Trust Schools:
Guidance for
Governing Bodies

June 2009

Foreword by Gordon Jeyes

Deputy Chief Executive for

Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS)

Dear Colleague,

I am delighted to introduce this Guidance to Governing Bodies on Trust Schools.

There are already four Educational Trusts supporting schools within Cambridgeshire:

  • The City of Cambridge Education Foundation (supporting Parkside and Coleridge Community Colleges and Ridgefield Primary School, and soon to be supporting the new Southern Fringe Secondary School).
  • The Comberton Educational Trust (supporting Comberton Village College and Jeavons Wood; the third Cambourne Primary School).
  • The Cambridge Meridian Trust (supporting Swavesey Village College and soon to be supporting the new Northstowe Secondary School)
  • The Thomas Clarkson Educational Trust (supporting Thomas Clarkson Community College)

A number of other schools are in the process of acquiring Trusts and more are telling us that they would like to explore possible advantages of this model.

The County Council is committed to continued partnership working with all schools, regardless of their particular maintained status. It is entirely a matter for individual Governing Bodies as to whether the Trust school model would be the right one for their school. Where Governing Bodies are of that view then, wherever possible, the County Council wishes to provide support to those schools. This Guidance has been prepared for that purpose and particularly with a view to answering the many questions that arise for schools who are considering this model.

The Guidance has been prepared by a group of officers, from across the County Council. They have brought together their respective areas of expertise to produce what I trust you will find to be a very helpful and comprehensive document.

At the back of the Guidance there is a list of officer contacts. Please do not hesitate to make contact with the relevant officer if you require further information on any particular area. It is important that we keep in close touch with schools that are considering any change of status. It would be helpful, therefore, if you contact David Clark, Assistant Education Officer, on 01223 699782 if this is a change you might be thinking about making, so that we are in the best possible position to provide you with support and advice.

Gordon Jeyes, Executive Director: Children and Young People’s Services

Contents

Page

Introduction 4

Section 1 6

The Local Authority, The Trust and the Governing Body:

An overview of roles and responsibilities

Section 2 Part 1 11

The process to become a Trust school

Section 2 Part 2 13

Checklists for the five stages to become a Trust school

Section 2 Part 3 17

Checklist to set up a Charitable Trust

Section 3 18

Local Authority (LA) advice on the responsibilities to be

undertaken by Trust schools

Funding 18

Human Resources 20

Land and Assets 25

Admissions 27

Commissioning services 33

Section 4 Part 1 35

Local Authority (LA) advice to Trustees on establishing a

new Foundation school without a pre-existing Governing Body

Section 4 Part 2 38

Indicative timetable for setting up a new Trust School

Section 5

Changing School status once a Trust has been established 40

Contacts Page 41

Other contacts 42

Glossary 43

Appendices 44

This is an information booklet prepared by Cambridgeshire County Council for Governing Bodies of Cambridgeshire Schools. It is not a definitive legal guide to any area of law related to change of school status and should not be relied upon as such. Any Governing Body considering or undertaking a change of school status must ensure their own compliance with the statutory provisions and procedures relevant at that time. This booklet may be made available to Governing Bodies of schools outside Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire County Council does not accept liability for any act or omission of any Governing Body in relation to change of school status based only on consideration of this booklet.

Introduction to Trust Schools

This guidance has been produced for Governing Bodies. It will be most useful to Governors of Community schools and existing Foundation schools (without a Foundation) who wish to find out more about Trust school status. This is not to say that Voluntary Controlled and Voluntary Aided schools cannot become Trust schools, but to recognise that there will be greater restrictions on the nature of the Trust that such a school might be part of. Governing bodies of Church of England, Roman Catholic or Inter-denominational Voluntary Controlled or Voluntary Aided schools are advised, therefore, to contact their respective Diocesan body in the first instance. Non-denominational Voluntary Controlled Schools are advised to contact the Local Authority (LA). (Contact details are provided at the back of this Guidance.)

The decision whether to consider opting for Trust status, and what form the Trust should take, are for the School’s Governing Body. The only exception to this is where a Trust itself is the promoter of a new school. In that case the Trust, not the Governing Body of an existing school, will make the relevant decisions. For ease of reference this Guidance is set out with the Governing Body as the decision maker in the process.

There is a wealth of information available to governors, parents and potential Trust partners on Trust schools. The websites that are most useful are all listed at the back of this Guidance. This Guidance is not intended to replace or be taken in preference to any of that material. Where schools embark on this process careful reference will need to be paid to the detail of some of those documents to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. This Guidance is designed with the aim of bringing together some of that information in a more manageable format and to answer the frequently asked questions that have already arisen in Cambridgeshire.

What is a Trust School?

A Trust school is a local authority maintained Foundation school supported by a charitable Trust. The charitable Trust is made up of the school(s) and external partners who work together for the benefit of the school.

A Trust school operates within the same frameworks as other maintained schools in that it will teach the National Curriculum and be inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). (See Appendix 1 for the different types of maintained schools.) The LA will fund the school on the same basis as all other LA maintained schools and will retain its intervention powers if there are problems at the school.

The Trust will appoint either a majority or minority of governors to the school’s Governing Body (see 1.5 pages 8/9/10).

Trust schools differ because their charitable Trust establishes a formal and long-term relationship with external partners. Some schools consider acquiring a Trust as a way to raise standards, or to maintain high standards, through strengthening collaboration and drawing on the expertise and energy of their partners.

Educational Trusts must embrace promotion of educational achievement and community cohesion.

Who can become a Trust School?

Any maintained primary, secondary or special school can become a Trust school. If you are a community school you would need to become a Foundation school and acquire a Trust. If you are already a Foundation school then you need to acquire a Trust to become a Trust school.

As detailed in the Introduction, Voluntary Controlled and Voluntary Aided schools can also become Trust schools in some circumstances.

What sorts of Trust are there?

There are two types of educational Trust; a majority Trust and a minority Trust (see 1.5 pages 8/9/10). In a majority Trust then the Trust appoints the majority of the Governors to the school’s Governing Body and there must also be a Parent Council formed. In a minority Trust the Trust appoints a minority of the Governing Body; between two people and 45% of the full Governing Body. There can also be a Parent Council in a minority Trust but this is not a requirement.

The Governing Body will need to decide whether to seek a majority or minority Trust. At the moment all the Cambridgeshire schools that have or intend to acquire a Trust have chosen the minority model.

The Governing Body can choose who they would like to work with and how. There will need to be a minimum of one external partner. The types of partners chosen to be Trust members will be likely to reflect both existing successful partnership work and the vision that the school has for its future. Trust partners may be from the commercial private sector, not for profit organisations or the public sector, provided that they are suitable partners for an educational Trust.

Section 1

The Local Authority, The Trust and the Governing Body:

An overview of roles and responsibilities

1.1The Local Authority (LA)

  • The Education and Inspections Act 2006 articulates a new role for LAs as commissioners rather than direct providers of services.As leaders in their community, LA’s are responsible for shaping a system that meets local needs, through, for example, holding competitions for new schools.
  • Devolves funding to a Trust school as a Foundation school in accordance with the funding formula. The budget is devolved to the Governing Body (GB) of the school not the Trust.
  • Retains responsibility for standards and therefore has the same powers of intervention in a Trust school as any maintained school including appointment of additional governors and a change in the balance of the Governing Body, suspension of a delegated budget and, ultimately, suspension of a Governing Body and implementation of an Interim Executive Board (IEB).

1.2The Trust

  • Is not there to “run” or “take over” the school but should work to support the school on a strategic and forward-looking basis.
  • Will appoint either a majority or minority of governors to the Governing Body.
  • Will hold and strategically manage the land and assets that constitute the school. (If you are a Foundation school this will be a change for you because the Governing Body in a Foundation school will hold the land and assets.)
  • Will have specific charitable objects regarding improving educational outcomes for children and a duty to promote community cohesion.
  • May provide services to school(s) but income generated from services can only be used to further the charitable purpose of the Trust.
  • Trusts are not required to make a financial contribution to the school but may do in accordance with the charitable objects.
  • The Trust does not employ or manage the school’s staff. Trust partners should not be involved in negotiations regarding terms and conditions.
  • The Trust is responsible for the conduct of its own functions as set out in the articles of association.
  • In practice how much influence a Trust has over the school will depend on how many Trust partners there are and how many governors the Trust appoints. If you have one external partner in a Trust and the Trust appoints the majority of governors then the partner will have control of strategic decision-making through the Governing Body. See Appendix 2 for a model of how Trusts are related to the functions of the Governing Body.

1.3The Governing Body (GB)

  • Remains a corporate body with a single legal entity and as such retains all the same responsibilities as a non-Trust school. The Governing Body as a whole remains accountable for decisions taken by committees and individual members of the Governing Body. The Governing Body does not have to refer matters to the Trust in a decision-making process.
  • The Governing Body of the school will make the decisions on whether to acquire a Trust, the composition of any Trust and whether that Trust will then appoint a majority or minority of the governors to the school’s Governing Body.
  • Manages and is accountable for the delegated budget.
  • Remains accountable for the school’s performance with the headteacher retaining day-to-day responsibility for the running of the school.
  • Will have responsibility to set and ensure fair application of the school’s admission criteria, in accordance with the Statutory Admissions Code. (If you are a Foundation school you will already have this responsibility.)
  • Will employ all of the school’s staff and have consequent employment responsibility for them. (If you are a Foundation school you will already have this responsibility.) Current and future teachers must be employed using the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). The Governing Body must maintain the terms and conditions for existing non-teaching, or support staff, but does have the ability to set terms and conditions locally for support staff employed at a future date.
  • Will still be made up of prescribed categories of governor, in defined percentages but these categories will include a minority or majority of Trust appointed governors.
  • The Governing Body will still:
  • Set the school's vision and strategic aims;
  • Monitor and evaluate performance;
  • Approve the school's budget;
  • Ensure the school is accountable to those it serves;
  • Appoint the headteacher;
  • Act as a critical friend by providing challenge and support.

1.4 The relationship between the Governing Body and the Trust, in practice

As set out above the Governing Body and the Trust are two separate legal entities each with their own roles and responsibilities. However co-operative working between the two bodies will be essential to allow them both to operate for the overall benefit of the school.

Exactly how that works in practice will depend on the school in question and the purpose and nature of the Trust set up to support it.

Examples might include:

  • the sharing of Governing Body and Trust Board meetings between the two bodies.
  • having a short Governing Body/Trust updating standing agenda item on each agenda.
  • agreeing key priorities for the Trust, especially in the early months.
  • the Trust setting up an action plan to identify those key priorities, responsibility for actioning them and how achievement will be measured.
  • finding ways to ensure parents and children are aware of the work the Trust is doing and how that is benefiting the school.

1.5 Local Authority (LA) advice to Governing Bodies on establishing a Foundation

school with a Trust

This section outlines some of the advice to be given to Governing Bodies of schools who wish to change their status to foundation with a trust, with regard to governance.The decisions that need to be taken, and an indicative timetable for the next steps, are contained in Section 2, Part 1, starting on page12.

The Governing Body will need to make decisions about the composition of the future Governing Body. The Governing Body will need to consider which of the two possible governance models they prefer. The Governing Body can access advice and support from Governor Services on the process and options available.

The two permissible governance models are outlined below and the Governing Body need to select their preferred option. If you want advice on the different composition

models available, please contact Governor Services on 01223 715323.

Option 1

The Governing Body wishes the Trust to appoint a minority of the school's governors (see the Statutory Guidance on the School Governance (Constitution)(England) Regulations 2007 – Foundation and foundation special schools version), the Governing Body must comprise:

  • Trust-appointed governors: at least 2, and up to 45% of the Governing Body;
  • parent governors: at least a third of the Governing Body;
  • elected staff governors: at least 2 places, but no more than a third of the Governing Body. One place is reserved for the headteachereven if he or she chooses not to become a governor;
  • LA governors (appointed by the LA): at least 1, but not more than a fifth of the Governing Body; and
  • community governors (appointed by the rest of the Governing Body): at least one tenth of the Governing Body.

The model recommended by the LA for schools would be for Governing Body to have 15 governors. This would include governors in the following categories:Trust (3), parents (5), staff (3),LA (2), and community (2). The three staff governors would normally include the headteacher, a teacher, and a member of the support staff.

Option 2

The Governing Body wishes the Trust to appoint a majority of the school's governors. In addition, the Governing Body must also set up a Parent Councilwhen the Governing Body is established, and have regard to its views (as outlined in the requirements of the School Governance (Parent Council) (England) Regulations 2007). Guidance on the Parent Councilis also available from the DCSF’s website.

If the Governing Body wishes the Trust to appoint the majority of governors, the Governing Body must comprise:

Trust-appointed governors: up to a majority of 2, which must include a proportion eligible to be parent governors;

  • parent governors (elected by parents): at least 1;
  • elected staff governors: at least 2 places, but no more than a third of the Governing Body. One place is reserved for the headteacher even if he or she chooses not to become a governor;
  • LA governors (appointed by the LA): at least 1, but not more than a fifth of the Governing Body; and
  • community governors (appointed by the rest of the Governing Body): at least one tenth of the Governing Body.

The model recommended by the LA for schools would be for theGoverning Body to have 15 governors. This would include governors in the following categories:Trust (7), parents (2), staff (3),LA (1),and community (2). The seven Trust governors would include 3 who would be eligible as parent governors. The three staff governors would normally include the headteacher, a teacher, and a member of the support staff.

Trust governorsare nominated bythe Trust. Trust governorscan be Trustees, or members of the Trust, or any individual nominated by the Trust.