Academisation

The governors of St Thomas of Canterbury are consulting about converting to academy status and joining the Xavier Catholic Education Trust (Xavier CET).

Converting to an academy has been discussed in governing body meetings since 2012.  But it is only now that we believe the diocesan academy model, and the timing to be right for our school.  There are five main issues which we believe mean the time may be right to convert.  These are:

• An acceptable M.A.T. structure within the Diocese
• The high performance of the Xavier trust
• Favourable financial considerations vs local authority
• The quality of services provided by the trust
• The operational benefits to the school

The Xavier trust is one of the highest performing trusts in the country.  It gets excellent results at both its Primary and Secondary schools and has the same ethos of providing an education for the whole child as St Thomas of Canterbury does.

Over the past year the governing body has spoken to and had meetings with many people across the Xavier trust.  The biggest take-away from those meetings is the quality of the services the Xavier trust provides.  They are of an excellent quality, and indeed the services we have already received in getting the school to this point have been of a higher standard than we have previously been exposed to.

The governing body has met with head teachers of the schools within the trust and through those meetings they have outlined the operational benefits of working within the trust.  These range from access to subject experts, shared lesson plans, common assessment frameworks, and shared resources to name a few.  Mr Lewin, through many additional meetings with those head teachers is convinced that the quality of education that every child receives would only be enhanced by joining the trust.

It is perhaps that last point that has brought us to this consultation.  The governing body is charged with ensuring the best outcomes for every child at the school and, subject to due diligence, we believe joining the Xavier CET may be the best way to provide that.

Please read the documents provided, they will give you a good understanding of the changes this conversion would entail.  If you have any questions, concerns or worries please let the school know through the forms attached and don’t forget there is a consultation meeting on Tuesday 26^th February in the Junior Hall at 7.00pm which you are warmly invited to attend. The outcome of that meeting and the questions and answers raised will all be published here.

For further information about the Xavier CET please follow this link to their website.