Our central team plays a vital role in supporting our schools and leaders.  There are always demands and unexpected problems in school leadership and our team works to ensure that no school ever feels alone.  Our central team works in two ways.  Firstly, by removing some of the burdensome tasks that headteachers and school leaders regularly face, such as HR, finance, premises and legal tasks.  Secondly, by providing swift and personalised support with challenges that headteachers face, such as parental complaints, raising standards and balancing budgets.  We strike a balance between empowering leaders to act and providing the security of robust compliance to safeguard individuals and schools.  Most crucially, we are local, available and foster strong relationships that help us all through the challenging times.

What we offer

• Empowered headteachers who lead their school appropriate to their culture and context
• Dedicated and skilled specialists in Education, Safeguarding, Finance, HR, Compliance, Governance, Premises, Procurement and Leadership
• An available team which responds quickly
• Shared ownership of problems
• Removal of problems that are beyond the control of the school

Educational excellence is our number one priority and the best way to deliver it is by our schools working together.  Each school has its own curriculum and delivery methods designed to meet the specific needs of their children and this is supported by the systematic sharing of practice and the regular and focused support given by the trust.  Whilst our schools may have differences in how they deliver excellence, they all work towards the same high standards tailored to each school context.  These ensure that excellence can be evidenced in each school and best practice shared so that the strengths of one school can support the areas for development of another.

What we offer

• Bespoke support for Headteachers and school leaders
• Facilitation of shared expertise and support between schools, including informal groups and a range of formalised networks
• Collaboratively written education standards with a continuous cycle of joint evaluation, feedback and support – standards are agreed and individual schools are empowered to achieve these in the way that works best for them
• Shared CPD and other collaborative events
• Facilitating external support
• Bespoke data analysis and support

Schools can only deliver excellent education if the other aspects of running a school are equally strong – we call this operational excellence.  We deliver a wide range of services to ensure that the business and operational management of each school is strong and consistent. In particular, we deliver Finance, HR, Estates, Procurement, IT and Governance support as central services which underpin the schools' operations.  Our systems and support are excellent, highly reactive to need and delivered by people who are available and who understand the demands of each school.  As a local trust, all our schools are close to each other meaning that we can support in-person and develop strong relationships that help effective communication.  Our central team's job is to provide security for our schools as well as removing some of the time-consuming tasks that may take schools away from delivering educational excellence. Crucially, by operating as a group, we benefit from economies of scale, saving both money and time for each school.

What we offer

To match our Educational Foundations, we will soon have our Operational Foundations.  These will be collaboratively written with schools with a continuous cycle of joint evaluation, feedback and support –standards will be agreed, and individual schools empowered to achieve these in the way that works best for them.

We have leadership networks to support all aspects of operations for:

• Headteachers and Senior Leaders
• SBMs and Finance Leads
• Premises/Estates managers
• HR leads
• IT technicians
• Data managers

Safeguarding is everyone's priority all the time.  Each school has its own contextual safeguarding needs and therefore maintains control of the specific policies and procedures that its children require, supported by its own Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).  However, the trust provides the security of central core policies to ensure up-to-date statutory requirements are always met.  Schools are also supported by our very experienced Trust Safeguarding Lead (TSL) who works closely with each DSL and networks with our wider partners and the Local Authority.  This means that we can map and tackle safeguarding concerns across all our schools and within the local area.  Our DSLs work as a network with quick information and expertise sharing. Our children are safer when we work together and understand that our children's safety does not end at the school gate.

What we offer

• A Trust Safeguarding Lead who supports all schools
• A network of experienced DSLs who collaborate and work together
• Clear policies which are bespoke to phase and context for each school and support to ensure compliance with updated statutory requirements
• Robust regular training for all stakeholders plus bespoke training for specialist positions 
• Robust and standardised Safer Recruitment procedures 

Financial security is at the heart of every successful school and, as you would expect, this is our most centralised and standardised service.  Our central finance team provides very close support for each school with fortnightly meetings between the trust and school business managers.  The Operations Team brings the business managers together to work as a group, supporting each other, agreeing consistent processes and sharing best practice.  Monthly management accounts are produced with each school and efficiencies are always being sought and shared.  Contracts are procured centrally where possible to achieve financial savings.  Our financial decisions are always driven by the schools' educational priorities and backed by a robust process to identify and tackle any potential financial risks.  Timely information helps school leaders to make decisions throughout the year as priorities may change.

What we offer

Our centralised finance team provides:

• Budgeting, monitoring and forecasting support to each school
• Auditing & compliance
• Payroll management
• Purchasing and cashflow management
• Investment service
• Finance training to all stakeholders
• All-round working-hours call support
• Capital and long-term project support
• Support for grant sourcing
• Support for procurement

Our central HR service is a vital and people-centred function that underpins the success of schools across the Trust. We recognise that our greatest asset is our people - the dedicated staff who shape the learning environment and drive educational excellence. Our central HR service is a crucial central function that supports schools across the Trust by providing HR administration support, leading on safer recruitment and tailored training designed to empower and nurture every member of our school communities.  We work closely with school leaders and business managers through regular operations meetings and HR development days, creating a supportive space to share best practice, learn from one another, and offer ongoing guidance. This collaborative approach ensures smooth staff transitions, effective people management, and compliance with employment regulations, all aligned to support the schools’ educational priorities and promote a positive working environment for our staff.  Our central HR team acts not only as administrators but as trusted partners and critical friends. We are committed to supporting staff through every stage of their journey, recognising the impact that strong HR support has on morale, resilience, and ultimately, the educational outcomes we all strive to achieve for our young people.

What we offer

• Lead recruitment for Headteacher vacancies and arms-length support for other recruitment
• Manage HR payroll functions including onboarding, contract variations and leavers
• Administer and update contracts of employment
• Support job evaluation processes and provide model job descriptions
• Conduct Single Central Record audits as required
• Hold regular operations meetings with business managers to foster collaboration, share best practice, and provide mutual support
• Provide advice and support on all areas of HR and employee relations
• Review and monitor staff absence, offering strategic advice and management support
• Support investigations, formal hearings, appeals and offer mediation services
• Act as a critical friend and sounding board to Headteachers and Business Professionals on all HR matters
• Deliver bespoke HR training tailored to the specific needs of the individual school
• Provide centrally organised staff training on key topics including new policies and safer recruitment

Our vision of Success for Everyone applies to our staff as well as to our young people and this means that their development is a priority.  Our central team provides regular collaborative training for all staff, planned throughout the year and based on priorities within schools.  Staff benefit from a wider and stronger network than would be the case if our schools were on their own. This is particularly powerful due to us being cross-phase where primary and secondary colleagues can break out of their own experiences and join up the educational journey of the child. Professional development opportunities are greater and can be swiftly actioned by our schools working together at many levels.  From the 2025/6 academic year, our entire staff will benefit from our Annual Conference, ensuring that the needs of our schools and the whole trust are brought together.

What we offer

• Both standardised and bespoke training for all staff
• Cross-phase collaboration
• Subject and specialist collaboration
• Annual Conference for all staff 
• Wellbeing development and support
• A variety of online training programmes

Swift and effective data analysis is vital for school success, and we provide both support and systems which enhance this.  We are able to build dashboards, develop apps and create workflows through systems such as Power BI which provide schools with powerful tools to improve their practice. In some cases, we provide centralised systems that allow schools to compare themselves with each other as well as with wider benchmarks.  In other cases, we create bespoke solutions for individual schools as needs arise. We provide a central communications platform to support collaboration and also provide enhanced IT support to ensure that vital software and hardware works as required.

What we offer

• Central data development bespoke to each school: dashboards, apps and workflow
• Support for schools with data and timetabling
• Enhanced IT operational support
• Range of consistent systems to support schools

We highly value the impact that those in governance bring to our schools and this begins with local governance, something that we passionately retain.  This ensures that our schools are supported in their own context by governors who understand their school.  The local governance is overseen by the Trust Board who are responsible for the strategic direction of the trust.  However, like with our other central services, we support and bring together local governance through our trust-wide systems.  This includes our Chairs' Forum, where the local chairs meet together with the chair of trustees each term, and the Deep Dive Forum, where everyone in our governance structure comes together to discuss a priority area in-depth.  Again, these happen each term.  Our governance professional and our Chief Compliance Officer ensure that our governance procedures are robust and well-organised so that those who kindly volunteer their time have the impact that they desire.

What we offer

• Retention of local governance for every school
• Governor training and development, including MAT-wide annual conference
• Access to national networks and training - NGA, Governor Hub
• Collaboration and support for governance leaders through the Chairs Forum
• Collaboration and support for all in governance through the Deep Dive Forum and annual conference
• Collaboration and support for those in link roles through Safeguarding, SEND and Careers Link forums
• Recruitment and administrative support from our Governance Professional