Friday 21 May 2021

21 May 2021 Government launches Trust Capacity Fund for 2021-22

The DfE has launched the Trust Capacity Fund for the 2021-22 financial year which will award up to £24m to help trusts develop their capacity to grow.  It has a focus on supporting strong trusts, and strong schools forming trusts, to take on underperforming schools in areas of higher need

It is part of the government's vision, announced recently, for all schools to be part of a family of schools in strong academy trusts

There are two strands - under strand A, trusts can get up to £310K to take on schools in 118 areas whilst strand B offers up to £100K for schools elsewhere in the country

Additionally, and also part of its academy trust vision, the government has named the first seven faith school trusts, including five Catholic trusts and two Church of England ones

Church schools not taking part in this pilot can still join, or set up a trust, but the DfE advises that they speak to their diocese and regional school commissioner first

Friday 14 May 2021

14 May 2021 Education Staff Wellbeing Charter sets out actions to prioritise teacher mental health

Schools have been invited to sign up to a new charter to support teachers' mental health

The new Education Staff Wellbeing Charter includes twelve commitments by the DfE and Ofsted, including reducing unnecessary workloads, championing flexible working and diversity and improving access to mental health resources

It also includes eleven actions that schools and trusts can pledge to take to improve staff wellbeing:

  1. Prioritise staff mental health 
  2. Give staff the support they need to take responsibility for their own and other people's wellbeing
  3. Give managers access to the tools and resources they need to support the wellbeing of those they line-manage
  4. Establish a clear communications policy
  5. Give staff a voice in decision making
  6. Drive down unnecessary workload
  7. Champion flexible working and diversity
  8. Create a good behaviour culture
  9. Support staff to progress in their careers
  10. A sub-strategy for protecting leader wellbeing and mental health
  11. Hold ourselves accountable, including by measuring staff wellbeing

Friday 7 May 2021

7 May 2021 Ofsted announce that MAT summary evaluations are likely to resume in early 2022

Ofsted's summary evaluations of multi-academy trusts are likely to resume in early 2022, the chief inspector has said

Amanda Spielman told the Confederation of School Trusts that Ofsted would resume the evaluations 'as soon as we can'

Trust summary evaluations allow Ofsted to assess the quality of education and leadership within trusts, based on inspectors' visits to a number of schools within them

The evaluations were temporarily suspended at the start of the pandemic in March 2020


30 April 2021 Government's vision for all schools to be part of a strong academy trust

The government has announced new policies to move the sector towards its vision of all schools being part of a strong academy trust.

Non-statutory guidance has been published which includes

- consultation on long standing 'requires improvement' schools joining trusts

- plans to make it easier to join multi-academy trusts

- an increase in the trust capacity fund for 2021-22 to £24million

- schools able to join a multi-academy trust temporarily before deciding whether to join permanently through the concept of 'trust partnerships'

- £1.25million to establish a new 'turnaround' trust specifically for Roman Catholic schools in need of intensive support

- a pilot programme with the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church to set up new academy trusts

- greater clarity in the academies handbook, with a clear regulatory framework that can support strong trusts