Our school is part of a group of schools, overseen by the Quality First Education Trust, a primary multi academy trust (MAT) which was created by Belleville.
A MAT is a single entity which has responsibility for a number of schools, through a formal partnership arrangement. The MAT is accountable for the performance and governance of each school in the group. The schools receive most of their funding through the MAT, and all staff across the schools are employed by the MAT.
Details of the Quality First Education Trust
You can find company information and key documents for the Trust (including details of our Members, Trustees, Academies, Articles, Scheme of Delegation, Accounts and Master Funding Agreement) on the Q1E website. The registered address and company number for the trust can also be found at the bottom of our website, below.
The impact of being an academy, and being part of a multi academy trust (MAT)
Belleville became an academy in 2011. We made very few changes to the operation of Belleville as a result - we didn't want our children to notice any change in their day to day provision. We kept the same school name and uniform. However, our governance arrangements are different to that of a maintained school. Instead of a governing body for the school, there is a local governing body for Belleville, and a Board of Trustees for the trust as a whole. The Board delegates responsibilities to the local governing body.
There are many advantages to working as a group of primary schools. As a Teaching School, National Support School and more recently a Maths Hub, Belleville has a long history of working with others, including supporting many schools to improve. The government is now strongly encouraging schools to work together in formal partnerships. The main driver for us to become a MAT was to work with other like-minded schools to achieve the best outcomes for children. Generally acknowledged benefits of creating a MAT include:
- sharing expertise and ideas, to reduce isolation and develop skills
- more career opportunities for talented staff, improving recruitment, retention and succession
- more challenge and rigour, due to a formal partnership structure and joint accountability
- more flexible deployment of staff and resources, to meet the needs of different schools
- potential financial savings (e.g. through bulk purchasing, shared services, increased efficiency).
There is more about MAT academies on the DfE website at www.education.gov.uk/academies.
Contact the trust:
We are committed to listening to parents and carers, staff and other members of our community. If you have any comments on our plans, you are welcome to email us at charlotte.meade@q1e.org.uk or telephone us via Belleville School on 020 7228 6727.