Welcome to All Saints' CE Federation Hessle
We are delighted to welcome you to All Saints’ CE Federation. The federation is made up of All Saints’ CE Infant School and All Saints’ CE Junior School. Our two schools are adjacent to one another on a large site in the heart of Hessle with extensive grounds and a well-resourced environment.
Working closely together under the leadership of a
As a Church of England Federation, Christian values underpin all that we do. We provide a stimulating learning environment based on our four core Christian values of
Thankfulness, Forgiveness, Courage
At All Saints’ we very much value the partnership between home and school. We believe that working together we can ensure your children are
Respectful, Independent, Confident, Happy, Enthusiastic and Resilient – RICHER!
Please find below the most recent communication regarding our academisation.
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Friday 15th February 2019
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am pleased to advise you that the Department for Education has approved the Academy Order application for All Saints’ CE Federation to academise and join Ebor Academy Trust.
Following the public consultation process, governors supported this move. Ebor have been helping us for some time now and I think you'll agree that both children and staff are aware of the positive difference they are making to our schools.
We will formally join the Ebor family of schools’ subject to a satisfactory due diligence process and approval of the Ebor board of trustees.
I will keep you informed of progress.
With best wishes for a happy half term break.
Yours faithfully
Lisa Cowen
Chair of Governors
All Saints CE Federation is considering converting to academy status. This information gives you some of the background to our thinking, a timeline for the public consultation and some questions and answers about academies…
Letter sent to parents/carers 5 December 2018
Dear Parents/Carers
In a relatively short space of time our schools have been on something of a journey and I wanted to keep you up to date with all that’s happening and what is coming up.
You may recall that towards the end of the last academic year, in July, governors resolved to engage Ebor Academy Trust once more to help the schools accelerate their school improvement plans.
Over the summer break, regrettably, as a community we suffered a bereavement among the governing body and some key resignations. It was heartening, however, in difficult times to swiftly receive the support of the local authority, the Diocese and Ebor who all rallied together to continue to put our children’s education first.
We come towards the end of the first term of the new academic year in a considerably stronger position than when we started it. Mr Barber and his team - both from Ebor and within the Federation - have not only steadied the ship, but we are also making rapid and effective improvements. This is shown in regular analysis of our data, quality of provision and external review. Our trajectory remains on an upward curve and our governing body is being strengthened with additional governors from the Diocese and from Ebor.
Originally the support from Ebor was until Christmas but I am pleased to let you know that we have decided to extend their contract to support the Federation until at least Easter with Mr Barber remaining as part time Executive Headteacher next term.
In recognition of the value of Ebor’s input, and to continue the route the governing body was considering in July, we have resolved to explore the process of our Federation applying to leave local authority control and become an academy. If we do decide to academise, we are looking at joining forces with Ebor – over the last few months we have discovered they share our values and their belief in putting the child at the centre of everything that they do makes them an ideal partner.
Ebor Academy Trust is a collaboration of community schools and Church schools. This arrangement is often referred to as a ‘mixed MAT’ (multi-academy trust) and reflect the partnership of all types of school working together. In such MATs, community schools remain as community schools, Church schools as Church schools and the structure of the MAT protects and enshrines the individual character, ethos and vision of each school. Therefore All Saints’ Junior and Infant Schools will continue to have a distinct Christian ethos and vision and the Diocese will continue to be actively involved in supporting the schools in the same way as it does now. In addition, both schools will benefit from sharing excellent practice with the other academies within the Trust, including creating improved professional development opportunities for staff which is focused on developing the schools as distinct Church schools.
We are today launching a comprehensive public consultation process, with a timetable and more information as to how to get involved below.
We know the prospect of change can be worrying but we want to reassure you that no decision will be taken before governors are completely satisfied they are in possession of all the information we need. As part of the process we welcome your views.
We do hope you are able to attend at least one of our consultation events.
Yours faithfully
Lisa Cowen Chair of Governors, All Saints CE Federation
PUBLIC CONSULTATION TIMELINE
Wednesday 5 December: Consultation begins.
Wednesday 12 December: 6.30pm: Open evening for parents, staff and public hosted by All Saints CE Federation governors. Chief Executive of Ebor Academy Trust, Richard Ludlow, will explain more about Ebor.
Wednesday 9 January 2019: 3.30pm and 6pm: Drop-in sessions. Further opportunity to discuss any concerns and talk to governors, leadership team and Ebor representative(s).
Tuesday 15 January: Consultation closes. All responses collated and sent to governors by the end of the day.
Tuesday 22 January: Extraordinary Full Governing Body Meeting to consider responses and vote either to continue to explore academisation or to reject the proposal.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
You can attend a meeting (see timeline for details), write to us care of the school office, or email us: consultation@allsaintscefederation.com. There will also be a comments/queries box at the school reception. All contributions will be sent to school governors before a decision is made to either proceed with the process or to reject the proposal.
Questions and Answers
Any further questions and answers, as they come up, will be posted online. The school office will be happy to print off this information for you on request.
What is an academy?
Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. They are still inspected by Ofsted and have to follow the same rules on admissions, special educational needs and exclusions as other state schools.
What are the advantages of joining a Multi-Academy Trust?
There are a number of benefits of joining a Multi-Academy Trust. These include:
- Closer collaboration between schools leading to more sharing of best practice, increased career development opportunities for staff and ultimately better outcomes for pupils
- Shared buying power means specialist expertise can be funded and extra curricular activities provided
- Economies of scale in purchasing to help ease school budgets
- Services such as finance, HR and IT centralised freeing member schools up to focus on teaching and learning
Tell me about Ebor Academy Trust?
Ebor is a teacher-led, not-for-profit organisation. In essence it’s a family of community and Church of England schools with a sense of responsibility for each other. Ebor comprises small village schools, large urban schools, schools in challenging circumstances and those which have the capacity to support others. More information can be found at www.ebor.academy
Would this be good move for my child, for All Saints' Federation and its staff and for the wider community?
At a time of change in education, with reduced local authority budgets and consequently less support, teaming up with a like-minded organisation such as Ebor that is already well established, would give All Saints' more opportunities for our children, particularly in the areas of curriculum and speciality teaching which should lead to enhanced pupil outcomes. You are aware that All Saints' is already receiving school improvement support from Ebor.
Will staff terms and conditions remain the same?
Yes. Staff will be transferred across under TUPE arrangements with exactly the same terms and conditions of employment.
Will teaching standards change?
Joining a Multi Academy Trust and Ebor in particular would enhance the continued training and development of our staff, enabling us to achieve higher standards and widen curricular opportunities.
What does the Diocese think?
Both our schools will proudly remain as Church of England schools, should we academise, and the Diocese is supportive of change if it goes ahead. Eight of Ebor’s 22 schools are Church of England academies and each church school retains its unique Christian distinctiveness.
Will the schools continue to work with the local council and other schools?
We have a very good relationship with the local authority and other schools in the area and we intend to continue and develop these partnerships. Ebor also works well with clusters and other organisations, as do other schools in their trust.
Will we actually see any differences on a day-to-day basis?
Children will be in the same classes and taught by the same teachers. However, longer term benefits will be access to more teaching and learning resources and more support from specialist teachers in subjects such as modern foreign languages, science, PE, ICT, music and the creative arts.
Will the schools’ names and uniform change?
Our schools’ names will change from All Saints' Church of England Junior School to All Saints' Church of England Junior Academy; and from All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School to All Saints' Church of England Infant Academy. The governing body has yet to consider if a new uniform will be introduced. If it is, it will be phased in so as not to incur any additional expense from parents/carers.
Will there be any changes to the admissions procedures?
No, there will be no changes to current admissions arrangements.
How is the MAT (Multi Academy Trust) structured?
Ebor Academy Trust is made up of community schools and Church schools, which means that certain governance structures need to be in place as part of the MAT so that all schools can be included; this is often referred to as a ‘mixed MAT’.
The standard company structure for MATs is to have Members who are similar to shareholders in a company. There is then a Board of Trustees. who are responsible for the strategic running of the Trust. The Members formally adopt the constitutional documents for the company which set out its core purpose – the provision of education – and they also have responsibility for appointing the majority of Trustees. The constitutional documents for a mixed MAT are based on template documents agreed nationally between the Department for Education and the Church of England.
The MAT Board of Trustees has overall responsibility and accountability in law for the performance, site and overall running of the Trust and the schools. A Local Governing Body sits beneath this and supports the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team to implement strategic decisions in line with a Scheme of Delegation. In Church academies, Foundation Governors continue to fulfil their role in an academy in the same way as before and are appointed by the Diocesan Board of Education. Neither the Members, Trustees or Local Governing Body representatives are paid positions.
Legal Protections of unique school character
Each of the schools, Ebor and the Church of England are fully committed to ensuring each school’s own unique ethos, vision and character is protected. The Department for Education funding agreements (which set out how funds are paid to the MAT) state that the MAT must maintain the non-religious character of a community school as well as allowing a Church school to flourish in its Christian vision. To do otherwise would breach the funding agreements and hence risk losing the MAT’s funding from the Secretary of State.
How do I find out more about academies?
A useful starting point is www.gov.uk/types-of-school/academies
If you would like a copy of any of the information on the website please ask a member of the admin team or call 01482 648082 and ask to speak to Mrs A Rimmington.
All information correct at time of publishing. Please contact the school office for further information.
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