Staff FAQs

If your school already has academy status, staff would transfer, via TUPE, from that academy to become employees of the Collaborative Learning Trust Multi Academy Trust.

If your school is not yet an academy, the process would involve your school converting to an academy within the Collaborative Learning Trust Multi Academy Trust. Therefore, staff would transfer, via TUPE, from local authority employees to become employees of the Multi Academy Trust. Rules for conversion to academy status mean that Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) regulations apply and all staff will retain existing pay, terms and conditions when they transfer to the Trust as the employer. However, academies are not bound by the National Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document; the Trust is responsible for setting the pay and conditions of staff. Having said this, there is no intention for the Collaborative Learning Trust to move away from the National Teachers’ Pay and Conditions and Teachers’ Pensions Scheme arrangements and the Trust will also ensure that the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) arrangements stay in place for support staff. As part of the conversion process, the LGPS scheme’s administrators will undertake an actuarial assessment to determine how much the Trust will need to contribute.

Full union recognition, agreement and acknowledgement of union duties and reasonable time off for trade union duties will be given.

The staff at Prince Henry’s have been employed by the Trust since 2011 and they have seen very little, if any, change to their day to day work as a result of being employed by the Trust rather than the Local Authority. Being an Academy has not adversely affected recruitment or retention at any of the Collaborative Learning Trust schools in any way. In fact, Academy status has enabled our Trust schools to secure around £3 million of funding direct from the DfE to enhance the learning and working environment for students and staff.

Staff will continue to work in their individual school, even if the MAT grows and includes more schools. In the future, there are likely to be opportunities for staff to apply for Trust-wide roles and increased opportunities to work collaboratively with other schools.

As now, the Local Governing Body and the Headteacher will have delegated responsibility for appointing staff to their individual school and for deciding the staffing structure that best meets the needs of the academy within available budgets. The Board of Trustees has ultimate responsibility for recruitment and staffing across the MAT.