Working for the Trust
All staff in a Multi Academy Trust are Trust staff, even though they may be based or deployed to a particular school. The Central Team provide the support to schools, staff and stakeholders. The Central Team carry out many of the duties that school Business Managers, school finance teams, school site teams and external provisions like HR will undertake in a standalone school. The Central Team is also responsible for contributing to the quality of education at each Trust school.
There can be confusion with MATs and their Central Services. Many schools considering joining a Trust look at the Central Services as a Service Level Agreement. However, this is not correct. When a school joins a Trust, it becomes part of the Trust. It is governed and managed by the Trust and is part of the larger MAT and its structure. The school is not buying back services, it is now adopting and implementing the processes and procedures of the Trust. The central team work very closely with Headteachers, Heads of School and Local Governing Bodies in a positive, collaborative manner.
Many of the members of the Central Team were previously members of staff at the schools in the Trust before it became a MAT. The key difference for a MAT is that we can achieve greater efficiency by centralising and standardising processes and procedures. This means the Central Team’s operations benefit from economies of scale, enhanced economic freedom and are more agile in relation to central decisions. It is this centralised approach, around a family of schools that drives the MAT agenda. This is coupled with a Trusts responsibility for the quality of education and also its capacity to make timely, effective and more robust interventions to improve standards.
As schools join, it is reasonable to presume the Central Team will grow to meet increased operational need. However Central Team growth and development is closely monitored by Trustees. This is to ensure that funds are focused on educational and statutory provision in our schools.
Overall, we believe the Central Services Team provision:
- improves the resilience of the support provided across all schools
- shares knowledge and skills across the team and therefore benefits all schools
- delivers financial efficiencies, which can be redirected to teaching and learning
- ensures we are meeting our statutory duties across all our schools
- drives the delivery of high standards in crucial support functions.
A good independent source of information on Multi Academy Trusts for Trustees, Governors, School Leaders and other stakeholders is the National Governance Association and in particular their publication Taking the Next Step, which you can access here.
Please contact our HR department if you are interested or have any questions about any of our vacancies.
We will advertise our posts on mynewterm.com where you will be able to find more details on those posts and how to apply.
Alternatively contact the school office by calling us on 01582 723230 or alternatively please email enquiries@tennysonlearningcommunity.com
