Regional board highlights: December 2023

Your essential guide to the key regional advisory board decisions in England in December 2023

1st March 2024, 12:04am

Regional board highlights: December 2023

Here are the key regional board decisions affecting multi-academy trusts in each region in England in December 2023. For more updates, visit our regional advisory boards hub.

In total, there were 24 academy orders, 38 academy conversions and two academies moving trusts.

Scroll down or click the links below to jump straight to your region.

North East
East Midlands
South East
North West
West Midlands
South West
East of England
Yorkshire and the Humber
London

MAT tracker: regional board decisions in December 2023

North East

The board approved the transfer of Kader Academy Trust - a single-academy trust (SAT) in Middlesborough - to join the Prince Regent Street Trust (PRST), a small trust of four primaries, based in Stockton-on-Tees. This was on the condition that PRST provides “a full financial plan and monthly management accounts”.
Approval was given for West Park Academy, the only school run by Shared Vision Learning Trust in Darlington, to transfer to Lingfield Education Trust (LET), which has 16 primaries across the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire area.
St Aidan’s Church of England Primary School, in Gateshead, was approved to convert to an academy and join Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust (DNDLT), a 17-primary school MAT operating across the region. St Aidan’s will be the trust’s first school in Gateshead.
Smart Multi Academy Trust (comprising eight primaries in Newcastle) will gain two primary schools, its first in Gateshead, after the board gave approval for Oakfield Junior School and Oakfield Infant School to move from Oakfield Schools Federation.

East Midlands

The board gave its approval for three primaries in Nottinghamshire (The Lanes Primary School, Arno Vale Junior School and Arnold Mill Primary and Nursery School) to convert and join the The White Hills Park Trust. Both The Lanes and Arno Vale believe they will benefit from the opportunities for CPD for staff that joining the MAT will bring. The trust, based in Nottinghamshire, currently has one special school, two secondaries and three primaries.
In Derbyshire approval was given by the board for three primary schools (Glebe Junior School, The Brigg Infant School and Draycott Community Primary School) and one SAT (Pennine Way Junior Academy) to join Embark Multi Academy Trust in Derbyshire, which has 19 academies (four secondaries and 15 primaries). Until 2022 the trust, which opened in 2018, was primary-only.
Rise Multi Academy Trust in Leicestershire (23 primaries) gained three schools this month after approval was given for Woodhouse Eaves St Paul’s Church of England Primary School and two SATs - Measham Church of England Primary Academy Trust and Frisby Church of England Primary School - to join it. The board minutes note that Frisby School “feels that the pandemic highlighted some of the challenges being a SAT brings and believes that Rise Multi Academy trust will provide the educational, financial and operational support that the school needs”.

South East

Felbridge Primary School, in East Grinstead, will academise and join Tandridge Learning Trust, based in Surrey. The primary will be the trust’s first school in East Grinstead and will bring the total number of schools in the primary and secondary trust to six. Approval was given on the condition that the trust provides a detailed school improvement plan for Felbridge Primary.
Badgemore Primary School, in Henley-on-Thames, was approved to join The Circle Trust, a MAT with eight primary and secondary schools based in Wokingham, Berkshire. The school will be the trust’s first in Henley-on-Thames.
Approval was given for three special schools (Addington School in Wokingham, Brookfields Special School in West Berkshire and Manor Green School in Windsor and Maidenhead) to convert and establish Ascendency Partnership Trust. The regional director “felt the schools should approach an existing trust with special school experience who could act as a mentor for them”. Approval was given on the condition that a school resource management adviser (SRMA) was deployed in each school before the MAT formation and that the schools link up with a trust with special school experience to act as a mentor.

North West

The board gave approval for SAT Chesterfield High School in Sefton to form a new MAT: Merseyview Multi Academy Trust. In the same meeting, approval was also given for five primary schools in Sefton to convert and join the trust, on the condition that the trust ensures there is primary education and additional financial experience on the board by the time the MAT is established.
Approval was given for four secondary SATs to form a new MAT: The Laetare Catholic Multi Academy Trust. These schools are St Anselm’s College in Wirral, St Edward’s College in Liverpool, Saint Ambrose College in Trafford and St Joseph’s College in Stoke. And in the same meeting, approval was given for the newly formed MAT to sponsor De La Salle Secondary School in St Helens. The trust must give assurance on plans for school improvement at De La Sallel, and on recruitment plans for the substantive executive leadership roles. It must also show that it has financial expertise on its board and that a “supportive SRMA” is deployed.
Liverpool-based Everton in the Community Free School Trust, a SAT that runs alternative provision, was approved to form a new MAT. The new trust will also be allowed to sponsor the Impact pupil referral unit (PRU) in Sefton on the condition that the trust gives assurances for its school improvement model and meets with the Education and Skills Funding Agency to discuss its financial forecast.
Approval was given for Carr Hill High School, in Lancashire, to be sponsored by Education Partnership Trust in Blackburn (comprised of seven schools covering secondary, special and alternative provision). Carr Hill, a secondary in Preston, will be the trust’s first school in the town.

West Midlands

The board gave approval for George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham to be sponsored by Prince Albert Community Trust, which has six primaries and one secondary in the Birmingham area. It will be the second school to join the trust in 2024; until recently, the trust had not expanded since 2021. The minutes note that the trust “has significantly bolstered its capacity to support teaching and learning, extending its assistance to numerous schools across Birmingham”.
And the board approved the sponsorship of both Benson Community School, which is a primary, and Wattville Primary School in Birmingham by Oasis Community Learning. Oasis currently has 54 schools across the country.

South West

The board approved the conversion of Frome Community College, a secondary in Somerset, to join Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership (MNSP), based in the county. The trust currently has 10 secondaries, 17 primaries, four special schools and one AP.
Secondary SAT Oakfield Academy, in Somerset, will also transfer to MNSP. The notes show that the availability of SEND services in Frome has reduced over recent years, and the opportunity to join a MAT with developing specialist SEND provision influenced Oakfield’s decision to join MNSP.
Approval was given for the EOTAS pupil referral unit in Swindon to join The White Horse Federation (TWHF), a 31-school trust based in Reading. EOTAS will be the trust’s first PRU, with the rest of its schools either a secondary, primary or special academy. Approval was on the condition that the trust sets out a plan for how it will work in partnership with its own schools, other Swindon schools and the local authority on inclusive practice across Swindon. The minutes also show that “the new head of SEND appointment (starting in January 2024) will bring strength to the MAT”.
The board gave approval for The Duchy Academy Trust, made up of three primary schools in Cornwall, to merge with and join An Daras Multi Academy Trust, an eight-school primary-only trust across Devon and Cornwall. Approval was given with the condition that the trust undergoes an external review of governance, as well as an external review of school improvement.
Forest View Primary School, a SAT in Gloucestershire, will transfer to Forest of Dean Trust, which has one primary and one secondary school in Gloucestershire.
Approval was also given for Dorset Studio School, a secondary SAT, to join Wessex Multi Academy Trust (WMAT), a 12-school trust in Dorchester.

East of England

At the beginning of the regional board meeting, minutes show that it discussed SEND referrals and special schools and “the need for more spaces in the region”. As well as this, “the board discussed Ofsted inspections and the regional director invited feedback from the board about their experiences of Ofsted inspections”.
The board approved the transfer of Chaulden Junior School in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, to Scholars Education Trust, which has 11 schools and is based in nearby St Albans. Chaulden is currently part of Spiral Partnership Trust, an all-primary, five-school MAT based in the same area.
Chaulden Infants’ and Nursery, which is on the same site as Chaulden Junior School, will be sponsored by the same trust.
Two primary SATs, Elveden CofE Primary Academy and St Mary’s CofE Academy in Suffolk, will join together and form Elveden Schools Trust. The board also discussed the sponsorship of St Edmundsbury CofE Primary School in Suffolk by the new MAT, but this discussion was deferred. Minutes show that the regional director “raised concerns about the capacity of the proposed newly formed MAT to provide sufficient support to St Edmundsbury CofE Primary School while also continuing improvement work at St Mary’s CofE Academy”.
The board approved the conversion of Colman Junior School and Colman Infant School, in Norfolk, to join Unity Schools Partnership, a trust with 33 schools based in the East of England.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Approval was given for secondary Malton School in North Yorkshire to join Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust, a 12-school trust with 11 primaries and one secondary based in York. Malton School will be the first school the trust has outside York.
The board approved the merger of New Collaborative Learning Trust (NCLT) and LEAP Multi Academy Trust, with the two schools in the latter transforming to the former. The move means that secondary Brinsworth Academy in Rotherham and Dinnington High School in Rotherham will join NCLT, which is currently a seven-school trust based in Wakefield.