Why are schools joining Trusts, and what does it mean for your IT systems?

By 2030 the Government has outlined plans for all schools to have converted to academies. The move, part of The Schools Bill announced in the summer, will see both Primary and Secondary schools group together to form Multi-Academy Trusts or MATs.

It is hoped the move will raise education standards by providing shared resources to standardise teaching and combine resources.

But how will Trusts affect schools? Will it help improve IT systems or make them more complicated? We look at the details behind the Government’s drive for Trusts.

The Schools Bill lays out the Government’s plans to raise the standards of schools across the UK. The Government believes the formation of Trusts will help schools meet the target of “90% of primary school children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths” by 2030. By providing a shared platform to share resources, skills and budgets, it is hoped it will help standardise teaching and create economies of scale with larger buying power to reduce budgets.

How will Multi-Academy Trusts be formed?

Schools are being encouraged to join Trusts in a way they feel will be mutually beneficial, either by grouping geographically or creating specialisms and shared interests providing greater freedom. However, under the proposals, MATs will be encouraged to run a minimum of ten schools to achieve advantages of scale, with smaller MATs being urged to join together.

What are the benefits?

By combining together, it is expected schools will benefit from:

Shared resources – enabling teaching methodology and resources to be standardised. Training programs or learning materials could be created once and shared multiple times across different facilities.

Greater buying power – by pooling resources, schools will be able to buy in bulk to reduce the cost of items such as stationery, furniture, or sports equipment.

Best practice – each school in the MAT will be able to share best practices in their areas so that they can all benefit from learning and improve performance. The group knowledge will increase teaching standards and provide shared training opportunities.

Are there any challenges?

It is yet to be determined whether MATs will meet the Government’s 2030 target. There are concerns though, that underperforming schools in MATs may actually bring down the collective standard of schools rather than getting pulled up by others in the group.

This concern has given rise to fears of a class divide in the school system, with outstanding schools joining together rather than spreading out expertise across the school network.

5 tips for MATs looking to improve their IT

There are many arguments around the benefits and concerns with the MAT system. However, when it comes to IT, there are definitely benefits to be had. Here is a breakdown of our top things to be aware of when forming a MAT.

1. Run an audit to streamline resources

By running an audit across new MATs, it is easy to establish how a streamlined system could be introduced, which will not only reduce the cost of IT but help to standardise support across multiple schools.

Pooling resources and understanding how you can get the most out of your budget rather than duplicating activity can provide real advantages to cash-strapped schools.

2. Standardise performance with one set of resources rolled out across the Trust

Creating one standardised approach across teaching, learning, and IT systems enables resources to be shared rather than duplicated. Take the time to combine all the best practices into one document. By providing one approach, it means that only one set of resources needs to be created and then duplicated rather than each school carrying out the same project.

3. Share resources

Why have multiple IT departments when you can have one team supporting several schools? By combining resources and standardising systems, it makes running your IT systems not only more cost-effective but efficient as well.

4. Buy in bulk

When you need to upgrade IT equipment, the Trust could save a lot of money by bulk buying resources across the MAT. Economies of scale mean that by buying resources at the same time, you can reduce overall spending.

5. Invest in shared resources

By working as a MAT, it could open up new tools and IT systems to help standardise teaching, learning and school operations.  Investments can be used to improve IT facilities across the whole Trust by enabling schools to share storage, servers, backup provision, cloud access, maintenance contracts, connectivity and even high-level security. Look at where you can share IT resources to find more efficient solutions.

If your school is looking to join a Trust and you need more information, then Halchax offers specialist IT support for the education sector.

Find out what The Schools Bill’s introduction of MATs could mean for you, how you could benefit and what you need to be aware of.

For an initial chat to find out how we could help, contact 0330 102 7464 or info@halchax.co.uk