Our Central Support Services team provides effective and efficient support to all of our schools.

Our centralised work relates all to the non-teaching aspects of running a school including Strategic Leadership, School Improvement, Finance, Payroll and Procurement, HR, Governance, Compliance, GDPR & Cyber security, and Contract and Premises Management, alleviating the burden of administrative responsibility for schools, that allows Headteachers to focus on their core business of delivering excellent teaching and learning.

With overall responsibility for the Trust is Ian Lowe – CEO. Ian provides strategic oversight, development, and management of the Trust so that all schools are led well, sustainable and delivering the best possible education for all pupils. He also provides timely and expert support for all schools which enables the delivery of an ambitious and high-quality education for all pupils and facilitate a culture of collaboration and co-design which develops system leaders at all levels.

With strategic responsibility for all aspects of Trust financial management and operations is Esther Martin – MAT Business Manager/CFO. Esther has extensive strategic management experience in finance, human resources, administration, project management, service delivery and contract administration.

Our central team supports all aspects of our trust, either in-house or outsourced to appropriate companies. Although some expert services are outsourced the responsibility remains with the Trust to monitor the service provision. The tier model below demonstrates the nature of services that are deployed by the Trust to support schools to raise standards in education and offers greater efficiency in services, procurement and ensures greater financial stability is sustained over time. These are included within an annual integrated service charge. By centralising these key services, our school’s benefit from collaboration, economies of scale and leaner back-office teams.

Our central finance function works with the CEO and Headteachers to prepare annual budgets that are tailored for the needs of each individual school. Providing strategic advice, financial planning, clear processes and technical financial knowledge. Preparation of all financial information for various stakeholders, internal and external audits, statutory returns are all handled centrally. Maintain strict compliance with statutory, regulatory, and best practice guidance and provide expertise that enables and complements Trust and school plans. Maximising funding is a priority as well as benefiting from purchasing power and economies of scale through centralised procurement.

Our HR function delivers support to each school for recruitment, payroll administration, compliance, and employee relations to ensure all our staff are well managed and looked after. Specialist HR advice and payroll processing is outsourced to EPM.

Our Governance function delivers expert governance and compliance across the Trust, through recruiting representatives from our communities, essential induction, a bespoke training programme, and measuring the effectiveness of Governors and Trustees.

Our IT support service is also outsourced to Turn IT On. They provided technical expertise and support, alongside advice for the next technological advances which could be embedded in our schools. IT equipment procurement services and installations. Cyber security is an increasing focus, and each school receives an enhanced protection and backup strategy.

Our central team also provide Premises Management oversight to ensure our buildings are safe and secure environments for teaching and learning. This covers the properties and grounds, building fabric and cleaning, service installations, energy and environmental management, including Health and Safety, sustainability and providing direction to site staff. Like any buildings, our schools need repairs and regular maintenance. We undertake regular inspections of the premises to determine the need for repair and maintenance work, arrange maintenance tasks and keep appropriate documentation to record repairs. We ensure all our schools are compliant by ensuring legislative and regulatory inspections where required are completed at the appropriate intervals.

We have recently boosted our communications and marketing focus, working with schools to develop professional and coherent brand guidelines, and deliver effective communication to a range of stakeholders. Services include social media management, website content, external communications, stakeholder engagement, event management, graphic design, and crisis communications.

Compliance & Legal Service - All aspects of data protection are managed centrally including responses to Freedom of Information requests. The central team in conjunction with the CEO and Headteachers are responsible for coordinating all Trust and school policies reviews, staff training and compliance audits. Professional legal advice is sought externally.

Value for Money - Centralising our non-teaching services has the benefit of encouraging reduced costs through better use of resources, achieving better value for money than an individual school would be able to.

Central Support Services Team

Ian Lowe - CEO

Esther Martin – MAT Business Manager & Chief Finance Officer

Lisa Macdonald – Senior MAT Administrator (part-time)

Karen Daynes – MAT Administrator (part-time)