All posts tagged: academies

Academy trust CEO pay ‘should follow rules in line with NHS’

Academy trust CEO pay ‘should follow rules in line with NHS’

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Academy bosses’ pay should follow “rules” that are “in line” with other parts of the public sector like the NHS, the schools minister has said, as government prepares to announce curbs on CEO salaries. Schools Week understands the government will announce controls on MAT CEO pay alongside the long-awaited teacher pay award for September, which could come as soon as tomorrow. In a Q&A with this newspaper, Georgia Gould said “nothing is off the table” as the government seeks to ensure salaries and annual pay rises awarded to academy trust executives are “proportionate and justifiable”. Senior managers in the NHS must have high salaries signed off by officials, with pay at the largest trusts capped at around £280,000. Academy trusts face no such rules, with six bosses now earning over £300,000 and the highest earner on more than £500,000. The Department for Education said in its white paper that it would “tighten” rules in the academy trust handbook to “prevent excessive increases for individuals carrying out broadly similar roles”. Gould told Schools Week: “School leaders are …

Cleaners consider strike as Ark cancels wage agreement

Cleaners consider strike as Ark cancels wage agreement

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One of England’s most influential academy trusts has stopped offering the real living wage to staff this year, blaming stretched budgets and falling rolls. Ark Schools, which runs 39 schools, made the admission as cleaners in one of its London academies vote on whether to strike over the move. The union representing the workers argued that the pay changes have forced the lowest paid “to shoulder the burden of financial pressures while others higher up the organisation remain protected”. Source link

Academy trust with £9m deficit names new CEO

Academy trust with £9m deficit names new CEO

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The academy trust in the largest financial hole in England has named its new chief executive, days after the resignation of its last boss. Lisa Walton has today been installed as acting CEO of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic MAT, which has been the subject of ministerial scrutiny and strikes after sliding into an over £9 million deficit. This comes after the 25-school chain announced on Friday that previous chief Kevin Gritton, who had been in post for almost four years, had resigned with immediate effect. The new CEO St Ralph chair Sarah Noon confirmed this afternoon that Walton has been appointed acting chief until August 2027. “The appointment is effective from today and has been approved by the Bishop of Nottingham and the Department for Education,” she added. For the last four years, Walton has been deputy of the East Midlands Education, which has 24 schools on its books. “During this time, she also served as interim CEO for 14 months. She is a practising Catholic,” Noon continued. “On behalf of the trust board, …

More schools get condition improvement fund (CIF) cash

More schools get condition improvement fund (CIF) cash

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More schools have been given a share of a £450 million pot for vital repairs, halting a six-year slide that saw the number of successful bidders more than halve. But government figures, published this morning, show one region received just 1 per cent of funding through the multi-million-pound capital programme, called the condition improvement fund (CIF). CIF is only available to standalone academies or trusts with fewer than five schools wanting to keep a building “safe and in good working order”. Larger academy chains and council schools get capital funding allocated automatically through a separate route. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s funding round… 1. More successful schools Overall, 684 schools were awarded CIF grants for 813 projects. The number of successful schools and applications were both up slightly on 12 months ago. This is the first time the figures have risen since 2020, when 1,685 schools were given cash for over 2,100 projects. The average amount awarded per project also dropped for the first time in years. It now stands at …

Turnaround Catholic trust will be one of England’s largest

Turnaround Catholic trust will be one of England’s largest

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A government-backed pilot turnaround trust for Catholic schools will morph into one of England’s biggest – as church bosses say 70-strong MATs are “becoming the norm”. The St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust is set to swell to 65 academies in just a few years, having originally been trialled by the government as a home for so-called “orphan” schools. It is one of three trusts that will share over 200 schools across the Archdiocese of Liverpool, which has torn up previous plans to move its primaries and secondaries into 12 smaller trusts. Source link

Trust with £8m deficit to be broken up

Trust with £8m deficit to be broken up

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A troubled academy trust saddled with an over £8 million deficit is set to be carved up in one of the largest-ever MAT closures. Schools Week previously revealed how the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) had racked up seven-figure losses after purchasing iPads as part of an initiative to provide 11,000 devices for all pupils and staff. Staff walkouts across 20 of its schools over planned redundancies and the resignation of the trust’s CEO later followed. But today, interim boss Lee Miller revealed education secretary Bridget Phillipson has decided all the trust’s academies “should transition to a small number of high-performing, regionally based” chains. “This is intended to ensure schools continue to benefit from strong regional expertise, local understanding and ongoing support,” he said. “While this decision ultimately rests with the secretary of state, we believe this approach provides the strongest opportunity to support ongoing school improvement, long-term stability and the very best educational outcomes.” iPad scheme changes In 2024, Arthur Terry was issued with a notice to improve by the Department for Education on …

Trust issued improvement notice after pupil stabbed to death

Trust issued improvement notice after pupil stabbed to death

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A 13-school trust has been issued an improvement notice over safeguarding failings after a pupil was murdered at one of its academies. Fifteen-year-old Harvey Willgoose was stabbed to death by Mohammed Umar Khan at Sheffield’s All Saints Catholic High School in February 2025. An external investigation conducted following the attack uncovered numerous failings, including “multiple instances of poor record keeping and communication” in relation to safeguarding matters. And in an official notice to improve, published on Friday, Department for Education officials told St Clare Catholic MAT, which runs All Saints, it had broken academy rules “given the seriousness of the findings”. “I recognise the cooperation and extensive discussions that have taken place between the trust and officials,” they said. “However, this notice will be in place until such time as I have full assurances that there are appropriate and compliant safeguarding controls at the trust.” ‘Oversights and assumptions’ Khan, also 15, had deliberately concealed and taken a hunting knife into the Sheffield school, the Crown Prosecution Service said. He had also ignored a friend’s plea …

Schools and Academies Show: Live blog

Schools and Academies Show: Live blog

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The government’s SEND reforms, Ofsted inspections and school improvement are all on the agenda at the Schools and Academies Show in London. Speakers from the government, inspectorate and schools and trusts across England will address delegates at the event today. Schools Week’s team of journalists is on-site at the Excel centre to report on the most interesting talks and discussions.   Source link

Ark boss Lucy Heller to step down after 22 years

Ark boss Lucy Heller to step down after 22 years

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One of the most influential academy trust bosses is set to step down after more than two decades in the job. Ark chief executive Lucy Heller – who oversees 39 schools across the country – will leave the role at the end of this academic year. Trust chair Tina Alexandrou said Heller “has dedicated more than two decades to making sure that children get the education they deserve”. “Not only has she grown a network of successful schools where young people can truly flourish, but her influence on the wider sector – as a credible voice and tireless champion of educational equity – is substantial.” 22 years at Ark Heller, who leads the trust as well as the wider Ark charity, joined as the founding director of the organisation’s academy trust, Ark Schools, in 2004. She became CEO of the wider charity eight years later. Ark said she arrived in the organisation’s “early days” when it had a small portfolio of local and international partnerships in social care, health, including HIV treatment, and education programmes. …

Church shelves consultation on MAT inspections

Church shelves consultation on MAT inspections

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The Church of England has shelved a consultation on plans to launch its own multi-academy trust inspections, just days after first unveiling the proposals. Church bosses, who were approached by the government to pilot the checks, said they made the decision after receiving the first batch of responses to its vision for the MAT-level assessments. But they expect to “revisit” the plans later in the year, as their Catholic counterparts establish a “working group” to draw up their own framework to trial trust inspections. Source link