Trust schools
Although standards in schools have risen steadily since 1997, acquiring a Trust will be a way for schools to continue to raise their standards, as well as ensuring all children have the best opportunities to reach their highest potentials.
Since there is no single blueprint for becoming a Trust, schools will be able to choose who they work with and how, and support the needs and aspirations of their pupils and local communities.
Key documents
The Trust Schools Prospectus and the briefing
document What Trust Schools Offer are both available to
download from the Trust
Schools section of the DfES website.
The rationale for Trusts
Trust schools can:
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Raise standards through strengthening new and existing long-term partnerships between schools and external partners
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Choose which partners to work with — these can include business foundations, colleges, universities, and community groups
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Support children and young people's all-round development, helping to tackle issues of deprivation and social inclusion
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Strengthen their governance and leadership skills
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Give business foundations and other organisations the opportunity to be more involved in their local community
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Enjoy more flexibility within their local communities — they can set their own admissions criteria as long as they act in accordance with the Admissions Code of Practice, employ their own staff and have responsibility for school land and buildings
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Engage with parents — schools will need to consult parents before entering a Trust
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Bring a renewed energy and enthusiasm to the way they work by learning from other schools and external partners
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Create a distinctive, individual or shared ethos
Some myths explained
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Trust schools will not receive extra state funding — they will continue to receive the same funding from the local authority as other maintained schools
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Trust schools will not be able to introduce new selection criteria — like all other schools, they will have to follow the Admissions Code of Practice
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No school will be forced to have a Trust, although acquiring a Trust will be one option for local authorities to consider when a school is failing
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It will be for schools to decide if they want to be part of a Trust and who else they want to be involved in that Trust
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Trust schools are not outside the local authority family of maintained schools. They will need to consult with their local authority before they acquire a Trust. The local authority can register Trust proposal concerns with the Schools Adjudicator
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Trust schools will not be 'owned' by businesses — business foundations and other partners can support the school through a Trust and take a role on the governing body, but not take it over
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Trust schools will still have to abide by the normal parameters of the National Curriculum and will be inspected by Ofsted like all other schools
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Trust schools can not ignore the views of parents — at least one third of each trust school's governing body should be made up of parents
Last updated: 20 November 2006
