally a free school is an academy).
  
  At the start of September 2020, over 9,200 schools had become academies, 43% of state funded schools were operating as academies, 4.2million pupils were educated at academies.
  
  The Government has repeatedly said that it hopes all schools will become academies.

From Parents and Carers

• Are they splitting the classes up, so single year groups?
  The school leaders are best placed to make decision on how to model the classes depending on the needs of the children and the financial constraints of the school funding. The multi academy school improvement team will be able to support and advice.

• What are the benefits?
  There are many benefits to academization for the school and for the multi academy. The staff will have greater opportunities which will support their development and staffing retention. The school leaders and staff will be part of a community of catholic schools which support each other in the sharing of good practices which will strengthen the teaching and learning of the children. The children are at the heart of the school and the multi academy will benefit from enhanced teaching and learning, a diverse curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, access to shared resources and improved transition to secondary. Due to the size of the multi academy additional grant funding is received for capital projects which are directly invested into improving the school sites.

• Does the school still get to use funds raised through FOSM (Friends of Saint Mary’s)?
  Yes, any funds that are raised for use at the school are earmarked to the school and the purpose the fund has been generated for.

• Will this give the school more funding and access to resources?
  The calculation of school funding will not change. Maintained school funding is received directly by the Local Authority who can retain funds for services. Post conversion the funds will be received by the Multi academy. There is an annual percentage currently 5% which is retained for central services which benefit and support the school. The multi academy procures contracts on behalf of the school to maximise buying power and reducing contract costs. Due to the size of the multi academy additional grant funding is received for capital projects which are directly invested into improving the school sites.

• What changes will we see in school?
  There are many benefits to academization for the school and for the multi academy. The staff will have greater opportunities which will support their development and staffing retention. The school leaders and staff will be part of a community of catholic schools which support each other in the sharing of good practices which will strengthen the teaching and learning of the children. The children are at the heart of the school and the multi academy will benefit from enhanced teaching and learning, a diverse curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, access to shared resources and improved transition to secondary. Due to the size of the multi academy additional grant funding is received for capital projects which are directly invested into improving the school sites.
  
  There will be minimal change on the day-to-day experience of the children, the school identity will not change, and they will be familiar with the surroundings and staff. Throughout the academic year the children will be able to participate in multi academy wide initiatives such as Sports events, musical performances, trips and much more. Over time the children will begin to feel they are part of something bigger and identify with their journey through catholic education.
  
  The school will be able to take advantage of multi academy wide resources which will support the teaching and learning. With the sharing of good practices, the teaching will continue to strengthen and support the learning of each child.

• How will this effect the ethos, teaching and vision of our school?
  In joining the multi academy the Catholic ethos can only be strengthened. The multi academy is a group of Catholic schools here to serve the community and provide children with a catholic education. The multi academy board of directors and executive leadership believe that schools should have their own unique identity and be part of a catholic family.

• Will this mean we will be part of a shared community, building better relationships with other MAC schools, visiting and learning together?
  As part of the Diocesan Academy agenda the Our Lady of the Magnificat multi academy will be welcoming 12 catholic primary schools from the Rugby, Leamington, and surrounding areas. St. Mary’s has been identified as one of the 12 schools and already has strong partnership links with the primaries. The multi academy already consists of 12 schools, 9 of which are first or primary schools. The multi academy leadership encourages partnership working and outside of the multi academy with other local schools.
  
  The multi academy is considered to be a strong and supportive academy which has children and the promotion and vision of catholic education at the heart. The values and mission echo that of the school, both the multi academy and the school will be strengthen by this partnership.

• What is the main driver for this (academisation)?
  In June 2021, the Archbishop, the Most Reverend Bernard Longley wrote requesting every Catholic Voluntary Aided school under the Trust Deed of the Archdiocese of Birmingham joined a multi academy company of Catholic Schools by September 2022 or were to be in the process of doing so.
  
  The Governing body of St. Mary’s have voted in favour of initiating the consultation with our key stakeholder and submitting an application for an academy order to convert the school to an academy and join the Our Lady of the Magnificat Multi Academy.
  
  The Our Lady of the Magnificat has been identified as a strong multi-academy, being part of the multi academy will strengthen links with Trinity Catholic School and other Catholic Primary schools.

From Staff

• Will service by classed as continuous in terms of length qualifying for sick pay etc?
  Yes the multi academy recognises continuous services therefore there is NO break.
  
  
• Will pension contributions be the same?
  Yes.
  
  
• Can we be told to take positions in other schools?
  Staff often approach the school leaders and/or the multi academy leadership to ask for opportunities to work at other schools to support their own career development and future leadership development. It is beneficial to the member of staff and the children to share and experience different good practices.
  
  
• Might there be opportunities for secondments in other schools?
  Yes and for different staff groups. The multi academy has several secondment opportunities which have supported the development of the staff, provided capacity to the school, support career progression, and benefited the children.
  
  
• Will each school still have own governing body and can they still make decisions on the day to day running?The school local governing body will remain and will work with the school leadership and local community. There is no individual representatives from the schools on the Board of Directors their role is to protect and promote Catholic education to all. The Board of Directors delegate responsibility to the Local Governing Body and the Catholic Senior Executive Leader CSEL/CEO as per the Scheme of Delegation.
  
  
• Will you keep the current structure of headteachers or could it move to heads of school with executive heads overseeing?
  The leadership structure will be the one that’s right for the school. The multi academy has different models across the different schools. In most cases there is a Head teacher supported by their leadership team.
  
  
• If we have surplus funds, does the school keep them or do they go into a central pot?
  The reporting requirements of the ESFA are at multi academy level. Internally and for benchmarking purposes the multi academy will report the finances at school level. On conversion all remaining funds and liabilities will be transferred to the multi academy.
  
  
• If the school was to restructure, would we have to reapply for our jobs?
  If a restructure was to take place post conversion, then the appropriate procedures will be carried out as per the HR consultant’s advice.
  
  
• Is the process of ordering resources similar?
  There will be new financial management software known as Access Dimensions. This will be different to the schools current software. The multi academy process are electronic. Order requests are made directly on to the software which are then approved by the budget holders as per the financial scheme of delegation.
  
  
• Will teaching staff retain all their current pay, and conditions as detailed in the teacher’s Burgundy book?
  The multi academy adopts the national conditions of services for teachers and support staff which are detailed in the Burgundy book for teachers and Green book for support staff. In addition, the multi academy pay rates are the national pay rates for local government employees as agreed in conjunction with the National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions.
  
  
• Will we continue to teach the national curriculum?
  Yes, the multi academy follows the national curriculum.
  
  
• Who will provide our pensions and are they protected in the same way as they are currently?
  The employees will transfer to the new employer the multi academy board of directors on the date of conversion, under the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) regulation the employees’ rights, terms and conditions are protected. If the new employer wished to make changes to the contracts of the employees the existing employer (the governing body) must be notified, the changes are called measures. The employees and their Trade Unions are also notified of the measures and are consulted with. Staff will continue with the same pension scheme they currently are a member of. There will be TUPE meetings for staff where more detail will be provided on the TUPE process.
  
  
• Do the MAC have a current maximum class size for KS2?
  There is no cap on KS2 from the government, nor will the Academy apply one.