We specialise in academy conversions with one of our team having acted for Church of England Diocese since the earliest days of the academies programme in 2002. We are able to support maintained schools seeking to convert to academy status (be it, a community, faith, grammar, special school or PRU. We are also experts in the field of PFI schools. Our team has extensive experience supporting MAT growth and we have been delighted over the years to work alongside academy trusts that have expanded from an initial single schools to become medium size or larger MATs.
Why convert to academy status? With respective Governments encouraging academy conversions, this is the clear trajectory for schools to join collaborative trusts. This can offer greater training opportunities for staff; opportunities to share expertise; efficiency savings on central services and purchases; and greater freedom on areas such as admissions.
We will support you with the all the complexities of the change to legal status, from the initial stages of stakeholder consultation; to engaging in discussions on the appropriate governance structure, particularly for Church of England schools where there are specific requirements in place in relation to the Articles of Association. We will help to smoothly project manage the conversion and/or transfer from start to finish.
Our Education Team will assist with every step of the process – drafting Funding Agreements; Deeds of Variation; Church Supplemental Agreements; and Commercial Transfer Agreements to transfer staff and assets across to the new Trust. Our property colleagues will also work to ensure a smooth transfer of property to the Trust, by virtue of a lease or transfer of freehold. We always work closely with the DFE and LA’s to ensure a joined up approach and that your conversion happens as swiftly as possible.