Ethos

The school is, at present, a Business and Enterprise school with the consequent, inherent ethos which embraces PLTS as well as enterprise. Would the sponsoring group wish to change that, and if so, how?

Each Academy has a full governing body with full delegation. A draft Accountability Framework (ARCI attached) will be set before the governing for discussion. The decision about specialisms lays with the Governing Body, however, the DfE do like to see two specialisms with one being ‘hard’ ie English, Maths, Science, Modern Foreign Languages.

How would the sponsoring group seek to change the branding of the school?

The AET’s branding is low key. It is up to the school to determine whether it would like to change the name of the school and some academies who have gone down this road have involved the students. The AET brand is simply a logo which we ask appears in the bottom right or left side of the Academy’s prospectus.

Does the sponsoring group agree that local decision-making is best and that the school should remain as a key component of the local community?

Definitely. The AET does not believe in ‘cloning’ schools and all our academies are very different. As stated above each of our academies has a full governing body and many of these governors are those from the predecessor school. That governing body has full decision making powers for all areas including finance, curriculum, staffing etc.

How would the sponsoring group affect a productive relationship with the local community and other local schools?

We encourage all our academies and their Principals to be fully engaged with the local family of schools. We have a number of our Principals who chair Local Delivery Groups and one who chairs their County’s Association of Secondary Heads. We view Academy status as a different form of Governance not a reason to declare independence from the Local Authority or other local schools. It is about all students in the area.

Would parents face any additional costs (eg enforced change of uniform)?

There are not additional costs to parents. The AET does require schools to move to blazers where the school is fully sponsored academy. In this instance there is £60 per pupil uniform grant and we have found this to be more than sufficient in providing a good quality uniform.

The school belongs to various local networks including the 14-19 consortium, the Waterside schools’ group and so on. How would the sponsoring group’s additional networking possibilities enhance provision?

Our ‘Partnership’ Manager has a responsibility to work with the Academy to ensure all local, regional, national and international opportunities are explored. We are working with Government’s Business Innovations and Skills Unit to become an accredited apprenticeship provider. We have well-developed relationships and partnerships with a number of major employers and very strong models of working in Careers Information Advice Education and Guidance.

Our Community Sports Manager has a significant number of links to national and international sports bodies and has arranged preview visits for students to the Olympics site. He also has a range of top level athletes willing to work and support our academies.

What will be the nature of the relationship the sponsoring group will have with the LA?

The AET believes that the relationship with the Local Authority should remain positive to ensure that all child-centered services remain available to the individual pupil. The LA has a statutory responsibility for every child in their area including those in maintained schools. Independent (private) schools and academies. We will always put the child’s needs first.