Welcome to Schools Week’s agony aunt* column, for all your academisation woes. Whether you’ve already boarded the academisation train, are just browsing the brochure, or remain resolutely sceptical about the safety of high-speed rail, ping us your question and we’ll select our favourites to be answered by a specialist lawyer. Email agonyaunt@schoolsweek.co.uk, including the words ‘agony aunt’ in the subject, or leave your questions in the comments section, below. In the long-standing agony aunt tradition, Schools Week will protect the identity of those who submit questions. Here are the questions so far: If we join a MAT, will we lose our individual identity? Who do you have to consult when making the decision to convert to an academy – who needs to be involved and at what stage of the process? We’ve heard some local authorities are looking at setting up a multi-academy trust – could this be a potential model for the good local authorities? What happens to our existing governing body if we join an existing multi-academy trust? When setting up a multi academy trust, what appointments do you have to make? * Please be reassured that, while we are using a light-hearted format to generate interest, this column is intended to be genuinely helpful to school leaders. The questions are real problems faced by schools facing academisation, and the answers are written by legal, financial and governance experts.
Fiona Wwyeth 27 May 2016 Is the Memorandum of Understanding between the DfE and the Church of England a legally binding document? So, can Church schools become stand alone academies or do they have to become part of a diocese trust?
Naureen 29 May 2016 Good idea. These are complex issues and people need to make informed decisions. I just hope it doesn’t become a “let’s bash academies” thing.
Cath Murray 2 June 2016 Thanks for your comment, Naureen. We have updated the text above to clear up any misunderstandings about the nature of this column!
Fred Dred 2 June 2016 If you are setting up a MAT what are the minimum number of executive appointments you need to make and what roles do they do?
Cath Murray 31 August 2016 http://schoolsweek.co.uk/when-setting-up-a-multi-academy-trust-what-appointments-do-you-have-to-make/