OUR SCHOOLS There are currently 10 schools* in The Cam Academy Trust: Secondary Comberton Village College – Joined 2011 Melbourn Village College – Joined 2013 Cambourne Village College – Joined 2013 St Peter’s School, Huntingdon – Joined 2016 Primary Phase Gamlingay Village Primary (formerly Gamlingay First School) – Joined 2016 Hartford Infant School, Huntingdon – Joined 2017 Hartford Junior School, Huntingdon – Joined 2017 Jeavons Wood Primary School – Joined 2017 Everton Heath Primary School – Joined 2018 Thongsley Fields Primary & Nursery School, Huntingdon – Joined 2018
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* Information correct as of January 2019
OUR VALUES At the heart of The Cam Academy Trust is a set of values. These define the essence and the purpose of the organisation. They guide decisions and inform future developments. The five core principles of The Cam Academy Trust are:
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The Excellence Principle. Education must be of the very highest of standards. The Comprehensive Principle. Education must encompass ‘Excellence for All’. All types of pupils of all abilities are equally welcome and must be supported to achieve to their potential.
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The Partnership Principle. All Academies in the Trust must look to work in partnership with others, both within and outside the Trust, for mutual benefit. The International Principle. Education must have a clear international emphasis, both within and beyond the formal curriculum. Every school will be accredited as a British Council International School. What we seek to do can be simply summed up by the statement
‘Excellence for All’.
The Community Principle. All schools must be rooted in their local communities. They provide a significant community resource and view their remit as wider than the narrow definition of ‘school’.
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LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE The Trust is the overseeing form of governance for all Academies in the Trust. Trustees (made up of Members and Directors) hold ultimate responsibility for standards, finance and employment in all of the Academies. They are held accountable for these directly to the Department for Education. The Trust delegates much of the governance of each Academy to a Local Governing Body that has its own
committees. This enables much of the local governance to be done at an appropriate local level. The usual model for all of our Academies is that each school has its own Principal or Headteacher. This person reports to the Chief Executive of the Trust (secondary schools) or the Primary Executive Leader (primary schools) and works with the Local Governing Body of his/her Academy.
TEACHING SCHOOL ALLIANCE Comberton Village College and Cambourne Village College are designated Teaching Schools. Both work with the Cambridge Area Teaching School Alliance and the wider Cambridge Teaching School Network.
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Every Academy in The Cam Academy Trust is a member of the Alliance and Network, with full access to all Teacher Training and Professional Development programmes. These are available at no cost to all Academies in the Trust. These include our Developing Effective Teaching and Developing Outstanding Teaching programmes as well as several other Leadership Development Programmes.
STAFF & SERVICES AT TRUST LEVEL The following members of staff are employed at Trust level and are available to all Academies in The Cam Academy Trust: •
Chief Executive. A National Leader of Education with responsibility for strategic leadership of the Trust.
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Primary Executive Leader. An experienced and successful Primary Head, who works closely with all Primary Headteachers and local governing bodies to support the development of excellent education in all the Trust’s Primary Academies.
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Director of Education. A Lead Ofsted inspector with responsibility for overall standards across the Trust.
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Director of International Education. Oversees the international dimension in each Academy, including Languages’ departments and Primary Languages programmes.
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Staff supporting School Improvement & Standards. These include Directors of English and Maths, a Science Co-Ordinator and a Primary Specialist.
staff as well as investigating the effective use of IT to support education in every Academy. •
Facilities Manager. Oversees all matters relating to Facilities, Health and Safety and capital bids.
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HR Manager. Oversees all HR issues across the Trust.
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IT Manager. Oversees all IT matters across the Trust.
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Education Welfare Officer. Works with and on behalf of each of our schools to provide education welfare services as needed by each school.
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Press and Communications Manager. Oversees all issues relating to press and communications for all Academies in the Trust, including the production of all prospectuses.
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Clerk to the Trustees and PA to the Chief Executive. Oversees administrative and organisational issues relating to the Trust.
The following services are also provided automatically to all Academies within the Trust:
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Director of Finance and Operations. A qualified accountant. Oversees the financial position of each Academy and the service provision from the Trust to each Academy.
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Director of IT Strategy. Oversees our schools’ developing use of personal devices by pupils and
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All HR support and payroll services Legal Services Full audit services Membership of national educational organisations (SSAT, Youth Sport Trust and others) Bespoke SEND services for Primary Schools
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COSTS To fund all staff and services provided at Trust level to all Academies, a simple 4% top slice is charged to every Academy. This is taken only from the basic pupil funding unit (GAG for Academies) and nothing else. Further forms of funding (such as Pupil Premium, Special Educational Needs specific funding, etc.) are kept fully by each individual Academy. The figure of 4% is a low top slice by national standards. The Trust seeks to provide a very full level of service to all of its Academies at the lowest possible sustainable level of funding.
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In terms of affordability for any Academy joining The Cam Academy Trust, the staff and services provided at Trust level then do not need to be provided at individual Academy level and so major savings are available. In addition, significant economies of scale are available to every Academy (such as savings on insurance premiums due to negotiating on a large scale).
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS The Cam Academy Trust is clear about its next stages of further development: •
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Local. There is no desire to become a large ‘chain’ that operates across a wide area. The benefit of working as a strong group of schools is most obviously gained by working closely and effectively in a geographical area that allows staff and pupils to work with each other. Primary and secondary schools. The local model of schools working in partnership will be at its strongest when schools from different phases work in a strong and tight group to provide excellent education for all throughout young people’s school years. Given this, the Trust is keen to
continue to develop into a full cross-phase organisation, strengthening the education that can be provided at both secondary and primary level. •
Provision for new population developments. Given the known further population developments planned for parts of the South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon area where The Cam Academy Trust already operates, the Trust will seek to help with the new required school provision in these areas. It has experience of this through establishing Cambourne Village College.
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For further information about The Cam Academy Trust, including its policies and Scheme of Delegation, please visit the Trust website.
01223 262503 ex 204 (Yvonne Corkin)
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www.catrust.co.uk
info@catrust.co.uk