Our financial strategy ensures that trustees and management and each of our constituent schools, can take full responsibility for our financial affairs, stewardship of assets and that we use resources efficiently to maximise outcomes for pupils. This means we will carefully review expenditure, making best use of the trust’s size to secure economies of scale. We invest in our schools to ensure they are inspiring and engaging places to learn and work and that they exploit every opportunity to raise standards and improve pedagogy. The investment and management of our estates will ensure our buildings are well-maintained, safe and welcoming spaces that are conducive to learning and work.
The trust continues to invest in our schools to ensure they provide an effective learning environment, are well-maintained, safe and engaging places so they are conducive to learning, work and innovation.
Operational Financial and Estate services are provided centrally in combination with localised services provided by school-based business and estate professionals.
Our core offer and areas of support include:
- Strategic Financial Planning and the production of the three-year financial plans
- Provision and maintenance of the system of internal financial controls incorporating the Trust’s Scheme of Financial delegation and the associated devolved budgetary control system
- Preparation of the annual budget l working with the Trust’s Executive Team, Headteachers and school-based business professionals incorporating both revenue and capital budgets.
- Strategic advice on capital projects.
- Preparation of monthly management accounts and forecast outturns.
- Transaction coding advice and enquiry resolution
- Payment advice, enquiry resolution and payment runs
- Management of agreed payroll services contract
- Management of the annual external audits and ensuring that our financial controls are as prescribed by the Academies Handbook.
- Management of the Trust’s Treasury Management policy
- Completion of Statutory Returns to the DfE, ESFA and HMRC
- Ensuring that all schools meet all the current and future requirements of regulations and standards associated with ESFA/DfE guidance contained within the Academies Handbook and other EFSA/DfE instructions.
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High quality learning and development opportunities for all colleagues are vital when providing the best education for our students. Our learning and development strategies are strategically driven, responsive to need and draws on expertise from both within and outside the Trust. Our strategy will support continuous improvement at all levels, reflecting our philosophy that regardless of career stage or job role, we can be ‘better every day’. Collaboration is at the heart of our work to draw upon talent from across the Trust whilst supporting innovation and research by forging exceptional partnerships from the wider education/non-education sector.
Our ‘Guiding Principles’ underpin our clear rationale and support our sharing of best practice in curriculum design, assessment and culture and behaviour and our ‘Frameworks’ for learning and development outline programmes to which colleagues are entitled.
Our core offer, which drives school improvement and the learning & development of all colleagues, includes:
- Collaborative Review meetings which supports diagnostic assessment of school strengths and areas for improvement.
- Facilitated Self-Evaluations to systematically review and analyses key aspects of school operations by engaging peer support from across the trust.
- Trust-wide moderation facilitated by external partners and experts to support professional dialogue regarding benchmarking, standards and outcomes.
- Professional networks provide a structured forum for the acquisition and sharing of subject/curriculum knowledge driven by headteacher assessment of needs.
- Targeted support for schools in need of rapid improvement in school standards, including the deployment of school development partner and brokering high quality external expertise.
- Early Career Teacher support through delivery of Early Career Framework and Induction in partnership with Bright Futures/Teach First.
- The Associate Programme nurtures leadership talent and provides structured opportunities for career development.
- Access to a full suite of eight National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) through partnership with Bright Futures Teaching School Hub.
- Our core CPD offer includes fully resourced deliberate practice clinics delivered by instructional coaches which has helped to galvanise staff, improve the delivery of the curriculum, and secure a shift to the trust mindset.