Counties Academy Trust
Welcome
Three Counties Academy Trust is a small regional trust based in the northern part of Herefordshire and bordering both Worcestershire and Shropshire.
TCAT is rooted in our belief of serving our communities. Our pupils deserve the very best. Our trust values are embodied throughout our schools whilst they importantly retain their own unique values and history.
We are looking for schools to join us, to benefit from the collaboration within our family of schools but equally to contribute to it and further our growth and development. No one school within TCAT is any more important than another. We all work for the benefit of each other, like a family should. In doing so, we can continue to offer the very best for the children in our care and equip them for life in the modern world.
We will engage in meaningful collaborative work with schools and trusts outside of Three Counties Academy Trust where appropriate to do so. This collaboration will not be restricted by locality. Schools or trusts wishing to have conversations should approach the Trust directly to do so. Perhaps you are at the start of your academisation journey, looking at the options for your school or interested in becoming an associate member of the Trust? We are happy to talk with you and assist in any way we can.
We are ambitious to grow in a sensible and measured way. We have a very good insight into what makes small rural schools work, the challenges they face and what opportunities may be present for them, and we have a track record of success.
We work closely with all of our stakeholders and play a central role within our local community for the benefit of all.
Three Counties Academy Trust may be exactly what you are looking for, please do get in touch if you think so as well.
Mr Martin Farmer BEd (hons), NPQH, NPQEL
Executive
Headteacher/CEO
Three Counties Academy Trust
Our Values & Vision
Three Counties Academy Trust Values
Working with PACE
Pride
Taking pride in all that we do, as learners, as staff and as a trust.
A
mbition
Having the ambition and belief to be the very best we can be.
Creativity
Approaching everything we do in a creative way with a positive mindset.
Empathy
Caring for ourselves, our friends and colleagues and our communities.
Three Counties Academy Trust Vision
To build a brighter future for all of our stakeholders, rooted in respect, collaboration and a belief in each other that we can achieve our very best.
Three Counties Academy Trust Mission Statement
Three Counties Academy Trust exists to provide a holistic educational pathway for all of the children in its care (from Early Years to Key Stage 4), which values and promotes both the academic and vocational, in order to unlock the potential in all of our children. We recognise that our schools and wider communities are made up of many individual parts, brought together for the benefit of all.
We value and promote the academic, but likewise we see great value in the vocational and in play. It is for us to unlock the potential in all pupils so that they can take that forward and use it to become cohesive and integral members of society in an area that they enjoy and value. Education is about the process of learning, but it is also about developing skills and selfawareness. Communication, social interaction, resilience, and empathy are some of the many
skills and attributes that must be developed in order to live life to the fullest, but most of all it is about enjoying the experience of learning and developing so that in adulthood our pupils can look back on their time with us with fondness and a deep and comforting sense of accomplishment.
For our schools, we want to develop a strong network of effective local leadership, supported by equally robust collective administration. Each school has its own heritage and rich traditions that this trust is proud of and seeks to protect, support, and promote. For our staff, through the opportunities we provide, we will deliver a stable and supportive organisation that considers their needs and allows them to develop and achieve their ambitions in life. For the communities we serve, we want to deliver an educational offer that they are proud of and support with our schools at the heart of it.
Working with TCAT
Three Counties Academy Trust seeks to both grow and develop our trust and to foster strong relationships with providers outside the trust.
We can do this in a number of ways.
Firstly, we will work with schools on a variety of local, regional or indeed national projects to further the aims of TCAT and develop close and meaningful networks with colleagues elsewhere. Such work may lead in time to closer working relationships on a range of projects or initiatives.
Non-affiliated schools
We will also work primarily with local and regional schools to strengthen their own provision or to provide additional capacity to manage difficulties by the negotiation and implementation of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) where the partner school wishes such an arrangement to be in place. All SLAs we negotiate are based on a minimum term of 1 term. Such agreements may be for Executive Leadership time and oversight or for additional Senior Leadership capacity, or for Central Services that the trust currently offers, for example finance functions, site management, safeguarding and school improvement work.
Affiliated schools
For those providers who are seeking a closer alignment with Three Counties Academy Trust we can offer the opportunity to engage in an
“We are proud to be part of Three Counties Academy Trust. It is a well-run trust that recognises the importance of small rural schools within their communities. We now have the support of this larger organisation while still allowing our wonderful unique school to be Successful and Proud ”.
Mr
Matt Lewis, Headteacher
at Stoke Prior Primary School
Associate Membership arrangement. Existing Local Authority providers can achieve all of the benefits of membership of TCAT whilst retaining their own finances and governance. Associate Membership would normally be considered for a period of 12 months with a review at that time to determine continued membership, converting to academy status with TCAT or leaving the relationship. Such an arrangement is suitable for both faith and nonfaith schools.
Finally, Three Counties Academy Trust will actively engage with any provider wishing to join the trust. This may be an existing Single Academy Trust (SAT), an existing Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or a Local Authority Maintained School seeking to academise into a MAT. This process can take up to 12 months to complete including a period of due diligence and consultation. For Associate Members looking to academise into Three Counties Academy Trust, should both parties be in agreement, the process of academisation and onboarding into the trust can run alongside an Associate Membership.
If you would like to discuss these options further we would love to hear from you. You can listen to what we as a trust believe and are seeking to achieve and decide if and how you would want to further your interest. There is no obligation or pressure as you follow your school improvement or academisation journey and we are more than happy to assist.
School Improvement
Three Counties Academy Trust uses a range of providers to deliver our school improvement offer for members.
In many instances we can utilise the expertise from within the trust, whether that be for teaching and learning, data analysis, finance functions, curriculum design, inspection preparation, SEND provision and safeguarding work. TCAT has a depth of experience in these areas and continues to grow our in-house provision. We continue to develop further expertise by investing in our middle and senior leaders. By joining TCAT, you are able to access this expertise as a member of the TCAT family, but you will also be encouraged to allow colleagues to utilise strengths within
your own school to benefit the TCAT community. Opportunities for staff secondments do exist so that we can develop and retain staff, not just within their home school but also across the trust.
Additionally, TCAT has contracts with some of the strongest School Improvement Partners (SIPs) in our location, both at primary and secondary levels. All schools will benefit from external SIP deployment as a TCAT resource, both advising and assisting school staff on their improvement journey.
Much CPD is delivered across the trust, usually by phase but this can also be whole trust. Our INSET days are aligned across the trust so that opportunities to work together within the TCAT family are maximised.
TCAT membership benefits
Central Services
Centralised recruitment and HR
Finance systems and management
Data, IT and systems support
Capital programme oversight
Centralised procurement
Comprehensive policy management
Curriculum design support
Estate and facilities management
Risk assessment and management
Comprehensive school improvement
Accredited executive leadership support
Centralised marketing and communications
Outstanding safeguarding support
Governance expertise and support
Compliance services
Centralised recruitment and HR
Three Counties Academy Trust work with our partners Hoople HR Management to deliver end to end recruitment processes and HR support for all TCAT schools. All aspects of HR work are undertaken by our Central Team and when that extra expertise is needed we retain Hoople HR to give us total reassurance that the actions we take are correct and comply with legislation. Payroll is centralised for all schools within the trust, and we work extensively with school leaders to plan and manage absence, retention strategies and the process of recruitment. The Chief Finance Officer personally oversees any TUPE process for a school.
Capital programme oversight
The prospect of large-scale maintenance projects and capital builds can be a daunting one, especially for small rural schools. Our Central Team have extensive experience in securing funding and taking through to completion capital projects that have enhanced our member schools. Projects are managed from start to finish in full collaboration with school leadership so that disruption to the everyday operations of the schools are minimised and the end result enhances the school environment and facilities available.
Comprehensive policy management
Schools must maintain robust policies and systems so that they achieve compliance and have clear and robust procedures to work to. The process of policy formulation, writing and ratification is one carried out in the majority of instances by the Central Team, enabling school leaders to use the time efficiencies in ways that best help them achieve their goals. Where involvement is essential within policy development, school leaders work with the Central Team to deliver clarity in policy and have the opportunity to develop both local adjustments to Central policy and policy specific to their individual school. Our online structure means that school leadership will always see the latest versions of policy and procedure on their website all delivered centrally.
Finance systems and management
Our very experienced Finance Team work across the trust for the benefit of all member schools to deliver the highest financial levels of competence, enabling school leaders to run their schools efficiently. As a trust, we promote and use the GAG Pooling funding method with pooled reserves, after all as a family we help each other, and we are therefore able to provide support where it is most needed. The process of audit and financial reporting is all conducted by the Finance Team centrally, as are orders and invoice payments, payroll functions and many other time-consuming functions associated with running a modern school.
Centralised procurement
As a trust we are able to deliver a degree of economies of scale by collective negotiation, carried out on behalf of all TCAT schools by the Chief Finance Officer and the Finance Team. Being able to negotiate more favourable terms allows us to better use the finances we receive as a trust and gives our schools the reassurance that the services they need are available when they need them.
Risk assessment and management
School leaders are best placed to assess the inherent risks they face and are integral to the risk assessment and management of those risks. However, the support provided by the Central Team with established policy and suite of risk assessment and management systems and recording templates, coupled with oversight and management of updates, means that each school leader can be fully immersed in the process of risk assessment and management whilst being reassured that the trust oversight will enable them to manage such risk effectively and efficiently.
Data, IT, and systems support
Three Counties Academy Trust works closely with reputable IT and service providers to deliver strong network capacity and infrastructure, coupled with ongoing upgrades and maintenance. Operating locally in this way gives us faster response times to larger scale outages or upgrades with the ability to manage smaller instances through our Central IT personnel provision. Schools all receive weekly on-site time dedicated to maintaining their systems and carrying out routine work and are part of an ICT infrastructure programme across the trust which ensures both pooled physical resources where appropriate and the careful planning of system upgrades based on need.
Estate and facilities management
One of the major benefits for schools to join TCAT is the expertise we have in estate management. Very often Headteachers and their colleagues find themselves having to deal with site issues, compliance, and maintenance. Our extensive Site Team are able to respond to pressing needs by providing swift support and to provide ongoing maintenance of buildings, land, and facilities. This can be general buildings maintenance, replacement of fixtures and fittings, decorating and liaising with our external partners when providing grounds maintenance and utilities support.
Comprehensive school improvement
TCAT uses a blend of internal and external partners to deliver school improvement that meets the needs of our schools. As a trust we are constantly looking inward to see where we can use our own expertise to develop colleagues and ensure a stronger provision by sharing best practice. We have the ability to second colleagues to positions within the trust that afford developmental opportunities for them and help improve the provision of the school they are seconded to. Additionally, we have targeted support from the trust Executive Team who deliver support, training, monitoring, and guidance across all levels of the trust. Our external provision features support from proven leaders who will work with school leaders and the trust Executive Leaders to target support and intervention in a way that helps each school meet their obligations and deliver education in line with our values and vision.
Curriculum design support
It is important that our schools can reflect their individuality within TCAT and deliver the curriculum that best fits their setting. Collective work between school leaders and the trust can identify common areas of practice and advise on best practice so that all schools can deliver a broad and balanced curriculum for their pupils.
Accredited executive leadership support
Our Executive Leadership Team is headed by the trust Executive Headteacher/CEO who has received accreditation under the National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership (NPQEL). The very experienced Executive Leadership Team has a strong track record of school improvement and supporting leaders, especially in smaller, rural schools and works collaboratively with school leaders to deliver the very best for our pupils.
Centralised marketing and communications
The need for schools to develop and maintain strong communication and effective use of marketing has never been greater in a system that supports freedom of choice. Three Counties Academy Trust has an excellent record of strong communication systems and procedures allied with exceptional marketing across a range of media. Centralised policy and response mean that even the most difficult instances are managed effectively. Our trust promotes a strong brand image where our values are reinforced. Our schools whilst working as part of the brand are able to benefit directly from the extensive work that has enabled the TCAT brand to benefit all of our schools.
Outstanding safeguarding support
Three Counties Academy Trust has an excellent track record in reflecting the very best safeguarding practice. Working with our established and knowledgeable Executive Leadership and Central Team, each TCAT school will be supported to deliver strong safeguarding practice that is seen as the gold standard, securing the strongest systems and records that support the strength and depth of the safeguarding responsibilities each school faces. Regular audits and stress testing of systems and records, alongside robust policy and procedure mean that school leaders can be assured that their safeguarding practice exceeds that required of them and protects all children within their care.
Governance expertise and support
Our trust structure at Three Counties Academy Trust allows us to deliver support and guidance to our LGBs as they carry out their duties. Our established Scheme of Delegation allows the LGBs to focus on the core requirements of their school. LGBs work in collaboration with our experienced Trust Board. The Trust retains a Governance Professional to provide the appropriate level of support to the Trust Board but also works with individual LGB Clerks.
Compliance services
The demands on schools to ensure compliance are high, consuming vast amounts of time to ensure even the smallest of provisions is compliant. With requirements changing rapidly, our Central Team is able to respond to ever changing compliance requirements swiftly, develop appropriate responses and systems, and audit compliance at school and Trust level freeing the schools leaders to concentrate on the delivery of their core functions, secure in the knowledge that their school is compliant. The trust retains independent GDPR services that provide the up-to-date knowledge and procedures all schools need to maintain compliance.
Our Structure
Three Counties Academy Trust follows a conventional structure in respect of governance and leadership of the trust.
Our Trust Board works with the Board of Members to ensure the key duties of governance are discharged in line with our funding agreement and articles. The Trust Board specifically works in collaboration with the Executive Leadership to set the strategic direction of TCAT, holds the Executive Leadership of the trust to account for the performance of the trust and our schools, and ensures strong systems of financial control and probity are in place and that we are managing public money to best effect.
Our Trust Board values the role that Local Governing Bodies play in the governance of TCAT schools. For us, LGBs are a vital cog in the system of school governance. We have a robust Scheme of Delegation in place that places the emphasis on the curriculum, teaching, and performance with the LGB, with the Trust Board monitoring, challenging, and supporting the work of the LGBs collaboratively. For new entrants to Three Counties Academy Trust, we encourage retention of the existing Governing Body as they best know the school, its characteristics, and its areas for development.
Our Trust Board delegates operational leadership and management of the Trust to the Executive Headteacher/CEO, who leads the school leadership teams and, in partnership with the Chief Finance Officer, jointly manages the Central Team responsible for delivering core administrative support across the Trust.
Whilst the key processes of monitoring and accountability are intrinsic to the smooth running of Three Counties Academy Trust, governance, leadership, and management is seen as a partnership, and the actions of the Board of Members, Trust Board, Local Governing Bodies, and the Executive Leadership reflect this approach. The family ethos we wish to promote within our trust and schools extends to the leadership of the trust, rooted in respect whilst ensuring everyone is working towards our common aims.
Local Governing Bodies
Headteachers and Heads of School
Senior Leadership Teams
Members
Executive Headteacher/CEO
Chief Finance Officer
Administrative / IT Support
Trust Estate Manager
Academy Business Manager
Trust Education Welfare and Safeguarding Support Officer, Trust Assistant SENCO and Inclusion Support Officer and Trust Primary Lead Practitioner
Ashfields
Bromyard
Hereford HR7 4QS
Telephone: 01885 482230
Email: admin@tcat.school www.threecountiesacademytrust.com