Aug 15, 2019
On this episode of Developing the Trust, the podcast dedicated to the schools academy sector, Tim Warneford is in a school in Batley to speak to Tracy Jackson, finance business consultant, about her experience of many conversions.
On this episode we cover:
What brought Tracy into the academy sector
Starting as a trainee accounting technician
Working in the internal audit department with schools and education
Moving to a local high school as bursar (when 8 months pregnant with twins!)
Recognising her area of strength was finance but learning about managing premises, health and safety, HR and more
Outsourcing work and buying in expertise
Being part of many academy conversion processes
How the ideal time to get to schools is before they transfer
Helping schools better prepare to academise
Due diligence should start the moment the school decides to convert
Tracy supporting a number of schools with due diligence process – starting in 2011 when there was little blueprint
Setting up her own business to support trust
Finding is frustrating that she’s often brought in after conversion
Schools being unaware of some of the liabilities for which they become responsible
Money being wasted by due diligence being repeated
‘Failing schools’ being rebrokered
Unfair incentives for schools being rebrokered
Seeing so many SPN’s struggle with the financial compliance and policies
Primary schools understandably less keen on joining a trust
Local schools becoming direct competition to each other
Tracy being a trustee of an academy trust
The importance of having trustees who have a connection to the school
The professional development opportunities for staff from working with other schools in a MAT
Some of the successes identified in academy conversions
How the education sector has become far more business like
Accountability being a good thing, buying power increasing
The bigger trusts now being very savvy to the systems
Negotiating contracts, collective buying power, pooling resources and staff
UTCs experiencing financial difficulties as they set themselves up
SRMAs need to help identify potential savings but focusing on those in deficit
Schools being asked to publish 14 days once received financial measures to improve
Three-year deficit budgets
Primary schools needing incentives to convert
The uncertainty and unknown about taking on a free school
Special Education Needs needing more attention
ISBL needing to listen to people who are supporting the sector
CIF changing the rules by increasing the weighting of schools value for money being almost means testing – almost discriminating against some schools
Tracy feeling that there will be a revisit of the academy system, in particular the geographical spread
Rebrokering schools to make them more local
LEA budgets being cut impacting on schools
Feeling there is a real desire from the sector just to make things better and to deliver a first class education service