Academisation
Academy Conversion Consultation Document
Consultation on the question of whether or not New Oscott Primary School should convert to academy status within Broadleaf Partnership Trust
Key information
How long is the consultation open for?
This consultation will close on Wednesday 9th April.
How do I make my views known?
This opportunity will be provided at the presentation meeting on Tuesday 11th March. You can have your say using the form at the bottom of this page.
Current position
The governing body of New Oscott Primary School is considering whether or not the school should convert to an academy within Broadleaf Partnership Trust. The governing body has applied to the Department for Education (DfE) for an academy order, which is an ‘in principle’ decision of the DfE as to whether the proposal would be acceptable. There is no intention to formalise any agreement to convert until they have considered the views of both staff and parents collected throughout this consultation period. The DfE have been approached informally to sense-check their appetite for this partnership and can confirm that it would be supported in principle, subject to their own due diligence.
How will the consultation impact on the governing body's decision?
The governing body will not take a final decision on the question until this consultation process for parents and staff has been completed. The governors will then consider any comments / representations received before deciding whether to continue with the conversion to academy status.
Why convert to become an academy?
We are not being forced to convert and very much want to take the decision ourselves about where our future lies. We are undergoing much change at New Oscott Primary School over the next year, with a fantastic new building and a change in leadership following the retirement of the Headteacher. Having explored various scenarios, as well as benefitting from professional development opportunities that will enhance pupil learning opportunities, we believe our school will be more financially secure and better supported operationally by being part of an academy trust.
What is the proposal?
The governors are exploring whether to convert the school to academy status specifically within Broadleaf Partnership Trust.
Why this Trust?
Broadleaf Partnership Trust is a Multi Academy Trust (a MAT) which currently operates five schools (Plantsbrook School, Perryfields Academy, Court Farm Primary School, Holland House Infant School and Town Junior School).
We have spent some significant time evaluating which Trust might best serve our school community and, after considering our options, we have decided that the values of Broadleaf Partnership Trust are a ‘good fit’ to our own and are confident that this is a Trust that will support our school to continue to best serve its community in the way we know works for our children.
The Trust have set out their vision and values as follows:
Vision
Broadleaf Partnership Trust will lead and enable community centred schools that raise and realise aspirations, celebrate success, and promote a love of learning.
Values
Aspiration
We celebrate a culture of continuous improvement, where all stakeholders are motivated to achieve the very best for every child. We aspire to create learning environments that foster curiosity, inclusivity and creativity so that every child recognises their potential and develops ambitions that reflect their future goals.
Alliance
Working in partnership across our schools and in affiliation with other stakeholders, across the education sector and beyond, we can access information and networks that help to continually developing our people, communities, and practice. Our collaborative approach enhances the strength of unity across our Trust whilst simultaneously recognising the uniqueness within our schools. We align many of our operational aspects whilst empowering learning leaders to meet the curriculum needs of their community.
Agility
We are agile in our approach, embracing changes, and focused on excellence. We ignite and harness people’s passion by encouraging experimentation and innovation to make learning meaningful, build organisational resilience and ensure our approach stays current. We adopt a culture of shared and servant leadership across our Trust that enables action and provides the flexibility to respond to the ever-changing climate.
Broadleaf Partnership Trust encourages collaboration between their schools and cultivates the climate for staff across their network to learn from each other, further improving the learning opportunities for our children. This Trust is financially sound (holding a significant reserve) and is strong in its operational delivery. It is expected that this will mean that our school leaders can concentrate less on operational issues and more on teaching and learning. They operate locally to New Oscott, meaning we can take full advantage of a wider network. Their schools include Plantsbrook School, a destination for many of our pupils.
How would the school change?
On a day to day basis, the pupils and teaching staff would probably see little change. In operational areas (such as finance, HR and estates), new systems would need to be put in place but we would ensure that all staff are fully supported to meet this change.
Over the longer term, we consider that the move to collaborate within the Broadleaf Partnership Trust group of schools could put the school in a stronger position which would ultimately benefit everyone.
How could this affect our pupils and families?
There are no plans to change the existing school name. We may consider a slight change to our school logo but this change would be brought in gradually and there would be no need to alter the school uniforms or anything else concerned with the day to day delivery of what we do.
The school would still be obliged to offer a broad and balanced curriculum and adhere to national testing strategies.
We intend to keep with the current arrangements for admissions which are determined by the local authority. That means being very inclusive by welcoming children with disabilities and special needs, and giving preferential admission to siblings.
Working in closer partnership with other schools we can ensure that our staff, and therefore children are offered the best possible opportunity to succeed. The increased access to professional development and network opportunities for staff will translate into improved teaching and learning in the classroom which will serve to benefit our pupils.
Some of the projects that the Trust are working on this year to add significant benefit are a DfE pilot project for fluency in reading and harnessing the use of Google Classroom and AI to assist teaching and instant feedback for pupils.
What does this mean for staff?
Were the school to convert, the staff would transfer to Broadleaf Partnership Trust under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (the Regulations). These Regulations ensure that staff transfer on their existing terms and conditions. Pensions for staff would also remain unaffected.
It is likely that staff will see very little change (except who they are employed by) on a daily basis. If there were to be any planned changes then there is a legal responsibility to highlight these clearly in the TUPE consultation process and they will be classed as measures.
Within a group structure such as Broadleaf Partnership Trust there might also be the opportunity for staff to work in another school within the group, should they wish to. We would also propose to combine some of our CPD programme with the other schools, thereby increasing staff development opportunities.
Would the school still have a governing body?
Broadleaf Partnership Trust has a board of trustees which would oversee this school as well as the other schools for which it was responsible. In addition, the Trustees are keen to ensure local expertise is drawn upon and, as such are resolute that a local committee remains in place as part of the overall governance structure. There will still be an opportunity for elected parents to join the governing body and, indeed a number of parents from Broadleaf Partnership Trust schools are currently serving as Trustees.
What about the governing body's obligations under the Equality Act 2010?
The governors are mindful of their duty to have due regard to the need to:
- eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
- advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and
- foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
The relevant protected characteristics are:
age,
disability,
gender re-assignment,
pregnancy and maternity,
race,
religion or belief,
sex, and
sexual orientation.
The governing body will be carrying out its own assessment of any such impact on the protected characteristics of a decision to move forward with academy status, but if there is anything related to this which you would like to draw to the governors' attention, please get in touch.
Link to online Form to submit your views - click here
