trusts | Schools Week

RSC adviser roles thrown open to CEOs, with elections set for September

Academy trust chief executives without headship experience can now serve as advisors to regional schools commissioners, the government has confirmed as it prepares for fresh elections for the posts. Official documents seen by Schools Week show the board elections will begin in September, after planned polls last year were shelved because of Covid. The government wants […]

New academy rules put trust autonomy at risk, say sector leaders

Sector leaders are warning the new academy trust handbook could undermine board autonomy , and demanding the government confirm whether it spells “broader intervention” in future. Most of the changes to the rebranded 2021 edition, previously known as the academies financial handbook, are simply pulling in existing school guidance from elsewhere. Minister Baroness Berridge’s foreword […]

Speed read: ‘Academy trust handbook’ 2021 published as DfE rebrands key guide

The DfE has rebranded the academies financial handbook as the academy trust handbook, with ministers dubbing the latest edition a “one stop shop” for academy leaders. The update has also seen financial notices to improve renamed as “notices to improve”, to reflect that the warnings issued to academies sometimes cover “broader governance issues”. Baroness Berridge, […]

DfE report: Schools in big MATs shun moves to share responsibility for excluded pupils

Schools in large multi-academy trusts have “refused to engage” in efforts to make them more responsible for excluded pupils in some parts of England, according to a government-commissioned report on alternative provision. New research for the Department for Education highlighted the need for “formal mechanisms” to deal with mainstream schools declining to work more closely […]