Agenda item

Pat Fielding, Chief Executive Officer, Nottingham Schools Trust, gave a comprehensive presentation on the Nottingham Schools Trust, running through its history and development and future aims. He highlighted the following points:

(a)  The Nottingham Schools Trust is not an academy trust, it is a collection of maintained schools and single academy schools that work together sharing knowledge, support and resources;

(b)  Key priorities for all schools within the Nottingham Schools Trust are:

·  Safeguarding

·  School improvement

·  Support for vulnerable schools

·  School governance

·  Succession planning

·  Shared data sets

·  Common policy sets

·  Business functions leading to efficiencies

(c)  Each school pays a membership subscription fee for 5 year membership to the Trust. This fee is matched by Nottingham City Council and the Trust also receives grant funding from the government;

(d)  Schools within the Trust receive:  

·  School improvement services, including advisory, challenge and support services

·  Risk assessment, analysis and intervention

·  Teaching and learning consultancy

·  Subject Leader Networks

·  Agreed policy sets

·  School to School Support

·  Continuing professional development

(e)  Schools within the Trust retain autonomy over budget, curriculum and day to day management;

(f)  Each term subject leaders’ networks take place and act as a way of passing on learning and best practice. There are also support networks for new staff who meet with experienced staff ;

(g)  The trust has a website, www.nottinghamschoolstrust.org.uk which staff can use as a portal to access the Trust’s resources. There is also a twitter account which is used to celebrate the achievements of the pupils within the schools;

Following questions and comments from the Committee the following information was given:

(h)  There have been a number of other local authorities who are interested in Nottingham Schools Trust model and although it would be possible to make it work in other authorities it has worked so well in Nottingham because those involved have an in depth knowledge of Nottingham schools and their staff;

(i)  The Trust and its work are reviewed annually and will continue to be reviewed. If after 5 years the decision is made to dissolve the Trust it is possible to do so. Schools will also be able to leave the Trust after 5 years if they choose to;

(j)  The main challenges facing the Trust are financial. The Local Authority may choose not to match fund the schools’ fees, or grant funding from the Government could be reduced. The Trust would not be able to run on the schools membership fees alone;

(k)  The Trust also has a variety of programmes looking at the social aspect of children’s lives, and a close working relationship with the Virtual School to allow closer working around exclusions;

(l)  The Trust is not recognised as a statutory body. This does not limit its work in anyway and allows schools to remain autonomous where within an academy trust they would lose that;

(m)  The Trust is still in its infancy, as new opportunities to work with the voluntary and community sector arise and the capacity to work with them builds the Trust will encourage further engagement;

RESOLVED to thank Pat Fielding for his attendance and to note the content of the in depth presentation.