Joining a trust is a big decision so schools and governing boards need so carefully consider:

• What are the main drivers behind your decision to join a multi academy trust? Is it long-term viability, improved performance, better governance, staff retention, operational support to meet legislative requirements?
• What are your values and ethos? Is Creating Tomorrow a good match?
• How level of autonomy does the school want to retain and how much support would you prefer to be centralised?
• Do you want to retain the school’s identity?
• How will this benefit your students?

If you are considering joining a multi-academy trust and Creating Tomorrow is a potential option, please get in touch with Kevin Latham our CEO for an informal chat. We’re a friendly bunch and we’re always open to discussing potential new partnerships, whether it’s just a tentative exploration or if you’ve already made a decision to join a trust.

Kevin will discuss your school’s needs and get to know your vision and values, considering how these align with the trust, as well as why you are considering joining Creating Tomorrow.

Before going any further, you'll need to consult your DfE Regional Director to seek their input. 

The DfE have an online guide to academisation, which explains the process fully and you'll need to submit an application to register your interest to convert to academy status with the DfE. 

If the initial discussions go well and both parties are interested, there will be a period of due diligence. This splits into two parts, conducted in parallel:

4a - Joining school's due diligence
4b - Trust's due diligence

This is essentially a big information gathering process to ensure both parties have enough information to make an informed decision as to whether forming a partnership would work.

Some of the things to be considered are:

• Education and performance
• Ethos and culture
• Vision and strategy
• Finances
• Leadership and governance
• Size, capacity and specialism
• Geography
• Challenge and support
• Estate condition
• Staffing
• IT provision
• Legal and commercial contracts
• Diversity 

Our shared services team will be here to answer your questions and ensure the school receives all necessary information about our operations, education and leadership teams.

Browne Jacobson have a useful guide on this process that you might find helpful: 
Guide to forming or joining a multi academy trust

The decision to academise or join our trust is made by the school’s governors or trustees.

However, before you undertake the process you need to run a consultation with key stakeholders to make them aware of your intentions and to invite feedback. If you’re a maintained school, you’ll also need to consult your local authority.
 
The Department for Education has guidance on the process your governing body must follow to run the consultation, but we can support you during this process. You must invite comment from staff, parents, students and the wider community.

In addition, you’ll need to undertake an equalities impact assessment.

You may also wish to talk to their DfE Regional Director at this stage to ensure the type of partnership the Regional Schools Commissioners are likely to approve. 

You must register your interest in applying for academy status with the Department for Education. Following this, your governing board will vote on whether to convert to academy status. This decision can be made by a majority of those present at the meeting of the governing body, providing the meeting is quorate.

The academy application then goes to the Secretary of State for Education and, once approved, an ‘academy order’ is issued. This gives you the legal right to start the conversion process.

From here, with our support, you can then apply for the conversion, establish new governance arrangements, register the academy trust and undertake the joining process. One of the most important aspects of the conversion process is undertaking the TUPE consultation with staff, to enable transfer to Creating Tomorrow. You must ensure that information on employees’ transfer rights are provided by the employer to union reps, but our HR team will be here to support you every step of the way and are very experienced in TUPE transfers.

Once all the legal arrangements are in place, your school and Creating Tomorrow Multi-Academy Trust both sign the funding agreement with the Secretary of State, or his/her representative, and the academy conversion process is complete.

When you join Creating Tomorrow, we'll work with you to align our education strategies (not your curriculum!) and provide you with comprehensive checklists for each operational functions of any necessary actions that are required, including in relation to HR, finance, IT, estates, marketing and data protection. We also set an agreed conversion date.

In the months running up to the conversion date, members of the trust’s shared services team will support you, helping you to have a smooth transition to becoming an academy and part of Creating Tomorrow. 

On the agreed upon date, we’ll welcome you officially into the Creating Tomorrow family!

Our Communications team will help you to announce the partnership to all your stakeholders and the local press, whilst our leadership team will be on hand to support you as needed