What happens to our financial reserves when we join a MAT?

This is one of the most common questions asked by governing bodies and for obvious reasons. Once again MATs differ on their approach to school reserves. Some MATs will "pool" the money and hold this at the Trust centre so this money can be used as and when necessary as decided by the Trust Board.


Tilian has a different view. We believe that the funds provided to a school should be used for the school and not pooled. This is because the income was generated from the pupils at that school and therefore should be used to provide the best for them. Therefore when a school joins Tilian, its reserves are protected and carried forward to the new budget.


Whatever the position of the MAT on financial reserves, this information should be clear to all schools in published materials, eg a reserves policy, and should be in line with the MAT's vision and values ie the more autonomy their schools are given the more local leaders and governors should be in control of their funds - including any reserves.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do all MATs have local governing boards? No. The structure of the MAT and the level at which decisions are made should be consistent with the aims and values of the MAT. MATs that prioritise autonomy for their schools will retain governors for each school and this is known as a local governing body (LGB) or in Tilian we call them School Governance Committees (SGC). Other MATs may have a vision centred around the majority of decisions being taken by the Trust. They may have advisory panels or no representation at local level. There is no right or wrong - it is though important that Heads and Governors of schools understand what powers they will have after joining the MAT. The key document for this is the Scheme of Delegation - this is a document from the Trust Board which explains where the responsibility sits for key decisions. If the MAT supports LGBs it is also important for Heads and Governors to understand how the new governing body will be appointed, ie are the roles similar to cu...
Read more
  We like working with the Local Authority, will this change if we join a MAT? The Local Authority is still responsible for some statutory functions (including SEND funding, tranport and some aspects of admissions) for all schools, including academies. Local MATs (ie not large national MAT chains) tend to continue to work closely with the LA because we share a view that our responsibility is for high quality education for all children in the area. Suffolk LA in particular has a very active relationship with many MATs working in the county. This positive relationship ensures that the LA and MATs work in partnership to ensure the best for pupils. Tilian has a very strong relationship with the LA and its senior education officers. We encourage our schools to continue, and expand further, their links with the LA, because these can be useful for staff and pupils.
Read more