To despise MATs (Multi Academy Trusts)

[Violashifts]

At the end of the day they are businesses. I don't think they benefit education.

What was wrong with a local authority looking after all schools in their area? Now you can't share with the school along the road but can with one in another town as they are in the same trust. So travel 30 miles instead of 2.

Sure they may save on HR, can share results and data etc but they waste more on improvement officers, marketing videos. A crew coming in filming chosen shots and then adding it to music. Not cheap. Don't even get me started on CEO pays as in the article below. How can they justify 40k pay rises an
or 250k salaries. Heads should be able to run a school. It is not needed.

Meanwhile at the chalkface the number of teachers, TAs and even lunch time supervisors are reduced and new equipment isn't afforded.
How is this helping the students?
How is this helping the recruitment crisis?
How is this helping the woeful SEN
provision?

Am I wrong?

I think its a big scandal waiting to happen.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-the-academy-ceo-pay-premium/

[Title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

In practice our LA advisors threatened, abused and manipulated as many schools as possible into not academising by saying how awful MATs are.

Friend worked in one. She was really glad to be made redundant. Went from a school that supported its many students with special needs to one that just wanted them gone. Wanted middle of the road to high achievers only, churn out exam results, next please. Bit like Henry Ford’s original model.

Dgc school is similar —- glossy, rules, rules and more rules, smart uniform is everything but no help if your child has send.

Then report…disciplinary and sacking for breach of contract. Did you report?

In fact, my LA no longer provides LA advisers to support the meetings. Governors must do their own due diligence.

This sums up the MAT system.

That doesn’t represent any MAT I’ve worked in.

What wage is your CEO on? Do you have a marketing team. Be interesting to see the accounts and the head office facilities.

You're 20-30 years too late to complain about MATs, they have been govt policy for a long time. The majority of secondary schools are academy's & primaries will eventually go that way too.

Like everything else there are good and not so good MATs

A PP praised Oasis - I interviewed with them a while back & it was horrible, no way would I have gone there to work.

That picture could also represent local authorities as well.

My one big issue with MATs is when they become massive. The one I worked for covered a huge geographic area and the needs of the children were vastly different, they tried to streamline everything. You can do that with children though.

Martyn Oliver is head of OFSTED so nothing is going to change with them.

I don’t agree with the principle at all. I believe state schools should be under direct state control, either the local authority or perhaps via the DfE, obviously they should be properly funded.

that all said, although I despite the ridiculous rules at our MAT , the results and general reputation of the school seems to have improved significantly since getting taken over around 5 years ago

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/25128619.sam-rushworth-mp-criticises-advance-learning-partnership-school-trust/

Another reason.

Sam Rushworth is incredibly selective to which cases he highlights and ignores constituents about others. 2

Reform of how LEAs worked makes sense - but MATs were not an inevitable consequence - they have been a huge wasteful mistake.

That's as maybe but he has a point. More and more of these stories will come out.

Our local school has actually been massively improved since joining a MAT. I have really noticed it in regards to SEN provision as well as the opportunities that are available.

For example Year 9 have just been part of a project to get kids into engineering and after the workshop day a small group were selected to do a day of “work” at an aerospace hangar