{"id":187273,"date":"2023-08-08T13:36:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T12:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=187273"},"modified":"2023-08-08T13:36:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T12:36:27","slug":"catholic-turnaround-trust-gets-green-light-to-take-on-good-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/catholic-turnaround-trust-gets-green-light-to-take-on-good-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic turnaround trust gets green light to take on good schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government trial of a Catholic turnaround trust has been extended \u2013 weeks after it was revealed a similar minister-backed chain will shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Joseph Catholic MAT<\/a> has received the green light from the Department for Education to carry on absorbing struggling schools as part of the EdMAT pilot until December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CEO Andrew Truby said officials have also signed off on plans to allow it to take on \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018outstanding\u2019 academies in January \u2013 easing its transition out of the government scheme at the end of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EdMAT also funded Falcon Education, which recently announced it is set to close next year<\/a>, having only taken on four schools since 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholic MAT to run ‘hybrid’ model<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Truby stressed today that the news of St Joseph’s trial extension will give it \u201cpermanent status\u201d and allow it to grow further.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith any pilot there\u2019s an element of uncertainty, but next year we will operate in a hybrid manner, so we\u2019ll be able to take on sponsored and converter academies over that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
CEO Andrew Truby<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat will make the transition out of the trial smoother. How big we\u2019ll become it depends because we\u2019ll have a sensible phased approach.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Falcon was initially created to take on northern schools nobody else wants as part of EdMAT<\/a>. Even though it was later allowed to branch out nationwide<\/a>, it failed to hit expansion targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When its planned closure was announced, a DfE spokesperson explained that \u201cwith the growth of high-quality trusts, we no longer need a chain focused exclusively on schools requiring intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Joseph was handed \u00a31.25 million in government start-up funding when it opened in 2021. The set-up aligned with that of Falcon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust in line to take on LA schools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

St Joseph, which took on its first school last March, now has seven academies on its books. Bosses claimed there has since been a 4.87 percentage point decrease in persistent absence across the chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got the MAT to a mature stage in a short space of time,\u201d Truby added. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a significant impact on improving attendance, phonics and other key performance indicators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following his appointment last year, Truby hired school improvement directors who previously worked at the likes of Harris Federation and REAch2<\/a>. The trust boss also introduced a bought-in Ark curriculum in a bid to transform the fortunes of his struggling schools, two of which were in special measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notre Dame Catholic College in Everton is the next secondary lined up to join St Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trust has also been primed to absorb a number of the 28 maintained schools that the Archdiocese of Liverpool wants to be academised. St Joseph said it is working \u201con a phased approach\u201d to take some of them over after the new year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DfE has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Government approval for extension into \u2018hybrid\u2019 trust means it will become permanent from next year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":147500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32],"post-theme":[],"class_list":["post-187273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-academies"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t