Frequently Asked Questions about MATs for Parents and Carers  

What is a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT)?  

A MAT is a Multi-Academy Trust. It is a legal entity that governs a group of schools through members and a board of Trustees.  It is set up by a group of schools, sometimes a local collaboration, that  share a common ethos and vision.  

What is the MAT called?  

The new MAT is called The People’s Learning Trust

Who is in it?  

Bidston Avenue Primary 

Everton Free School and Football College

Impact Sefton

Meadow Primary 

Oldfield Primary 

The Bridge Short Stay School

Why are schools joining MATs both locally and nationally?  

Across the country Local Authorities are being eroded in terms of size and power. Both  Conservative and Labour Parties have indicated that Academies as part of MATs is their  preferred educational structure.  Schools can use the strong collaboration and accountability afforded by the MAT to drive up standards and share best practice and services across the  trust, replacing aspects of former local authority support.  

Why would a local authority-maintained school, such as Meadow want to join a MAT?

There are a number of reasons why a school may want to join/form a MAT:  

• Further developing the effective teaching and learning practices across schools.

• To continue to develop and sustain a high-quality inclusive education for all pupils.

• Access to a bespoke professional development programme (CPD) that adds real value to the education of the young people, further developing our skilled workforce.

• Common teaching and learning practices across schools;  

• A common professional development programme (CPD) that adds real value to the  education of the young people;  

• Efficiencies in administrative functions and joint procurement; this will help in these more  financially challenging times to advantage our pupils;  

• Further developing  governance with a clear focus on strategic development,  teaching and learning, and accountability;  

• Enhanced reputation for excellence, due to collaboration with other schools in the Trust;  

• Further develop  leadership, management and governance that impacts directly upon the  students;  

• Recruitment, retention and growth of excellent staff;  

• Improve and sustain overall academic standards;  

• Ensure that decisions about the school are influenced at a local level; and,  

• Secure the long term future of the school. 

What are the benefits of being a founder school?

• A founder school is a school that initiates or joins a MAT at its inception, and plays a key role in shaping its vision, values, and culture. 

• A founder school has more influence and input in the decision-making and governance of the MAT and can ensure that its ethos and identity are reflected and respected in the MAT.  

• A founder school can also benefit from the support and expertise of the other founder schools, and from the opportunity to create a MAT that meets its needs and aspirations.

Do we need to get permission to convert to a MAT?  

Yes.  The school has had to obtain the permission of the Secretary of State for Education via the Education Funding Agency (EFA).  We received approval from the regional Advisory Board on 3rd July 2024. 

Is there a set model for how a MAT has to operate?  

There are rules regarding how a MAT is funded, but the way in which a MAT operates, its  governance structure and vision/ethos are defined by the academy or academies that set up  the MAT.  

What will happen to our land and buildings?  

All land and buildings currently owned by the LA on behalf of the school will transfer to the  new MAT on a 125 year lease. 

How is funding organised within the MAT?  

Funding for schools within a MAT is allocated on an individual academy basis. It is governed through a master funding agreement between the Secretary of State and the MAT and  supplemental agreements between the Secretary of State and each school within the MAT.  

Will the school lose its financial independence and its ability to manage its own finances?  

There will be a common financial procedures manual to be shared between schools but each  school will be expected to maintain their own books. However, there is likely to be some  centralisation of finances where these make sense and result in possible economies of scale. This is similar to the financial process used by Local Authorities.  

MAT Structures  

MAT’s are governed by Members and Board of Trustees who delegate certain  responsibilities to individual Local Governing Bodies (LGB).  

Will the governors’ role change when we become a MAT?  

When the school initially converts to become an academy trust the existing governors of the maintained schools will stay as governors.  However some may convert to become trustees of the academy trust. 

What is the new structure?  

When the school converts to a MAT, there will be three tiers of governance.  These three tiers will be:  

• Members of the MAT - responsible for fundamental decisions such as constitution of the academy trust – most strategic decisions are delegated to the Trustees.  

• Board of Trustees of the MAT (‘the board’).  These are the  individuals who have strategic overview of the  MAT.  

• The Executive Team consists of a Central Team: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Finance and Operations Officer (CFOO) and Headteachers from within each of our Academies. The central team works alongside schools to manage finance, compliance, support school development, support with school improvement and enable the school leaders to focus on what matters most – quality of education and managing staff and pupils.

• Local Governing Bodies (LGB) for each academy school. In multi academy trusts, each  academy will usually have its own LGB. These have a similar status to committees of a  maintained governing body and the powers they have are those that are delegated to them  by the board.  

Will working with other schools mean lowering our own standards or possibly detracting  resources from our own school?  

We have chosen to work together with the other founder schools to ensure that the vision, values and culture of our schools is central to everything that we do. Collaboration and sharing ideas and expertise can only help us improve.  

What changes will children and parents see?  

There will be very little visible change as a direct result of forming the MAT. The Headteacher, staff, uniform, premises and curriculum will all continue to be very much unchanged. The  changes that we hope you’ll see will be a general continued improvement in the performance and running of the school and hopefully some new and improved resources and options for our pupils to benefit from.  

How will joining a MAT improve standards for our children?  

It will enable us to utilise the expertise of staff from schools in a MAT to accelerate progress  for our children.  We will create a set of specialists which will operate between schools within a MAT, releasing staff to focus on developing wider opportunities and exciting experiences in a new and broad curriculum. This could be in middle and senior leadership, as well as with support staff.  The experience and talent of all the schools together become greater than the sum of their parts.  We will also have the capacity to develop research with universities and enhance our sports provision. 

Will teachers work at different schools?  

There will be opportunities for staff for training and professional development purposes but  staff will remain constant and cannot be forced to work elsewhere. 

Staff will remain in their own schools. Being part of a MAT will provide many  professional development opportunities.  Staff from schools who are part of a MAT may attend joint training, skills will be shared and good practice will spread between the schools.  

How does the admissions process work for academies?  

Academies within a MAT are required to comply with the Admissions and Admission Appeals  Codes of Practice as if they were maintained schools. They must have admission  arrangements that clearly set out how children will be admitted, including the criteria that  will be applied if there are more applications than available places. They are also required to  participate in Local Authority co-ordination of admissions processes and the Local Authority’s  Fair Access Protocol. Any change to our current admissions protocols will always be  communicated to parents and carers.  

What inspection regimes and assessment data information do academies have to provide?  

All academies are inspected by Ofsted using the same framework and timescales as for  maintained schools.  As a MAT, all schools will continue to be inspected as separate schools.  Results are reported in performance tables in the same way as they  are now, i.e. against the school where tests were conducted. 

Do MAT schools have to follow the National Curriculum?  

Academies within MATs are not required to teach the National Curriculum but rather a broad and balanced one that includes English, Mathematics, Science and Religious Education and promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of children preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.  The  majority of schools within MATs continue to follow the National Curriculum.

Who is in charge?  

Each school leadership team will remain in charge of their school.  

The MAT board and members will take on the Local Authority role and will oversee activities and standards across all schools in the MAT as a whole. 

There will be a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and new Chief Financial and Operations Officer (CFOO). These roles will have corporate accountability for all MAT operations.  Mr Steven Baker OBE is the new CEO and Mrs Linda McMullen is the CFOO. 

Will you be changing the school’s name?  

No - we will still be Meadow Primary School  

Will you be changing the uniform?  

No - the uniform and school logo will remain the same as now.  There will be an additional trust logo that may appear on some letters and documents. 

Will you be changing the holidays or length of the school day?  

No - these will remain the same but could change in the future following discussion with staff, parents and other stakeholders.  

When does the new MAT start?  

The scheduled start date is Wednesday 1st January  but this is subject to change depending on the capacity of the Local Authority to process the conversion. 

How can I comment on the proposed changes to Meadow Primary School?

We’ve set up a dedicated email address for questions and comments in relation to this proposal. You can email these to academy@meadow.cheshire.sch.uk  all of these comments will be seen by the Headteacher and feedback shared with the Governing Body.