ACADEMIES

1. ACADEMIES Now Next

3. Structure

4. Archdiocese of Birmingham Academy provision Converter Academies Birmingham Diocesan Trust BRCDT Reg The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust No overall control by the Birmingham Diocese Commitment to the Catholic character of the academies Protecting the interests of the Trustees of the member dioceses or religious orders The Diocesan Bishop appoints the Foundation Directors to the Board of Directors of each Multi-academy Company and the Academy Foundation Representatives to the Academy Committees Lease of property by the BDT to the Multi-academy Company (MAC) for 125 years The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust is the founder member of each multi-academy company (MAC) MAC MAC MAC

5. Archdiocese of Birmingham Academy provision Converter Academies The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust Birmingham Diocesan Trust Multi-academy Company The St Benedict Catholic Collegiate Founder Member is The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust Multi-academy Company The St Gregory Catholic Collegiate Founder Member is The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust Multi-academy Company The St Augustine Catholic Collegiate Founder Member is The Barberi and Newman Academy Trust

6. Multi-academy Board of Directors

7. Strategic Board of Directors + MAC Business Manager managing the Services Team • Foundation Directors (in the majority by 2) - 8 minimum - appointed by Bishop • Principals - 2 maximum or 1 Executive Principal • Staff Directors - 2 maximum - elected • Parent Directors - 2 elected or appointed • Basic Total = 14 Strategic Core Committees of Directors Dealing with: mission, strategy, standards, provision, resources and services Board of Directors delegates some local responsibilities to Academy Committees

8. Local Academy Committee • Academy Foundation Representatives (in the majority by 2) - 7 minimum – appointed by Bishop • Academy Parent Representative - 2 maximum - elected or appointed • Academy Staff Representative - 2 - elected • Principal of the Academy - 1 • Basic Total = 12 Local matters Catholic life Day to day e.g. H & S Staffing appointments below P and VP Unique identity Local community Traditions Delegated some local responsibilities

9. Strategic Core Committees of Directors Dealing with: mission, strategy, standards, provision, resources and services + Board of Directors Overall responsibility Ultimate decision-making Secures the mission Holds the vision Drives improvement Holds to account Academy Committee + Strategic Framework Mission Vision Aims Objectives Policies Priorities Targets Plans Review progress Monitor & evaluate impact Review overall effectiveness Operational matters Catholic life Implementation of policy Day-to-day Culture and traditions Parents – primary educators Church, priest, parish Relationships with other schools and partners Feedback and evidence of impact … Evaluation of effectiveness of strategic framework

10. New Landscape

11. MAC model • MAC rooted permanently in company law as a legal entity • Identity, Catholic character, structure, governance, a family relationship • Secondary and feeder primary schools • Secondary/secondary or primary/primary • Can still have formal partnerships for specific reasons of a temporary nature with all other schools/academies • Memorandum of Understanding / Contract • MAC membership fundamentally has to be strategic and for the long term • Relational - education for children 3-18 - child at the heart … and families • Pragmatically geographical and realistically manageable • Breaks down the divide at 11 and tackles progression and continuity • Individual accountability, collective responsibility and collaborative action • Defines excellence and benchmarks of success locally • Determines how school improvement will work to raise standards for all • Autonomy to drive innovation and sustainable improvement

12. DIOCESAN PROVISION Academies / Federations / Collaborations /Individual VA schools

13. AREA WIDE (LA?) Academies / Federations / Collaborations / Free Schools / Chains / Schools

14. AREA WIDE (LA?) Academies / Federations / Collaborations / Free Schools / Chains / Schools System-Wide …

15. Reality

16. List status …??? Impact of new inspection framework? Future …??? Some statistics • Current Ofsted grades - April 2012 • Outstanding 15%  37 schools • Good 49% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- • Satisfactory 35%  82 schools • Notice to improve 0.4% • Special measures 0.4% • 5 schools already identified by the OSC for forced academy conversion • 2 in Ofsted categories of concern • 38 schools on the Ofsted ‘3000 Stuck Schools’ list (2 satisfactory inspections) • 82 schools are currently satisfactory • Some recent inspections - a drop in grades Constantly changing

17. Realistic and pragmatic • Have academy documents – academy neutral • Moral obligation to advise schools potentially at risk • Before they are on the radar for forced conversion and need a ‘structural solution’ • Process for converter academies involves choice • Process for forced academies removes choice and forces a solution • Currently – sponsored academy - an unresolved area of difficulty … (see FAQs) • If you think you are at risk … what do you see as your options? • Neighbouring Catholic school at risk … what do you see as its options? • Can you afford to think it will never happen to you? • DES will work with schools at risk to engage their potential partners in a MAC – the only other option is to wait … hope they don’t come on the OSC radar … or … ultimately … risk closure • AND … “The DfE expects schools that are performing well who wish to convert to support at least one weaker school and for this support to be focused on having a measurable impact on standards.” • See DfE Guide to Becoming an Academy

18. Context • Fundamental change to the nature of LAs • Commissioner of services • More about removal of LA control than about ‘academy-guarantees’ • Increasingly – ‘partnerships and collaborations’ • Support via ‘school-to-school’ improvement • Uncertain future … or … freedoms? • Autonomy … or … anxiety? • Drive destiny … or … be done to?

19. Pressure points? • Government policy = ACADEMIES, ACADEMIES, ACADEMIES • Additional legislation • To create warp and weft to embed academies • To remove LA control • To facilitate faster DfE intervention • Raised expectations re: standards • Ofsted focus on all schools being good / outstanding • OSC targeting of schools classed as underperforming or coasting • ‘Structural solutions’ … anything, as long as it’s an academy

20. InnovationMAC opportunities?

21. Catholic identity • Embed a strong Catholic identity in a locality and re-define the provision of Catholic education • Always … based on Catholic mission, values and principles but a new legal framework • Use MAC model - build new structure for Catholic provision and make it strong • Generate a vision for Catholic education in this new context • Open/drive a debate about the aims, purposes and outcomes of Catholic education • Build a different concept of ‘school’, ‘leadership’ and ‘governance’ etc. • Generate innovation in leadership, curriculum and pedagogy … open to change • Drive a Catholic understanding of inclusion and community cohesion • Define ‘privilege’? • Develop collective responsibility for and collaborative action to improve: • Standards, learning and the holistic development of the human person • Define ‘excellence’ and ‘benchmarks’ in a Catholic context and local setting • To share as MAC outcomes with the parents and wider community

22. Collaborative practice • Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration – ‘in communion’ • Develop a deeper understanding of collaboration in practice • Needs to be understood better / differently in order to innovate • Deepen an understanding of working together in the MAC: • Autonomy + accountability = improved outcomes • Free up and share knowledge, expertise, skills and good practice from individual schools across the MAC to improve the wider system • Flexibility because of single Board of Directors as employer • Helps make the best of local networking

23. Collective leadership • Grow and develop a different kind of leadership in broadest sense • Directors’ role - strong strategically – care for all – drive flexibility – solution focused • Principals’ role - supportive yet challenging – exercised collectively and collaboratively with individual accountability for standards at academy level • Reduce isolation of headship experience and ‘lone’ accountability for standards and improvement • Potentially more attractive to new principals? • MAC-wide Team Leadership: • Principals - define ‘excellence’ – share and interrogate academies’ data – drill down – identify cause and effect – find solutions – identify, use and deploy expertise and resources across the MAC • Plan and implement collaborative strategies for improvement – know what works well and why and spread it – use distributed leadership + middle leader expertise • MAC-wide Leadership Teams • ‘Leading for Excellence Teams’ to develop senior / middle leaders - succession planning • ‘Leading Improvement Teams’ for: Early Years / Key Stages / subjects / aspects / CPD • ‘Leading Research and Development Teams’ with emphasis on: pedagogy from 3-18

24. Teacher excellence • Invest in development for quality - to make a difference • Teaching and leadership • Policy of entitlement to planned / incremental professional development across the MAC • MAC-wide succession planning policy backed with coaching and mentoring • ‘Apprenticeship’ programmes • MAC-wide teacher/staff professional profiles used for a variety of purposes • ‘Response Teams’ – with training and development and forward planning of ‘backfill’ arrangements to deploy staff flexibly in response to need to protect children’s learning • ‘Leading Learning’ and ‘Curriculum Teams’ – supporting short and medium term planning and classroom practice … with training and development … protecting continuity when staff leave / maternity leave / sickness absence etc • Teaching school alliances - licensed providers - build sustainability

25. Best quality and value • 4Cs – challenge, compare, consult, compete … outcomes • Self-improving school system • In-house research and development on best practice • MAC to MAC networking • 4Cs – challenge, compare, consult, compete • MAC Business Manager – leading MAC-wide Services Team • Enables professionals to focus on learning and achievement • Secure economies of scale and best value • Procurement and purchase of services etc • MAC to MAC regional purchasing power QA

26. MIDDLE TIER? School Improvement? Representation? Monitoring? Intervention? DES Policy underpinning

27. Outcomes Talent management Catholic world-view Define meanings Archdiocese of Birmingham Mission and Communion Deepen understanding School-to-school support SISS NLEs / LLEs / SLEs Teaching school alliances Induction, training and development Succession planning NC Licensed providers Team Leadership and Leadership Teams Leading Learning

29. Some things never changeStart and end here

30. Envision and Secure the Future Know who we are and our destiny Know where we have our origins and roots Know why … Hold dear to what we believe Now, … there is an invitation … to review how we have provided Catholic education since 1944 and think differently … create ‘new’ Roots and fruits …

31. Process

32. Informed decision making • Tell DES at the earliest opportunity • Read all you can • Discuss together • DfE modified documents to guide conversion • Diocesan academy conversion documents • Realise … • Together you could form something very different • It could be much better than just putting lots of schools together … and doing the same as before

33. Building relationships • Needs maturity • Needs courage and humility • Needs trust • Know and understand the nature of ‘change’ and transformation • Get together and work at sorting a MAC grouping • Some schools have been / will be approached by the DES to consider MACs to support schools targeted by the OSC • Advantages? • Barriers – can they be broken down? • Innovate … • Consider implicit freedoms more than explicit freedoms

34. Progress process • Complete DES proforma • Begin formal conversion • Legal support • DfE support • DES support