What is an Academy?
The Government has announced it wants all schools to become Academies.
An Academy is a school that is outside Local Authority control. It receives the same amount of funding as a Local Authority school, but that funding comes directly from Government. An Academy is set up to be a company and must abide by company regulations, appointing its members and directors and publishing its annual accounts in the way that any other company would do.
A Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is a group of Academies that have joined together to form one company (or Trust). Schools in the MAT maintain their own identity but are accountable to their MAT’s Trust Board. The funding for all the schools in the MAT is given to the Trust which then divides it up between the schools within it according to the Government’s rules for each school.
How does our school become an Academy?
Church of England schools need to have the permission of the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) to become an Academy. We have produced a number of documents to help with this process.
If you are thinking about academisation, in the first instance please approach the Diocesan Director of Education, or contact any member of the Education team, for help and advice. You may wish to refer to the document 'Becoming a Church of England Academy'. This document provides:
- Information on Becoming a Church of England Academy
- The EFA Application document
- Vision and Values
- Roles of Members
- Link to the Guidance paper: Forming or Joining a Group of Schools