The process to become a trust school is straightforward and ensures both parents and the local community are fully consulted. The basic process is as follows:
The school's governing body decides it would like to become a trust school and who it would like to work with. They then draw up proposals and consult with parents and other stakeholders.
On agreement with stakeholders following this first stage of consultation formal, ‘statutory proposals’ are published. After this consultation the governing body decide whether to establish a trust.
Once the trust is established, the land is transferred to the trust (and must be used for educational purposes) and new governors are appointed.
If a local authority thinks that the views of parents and local stakeholders have not been adequately listened to, or that the trust will be unable to raise educational standards, it can refer the school’s proposals to the schools adjudicator.
The time taken for each school to go through the process may be different. The process can start at any time during the school year and the timescales will depend on how much detail has already been agreed by the school and its partners before beginning the formal process and on how frequently the governing body meets. It can be achieved in as little as 16 weeks (term time) though many schools take approaching a year to go through the process.
Examples of benefits for young people underway at the Garforth School Partnership Trust include:
The governors of the school decide on the partners and stakeholders that they believe can play a role in the success of the school. The partners can include:
The level of involvement a partner has with a trust school will depend on the needs of the school and the resources available. The creation of a trust will allow firm foundations to be put in place allowing schools and partners to work together in the most effective way. Different partner will bring different skills and expertise to schools and what they can contribute will be shared as part of the consultation process. If it is not clear from the ‘vision’ statement for the trust what the trust hopes to achieve then parents can ask their school to share this.
To identify the most appropriate partners a school must have a clear vision and focus. This will increase the engagement of partners and contribute to the long term success of the trust school. For a school to be successful in engaging with partners it will need to build a business case for support and tailor its approach to any potential companies/organisations etc.
There is some specific legislation that applies to the disposal of a schools playing fields and this applies to a trust school just as it applies to any maintained school. There is a specific process that a trust school will need to follow to enable it to dispose of these assets irrespective of who the partners in the trust may be.
It provides them with an opportunity to engage with young people and potential future employees and develop relationships that can enhance long-term brand recognition. They may see it as part of their community and social responsibility to support a school in their local area.
Yes. All trust schools, primary, secondary or special deliver the national curriculum.
No. Schools that are community schools, foundation schools or trust schools are all subject to local authority plans for reorganisation. If your local authority plans to close a school then it must consult with parents before it does so and this would remain the case if your child’s school is a trust school.
No, the governors will remain responsible for running the school and the school will still continue to be inspected by Ofsted. The partners will be engaged in the running of the trust and meeting the educational aims of the trust.
A trust school may set its own holiday dates though it may want to consider the dates of other schools in the area so that families with children who attend different schools may have some consistency in respect of term time.