The Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust

A Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is a group of academies (schools) managed under a single governing body. MATs oversee finances, policies and school improvement ensuring consistency across schools. They provide shared resources, leadership and expertise to enhance education quality. MATs vary in size and can include primary and secondary schools.

Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust was founded in 2014 with the Lacon Childe School, Cleobury Mortimer and three primaries – Cleobury Mortimer Primary School, Clee Hill Community Academy and Stottesdon CE Primary School – joining soon after in 2015. The Trust also runs the primary wing of the SHaW Maths Hub (for Shropshire, Herefordshire and Wolverhampton), providing specialist professional development for primary maths teaching.

The Four Stones MAT was founded in 2018 with Haybridge High School, Hagley and King Charles 1 School, Kidderminster as founder members. The De Montfort School, Evesham joined in January 2021 as a sponsored academy and the Trust oversaw a rigorous school improvement process with the school judged good in all categories by Ofsted in October 2023. The Trust also oversees the work of the Haybridge SCITT (school-centred initial teacher training), training primary and secondary teachers on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and the Haybridge Teaching School Hub which provides professional development services specifically for the Sandwell and Dudley region.

Both Trusts have proven their capacity and capability of school improvement and have community-based values at the heart of their organisations and strive to ensure excellent opportunities for learning, enrichment, and wider development for pupils. Both Trusts value the importance of what each individual school brings to the collective family of schools within each Trust.

It is now well documented that groups of schools working together in formal partnership as MATs have the potential to improve outcomes and experiences for pupils. Both the Four Stones MAT (3,250 pupils and 3 schools), and Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust (1050 pupils and 4 schools) have successfully developed offers for their schools, to support continued improvements and an increasing consistency of offer for local communities.

Since the new government has been in place, several funding streams linked to increasing capacity for growth of trusts and support for legal/operational costs for academy conversions has diminished. In addition to this, it is clear the new government is keen to see larger organisations working to secure better outcomes and experiences for pupils, whilst maintaining efficiencies to support as much funding as possible going to where it makes the biggest difference for pupils.

As two relatively small Trusts, we believe that uniting our schools into one Trust will ensure a high-quality focus on learning and experiences for children and young people in our care, whilst also increasing efficiency and the ability to drive high quality and sustained change within schools. As an organisation of 7 schools with more than 4300 pupils we believe we can increase collaboration, share best practice and better provide opportunities to children and young people, staff and communities than if we remain as two separate organisations.

The two Trusts have already completed significant pre-diligence on each other in order to ensure compatibility in successful future partnership working. Following careful consideration, and being in the best interests of the children and young people, staff and local communities that both Trusts serve, we are excited by the prospects and benefits that a potential merger will bring and feel that this is an opportune time for both Trusts to join and grow together. The due diligence work continues with detailed processes ongoing around finances, estates, governance, statutory compliance, HR procedures and provisions, IT, analysis of school performance, metrics and sustainability. The findings of this work will be discussed by each Trust Board alongside the outcomes of the consultation.

If a decision is made to merge, the Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust (SGET) as the Trust with the most schools (4) would be known as the ‘receiving’ Trust, with the Four Stones MAT with fewer schools (3) known as the ‘transferring’ Trust. All employees from Four Stones will nominally join SGET and the Trust will be renamed. The decision on a new name will be made at a later date.

Although there are currently more employees and children and young people in the 3 large secondaries of the Four Stones MAT, the process of transferring land and assets of 3 schools (no matter their size) is cheaper. This is important to us in reducing the necessary initial costs of a merger.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations will apply and staff currently working within Four Stones will be transferred, under TUPE conditions. Four Stones staff will be protected to transfer on the same employment terms and conditions, including pensions. SGET staff will remain with the same terms and conditions.

The existing legal agreements for use of and ownership of the schools’ land and buildings will be transferred from Four Stones to SGET as the receiving Trust. The protections that ensure that the land and buildings can only be used for educational purposes will also transfer. There is no real long-term impact of which schools and employees transfer into the other organisation; all will have equal status in the new Trust.

Each Trust Board will independently decide as to whether the merger will proceed, based on the outcomes of the due diligence process. It is expected that this decision will be made by both Trust boards in June 2025. An application submitted to the DfE (Department for Education) is then considered by the Regional Advisory Board of the DfE, chaired by the Regional Director for the West Midlands. Ultimate decision-making responsibility lies with the regional DfE board.

Yes, other schools, including primary and secondary, could join in the future. The creation of a larger Trust could bring additional benefits for children and young people, staff, and local communities, however our priority at this stage if approved, is to focus on the successful and smooth merging of both Trusts. Opportunities for further growth after this point would be carefully considered by the new Trust Board, with decisions always made in the best interest of our immediate school communities.

There are expert staff and excellent leaders in both Trusts. Merging the current school improvement and central teams will support us in delivering an overall improved offer within the Trust. As efficiencies emerge, we will be able to attract and retain high quality staff as well as drive improvement where needed. The sharing of knowledge, skills, expertise and resources will mean we can offer a strengthened curriculum and enhanced enrichment activities. The relative strengths of each Trust team will support an enhanced offer within one organisation. By having 7 schools, the new Trust will be able to access annual buildings’ funding (known as school condition allocations - SCA) to allow for better strategic planning in estates management. In addition, the consolidation of trust reserves across 7 schools supports resilience to the financial pressures education currently faces.

We are living in a time of significant educational reform with OFSTED consultations, curriculum reviews, SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) reforms and a Schools Bill; not to mention ‘school efficiencies’ the new government have cited in terms of managing increasing wage and National Insurance costs. A larger Trust is better able to cope with change and uncertainty both in the context of the education landscape and financially. We will also focus on the core business of teaching, learning and safeguarding. A larger Trust can better utilise resources to support continuous improvement in all schools, and creating a larger trust reduces the overall administrative burden. Every school in the Trust will be stronger by being part of our family of schools.

The Trust will provide support and training for its local governors, who will have regular liaison directly with leaders and the Board via the Chairs’ group. A highly skilled and experienced Board of Trustees with membership drawn from both Trusts will provide strategic direction and oversight, whilst excellent back-office support in Finance, HR, ICT, Governance and Estate/Facilities Management will underpin the financial security of being part of a larger organisation.

In addition, it will help support the ongoing sustainability of both Trusts and its schools from an operational perspective, with reasons including:

• The DfE continues to actively promote the creation of larger Trusts, through mergers of smaller Trusts. This voluntary merger ensures that we have control over our future, rather than it being dictated to us.
• Both Trusts have strategic priorities for growth, with a potential merger as one option to achieve this.
• The creation of a larger Trust is more attractive to potential future schools joining and therefore provides immediate future growth potential.
• Small Trusts do not yield some of the benefits of larger Trusts. For example, financial efficiency.

There are many reasons why both Trusts believe that a merger is in the interests of our children, young people, staff, and communities.

A highly effective School Improvement Team with experienced primary, secondary, SEND, safeguarding, subject and personal development specialists, will ensure our provision is the best it can be. It will create further resource to ensure a sharp focus on meeting the needs of disadvantaged children and young people, and those with additional needs and special talents, will ensure inspirational learning for all.

Children and young people will have the opportunity to participate in Trust-wide groups focused on areas important to them. This includes opportunities for leadership, sports, arts, music and performance, sustainability, and careers. A larger Trust will be able to offer a much greater range of opportunities to children and young people, both educationally and through enrichment activities.

Outcomes for pupils will continue to improve over time. A larger trust offers significant opportunity to focus on specific goals to ensure high levels of achievement across all schools, regardless of context.

Operational efficiencies will allow school leaders to be true leaders of educational provision to ensure excellent outcomes.

Both Trusts currently have Members, Trustees, and a tier of local governance. Should the two Trusts merge, a very similar governance structure would remain in place. The resultant Trust board would consist of a mix of current Trustees from each Trust. The total number of Trustees is likely to increase to broaden the skills and expertise required to manage a larger trust of 7 schools. The proportion of church representation linked to Members and Trustees would remain, as is currently in place in Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust.

It is our intention that Mark Pollard (CEO of Four Stones) would become the CEO and Katie Jones (CEO of SGET) would become Executive Headteacher/Director of Primary. Katie and Mark bring extensive leadership skills and experience across early years, primary and secondary.

Headteachers will remain in place in each of the schools in the new Trust.

Considerable work will be required before the two Trust Boards can formally take the decision to merge and whatever is decided will be based on what is best for the future education of all the children and young people in our schools. Both Trusts will undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the resources, finances, and other aspects of the schools in each Trust and the central associated services of each Trust. Once this due diligence has been completed to the satisfaction of both Trusts, a final decision about whether to merge will take place.

A Merger Working Group has been established, comprising the two Trust Chairs, two further Trustees from each Trust, the CEOs and finance leads of both Trusts. The detailed work will be undertaken by a number of staff working which will bring together expertise from across the two Trusts.

We anticipate that the merger, should it take place, would proceed for the earliest date of 1st November 2025. Progress would be subject to approval from the Regional Director (acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education) after scrutiny at the West Midlands Advisory Board.

No. We do not envisage the need to make any redundancies in either Trust as part of the proposed merger.

A larger Trust offers greater career development opportunities for staff, improving leadership and staff stability and succession planning. In addition, the merged Trust will benefit from the sharing of knowledge and expertise between leaders, staff, and members of the governance community – across the two Trusts there is a wealth of expertise that will benefit all.

Staff will have increased opportunities through coordination and collaborative working.

All staff will benefit from greater opportunities that include:

• A programme of training and high-quality professional development, both online and in person, as well as an asynchronous catalogue of training and best practice
• Secondments and career development, including leadership development at all levels
• Membership of Trust-wide Learning Communities and collaboration between heads, deputy heads, curriculum/phase leaders, inclusion leads/SENCOs, safeguarding leads, non-teaching staff, subject leaders and other aspirant leaders
• Cross phase groups leading developments in key areas including curriculum development, teaching and learning, assessment, action research, wellbeing, and equalities
• Career development, progression and coordinated succession planning
• A commitment to staff wellbeing, including an Employee Assistance Programme – a workplace benefit that helps with personal or work-related problems offering support and advice and financial discounts in retail and leisure.
• Access to leadership development opportunities e.g. NPQs (National Professional Qualifications) and our own in-house senior and middle leadership development programmes
• Teacher training programmes through the SCITT and ECT (Early Careers Teacher) programmes through the Teaching School Hub for those early in their careers or wanting to develop specialisms
• Collaboration with peer groups across the Trust including cross-phase working

If the merger proceeds, we anticipate combining central office teams to create greater resources and increased support for all schools in the Trust.

Yes, the new Trust would continue to support wider system development through the Haybridge SCITT, the Haybridge Teaching School Hub and as primary lead for the SHaW Maths Hub (based at Cleobury Mortimer Primary School).

The schools within the Four Stones MAT currently collaborate significantly on curriculum content and delivery across all subjects. We hope that subject staff (and ultimately children and young people) at Lacon Childe school will benefit over time from being part of this subject-based collaboration but leaders will ensure that any change will be carefully implemented and agreed as beneficial.

We hope the capacity within the new Trust created with the merger will allow for greater curriculum collaboration and sharing of best practice in the primary schools.

We anticipate that some staff might welcome the opportunity to have experience in different schools and communities if they wish, but there will be no changes to the conditions of employment of existing staff.

All teachers at both Trusts currently are paid in accordance with the statutory provisions of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) and stay within the legal framework of other relevant legislation that affects all employers, for example, legislation on equality, employment protection and data protection. This will not change following a merger.

All support staff roles are linked to recognised scales and (NJC/LA) both trusts currently support national recommendations for pay awards etc. Roles are benchmarked and linked to responsibility. This will not change following the merger.

If there are any minor differences in terms and conditions, the contractual terms will take precedence, however we will aim to offer the more favourable approach to all staff in the new Trust.

There will be no pay increases for leaders as a direct result of the proposed merger.

For the vast majority of staff things will continue as they currently are, with staff linked to existing schools. There is always the opportunity for staff to develop their careers and experiences by collaborative working (as currently exists in both trusts) and working across different sites (through agreement). Although there is no certainty to this, we know we will have increased numbers of staff working across a central team and there will need to be some alignment of workplaces/office locations to fit any new structure created. If there are such changes, they will be managed carefully and any decisions made will reflect the quality of offer to support children, and young people and schools in delivering the best outcomes and experiences. We anticipate this affecting very few individuals in each Trust.

The names of all the schools will remain the same. Many of the schools have a long and rich history; all have a reputation and are valued within their local community. Both Trusts currently respect that schools’ individuality is represented through their name and this will not change after merger.

The new Trust would – as both Trusts currently do – hold children and young people at the heart. Each school has a lead for disadvantaged children and young people and bringing them together into a larger organisation enables us to share learning and expertise, derive greater benefits from our scale, and provide all children (whether disadvantaged or not) with more opportunities.

The identity and ethos of each school will not be changed as a result of the potential merger. Both Trusts celebrate the fact that each school has its own individuality. This is important and will be maintained.

The Diocese of Hereford has been consulted about the potential merger and has given formal consent for a merger application. There will be no changes to the church school status of Stottesdon CE Primary School and it will continue to be supported by both the Trust and the Diocese.

No. We do not envisage any school changing its admissions policy as a direct consequence of the merger.

No. The special and unique identity of each school is very important, and we will continue to recognise and celebrate the history and identities of the different schools as we embrace a larger family of schools.

No. Any funds raised by PTAs will sit separately from school budgets and donations will remain ring-fenced for the intended school only.