Services Provided by the Trust

The top-slice will be used to fund the following expenditure on behalf of the academies within Scholars Trust.  At the heart of all decisions made by the Trust is the need to fulfil every child’s potential.

School Improvement

Our ambition for all schools in Scholars Trust is to provide a “World Class” education for our children by equipping them with the skills and knowledge for them to make a strong contribution to the communities they live in both now and in the future

Our School Improvement service is built around professional respect for colleagues and focuses on enabling capacity within organisations by supporting the following:-

• Curriculum planning
• Collaborative lesson planning
• Enable teachers to share good practice
• Access to joint resources for teaching and learning
• Moderation between schools
• Intervention strategies for children
• SEN audit and review to improve practice
• Subject quality assurance within and across academies
• Performance management advice
• Peer to peer review processes facilitated
• Access to high quality CPD
• Include career pathways are developed for individuals

Leadership Support

Our aim is to ensure that school leaders work together to provide the opportunities that our children should expect within our schools.  In order to enable headteachers to develop this the following will take place:-

• Support headteachers with school improvement
• Provide support and challenge
• Provide mentors as required
• Support headteachers with statutory obligations
• Provide HR / legal support
• Provide business support e.g. management of land and buildings, health and safety
• Support schools with attendance and safeguarding procedures and compliance

Governance Support

Governors play an important part in supporting the leadership team to achieve the school aims and vison for their pupils.  The trust board will assist with the following:-

• Provide clerking support
• Pay for LA governor services
• Support Chairs and Vice Chairs
• Provide a forum for governors to share good practice
• Provide advice and support for governors on schools matters, i.e. finance, legal, staffing, school improvement

Financial Support

The trust wants all schools to be in a strong financial position to ensure that resources are directed to ensuring pupils outcomes are good at all times.  The finance team will support schools to ensure that the curriculum drives the school budget.

• Budget preparation and monitoring
• Statutory accounts and returns
• Financial Training
• Budget planning software
• Financial procedures and policies
• Curriculum costing
• Financial control and compliance
• Internal and external audit i.e. accountants 
• Payroll and contract services
• Brokerage of insurance
• Brokerage of other core services as required
• Academy conversion process from start to finish

Overall, we aim to provide efficiencies and economies of scale for our schools to ensure the best outcomes for pupils.