Joining Our Trust

The Cherry Tree Academy Trust is committed to working in partnership with other schools, service providers and communities to provide the very best education for children. The term 'together, stronger' is built into our ethos of learning, living and laughing.

The two academies currently within the Trust strive hard to learn from each other, act as critical friends and create an exceptional educational learning environment for the children and families.

Being in charge of our own destiny is important to us, as is the need to ensure that our academies reflect the communities they serve. Through negotiation of shared contracts and resources we have been able to make the most of the funding available to us and have laid secure foundations for our future. As our Trust seeks to 'branch out' we have compiled, what we believe, will be our core offer for schools joining Cherry Tree Academy Trust.

CHILDREN

We strive for nothing less than the best for each child and hold each academy to account for the quality of learning and teaching
We expect all teams to work together to ensure that their academies reflect, and meet the needs, of their communities
We expect all academies work together to create opportunities that make learning exciting for children

LEADERSHIP& GOVERNANCE

The Trust will support, work and challenge all academies to identify key priorities for continued and accelerated growth
A peer support mechanism will be provided for all academies to act as a critical friend
All leadership teams are expected to work collaboratively to push boundaries of excellence in education using each other's strengths to do so
Existing governing bodies will become Local Advisory Boards that report to the Board of Trustees. They are expected to retain a level of responsibility and autonomy
Any changes and levels of responsibility will be made through negotiation and discussion with the Trust Board

EMPLOYER

All staff in each academy will be employed by Cherry Tree Academy Trust.
TUPE arrangements are arranged in consultation with professional bodies
The Trust respects and values the autonomy of each academy whilst holding each one accountable for standards and progress
We expect that, as the employer, staff will use their skills to benefit children across the Trust and therefore there may be occasions when staff are asked to work in other academies.

FINANCE

We expect all academies in our Trust to manage their own funding. An agreed amount will be held an used by the Trust for functions, services and support. This will to enable the Trust to create savings to support all academies within it whilst allowing for re-investment in education of all the children in the Trust.

COMPLIANCE

The Trust will be responsible for the statutory compliances of each academy in the Trust.

We welcome enquires from schools who are considering converting to an academy and, whilst the final decisions rest at a regional level, we never the less encourage you to begin the conversation.