Should Your School Join a Multi Academy Trust? Pros & Cons Explained
Multi Academy Trusts are something we have learnt more and more about in the last few years and we are aware of many of our schools moving to be part of a MAT, it has prompted us to take a look in more detail at how a Multi Academy Trust works!
Why do schools join a Multi Academy Trust? Joining a MAT gives schools within that trust an opportunity to be part of a wider community to enable sharing of talent and expertise in order to deliver the best standard of education – ‘MATs are networks of schools which work to support each other and raise standards.’
How does a Multi Academy Trust benefit the academies that join? Academies who join a – MAT are joining a network of other academies who can offer support and experience within their Multi Academy Trust community. Some benefits may include;
- Sharing expertise to elevate standards across all academies within the MAT – the Department for Education research report ‘schools views on the perceived benefits and obstacles to joining a Multi Academy Trust’ states that ‘sharing of skills was the most widely experienced improvement among recent converters’
- Increased opportunities for career development for teaching staff – the following blog on eteach ‘5 benefits of working in a multi academy trust’ suggests that ‘Being a MAT member of staff can give you access to regular training and development opportunities within a wider scope than non-MAT schools. By working within a MAT, you’ll have access to a whole shared network of schools and training hubs within them.’
- Opportunities to improve financial stability through potential economies of scale on services
- Collaborative working practices to support and nurture newly joined academies
What could the challenges be to the academies that join a MAT?
- Loss of autonomy for the academy with centralised decision making
- Location barriers to collaborative working where schools are not geographically close
- Slower decision making in academies when having to consult a centralised team – the ‘Multi Academy Trusts: Benefits, challenges and functions’ report found that ‘In some cases, school leaders felt there were difficulties in terms of how decisions were made. This was usually around the length of time a decision took.’
- Reputation -what impact could a failing school within the MAT have on the other academies?
As a school photography company we have always tailored our services to best support our schools and welcome questions or enquiries as to how we can support your MAT with your school photography requirements from everything including school photos through to trust wide ID cards and marketing photography for your websites. Want to discuss how we can support your MAT with school photography? Contact us today!
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