FAQs
What is the Delta Education Trust?
The Delta Education Trust is a Multi Academy Trust set up to bring together schools in the south of England who share similar values in their approach to providing education.
What is an academy?
Academies are state funded schools that are independent of Local Authority control. Their funding (or part of their funding in the case of a special school) comes from central government straight to the school, without first going via a Local Authority. This means that Headteachers and their governors have more control over what they spend their budgets on.
What benefits can being an academy bring?
As well as providing the best opportunities for the most able students and those needing additional support, academies have a key part to play in the regeneration of communities and raising standards through innovative approaches to management, governance, teaching and the curriculum.
Will the Headteacher still be in charge of the school?
In a MAT such as Delta Education Trust, there is freedom for the Headteacher and local governing body (LGB) to decide how their school is run. Our Scheme of Delegation ensures that LGBs are responsible, along with the Headteacher, for the majority of decisions about running the school, including staffing and finance. We call this ‘accountable autonomy’. We believe that with high quality governance and leadership in schools, this approach achieves the best outcomes for everyone.
Will admission arrangements change?
Academies are their own admissions authority and as such, determine their own admissions arrangements, which are always published. Within our Trust, we ensure the school’s admission arrangements are consonant with local arrangements and do not result in detriment to other schools.
How do academies receive funding?
The Multi Academy Trust is funded for each of its academies by the DfE, through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The ESFA provides the Trust with a General Allocation Grant (GAG). The Trust then delegates this funding to each academy.
Local Authorities fund academies directly to support children with Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
What will happens to the Trust Board/Governing body of a school?
When a school joins a MAT, the existing GB/Trust Board will dissolve after the school/academy transfers into the Trust.
Our Trust requires all its academies to have a Local Governing Body (LGB) that is constituted in much the same way as a stand-alone school’s governing body would be. Our Scheme of Delegation ensures that LGBs are responsible, along with the Headteacher, for the majority of decisions for running the school, including staffing and finance. We call this ‘accountable autonomy’. We believe that with high quality governance and leadership in schools, this approach achieves the best outcomes.
Are parents represented on the governing body?
All schools in our Trust have a Local Governing Body (LGB). We expect these LGBs to representative of the schools stakeholders, including parents, school staff and members of the local community.
Who sets the term dates for an academy?
School term dates are set by each academy. The Trust view is that these should be set in line with local arrangements.
Do academies follow the national curriculum?
Academies have the freedom to decide on the best curriculum for their pupils. We encourage every academy in our Trust to think about which curriculum will get the best outcomes for both the school and every individual pupil in it. However, we expect any curriculum offer to be at least as good as the national curriculum.
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