GST MAT Dividend

Great Schools Trust operates a central ‘Faculty for Education’ function across our academies. The Faculty for Education provides a wide range of expert education, strategic and support services to all academies within the Trust and includes the:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Operating & Strategic Officer
• Chief Finance Officer
• Directors for: Education; People; Quality Systems; ICT; Capital, Estates & Facilities; Governance, Marketing & Communications
• Heads of Service for: Insight & Data; Personal Development; ITT/School Direct
• Range of operational support staff who support each of the Directors directly through faculty teams. 

Each of our services has been developed with one goal in mind – to clear the path for our Academy Principals, and senior and middle leaders so they can focus all of their energies on ensuring high-quality teaching in every classroom and achieving the priorities set out in their Academy Development Plan. All services have been designed with the best value for money in mind so that our academies can invest more of their income into recruiting, developing and retaining a great teacher for every classroom that drives improvement.

The Faculty for Education is there to offer a level of service well beyond that available within the academy itself. Standard operational management functions will always be dealt with by the academies in the first instance through strong internal systems, with the specialist and strategic support from the faculty providing a higher level of professional support which an academy could not afford on its own.

This is the GST MAT Dividend.

Our experienced CEO, Executive and team of Directors are available to provide personalised advice and guidance to your school leaders and governing bodies. A key function of the faculty is to provide our academy leaders with the assurance that, within a continually changing political and legal landscape, they are keeping up to date with statutory requirements, school compliance obligations and management of risk.

The key services we provide as an executive are:

• Compliance with Academies Handbook
• Chief Executive Officer as the Accounting Officer with full accountability to DfE/Parliament
• Commission support from strategic partners or other improvement partners as required
• Manage the expansion of the Trust including conversion
• Provide the strategic board, Finance & Risk committee, Local Academy Councils and SLTs with sufficient information so that informed decisions can be made on MAT developments 
• Provide strategic direction of education, finance, People/HR and estates across the Trust
• Monitor, through the Director of Education, educational standards including target setting, develop consistency and share good practices across the Trust 
• Monitor, through the Director of People, trust and academy leadership capacity to develop future leaders, teachers and groups of practitioners across the trust in line with growth plans
• Minimum of monthly 1-2-1 meetings with each academy Principal 
• Coaching, mentoring and development of Principal by the CEO and COSO, including performance and people appraisal
• Coaching, mentoring and developing of the academy curriculum leaders through the Director of Education and Director of Quality Systems
• Coaching, mentoring and developing of the Chair of local governance through the Chair of Trustees, CEO and Director of Governance
• Coaching, mentoring and developing of Business Manager through the CFO and Director of People
• Management of relations with Regional Schools Commissioners and related reporting
• Management of relations with DfE/ESFA and related reporting
• Funding for specific school interventions including inter-school teacher assistance.

Outstanding leadership from numerous National Leaders of Education, with significant experience as Ofsted inspectors in both primary and secondary and national reputations for sustained school improvement.

This highly skilled team of lead professionals have responsibility for the quality of provision, curriculum, teaching and assessment, curriculum-led financial planning and strategic leadership. The education team also leads the development and support of overall academic performance KPIs, professional development, quality of teaching, curriculum and using technology to maximise learning.

The key services we provide are:

• Oversight and production of all education policies as listed on the policy page
• Expert educational leadership and support, proportionate to the need of the academy, to help deliver and embed trust-wide vision, values, non-negotiables, teaching and curriculum approaches
• Coaching, mentoring and developing of staff at all levels through the work of the Director of School Improvement in each academy
• Weekly collaboration with academy leaders as the ‘Trust Leadership Team’ or TLT, in providing a forum for school improvement discussion and strategic focus within the GST Strategic Plan
• Weekly collaboration with academy senior leaders as the ‘Trust Quality Alliance’, providing specialist support and focus to quality systems and assurance processes
• Production and dissemination of educational KPIs to spread best practices
• School improvement visits, reports, guidance and programmes led by the Director of Education
• Training for Academy Councils on specific education-related topics such as LAC, SEND, PP etc
• Coordination of externally funded school improvement initiatives ensuring manageability and impact.
• Annual update of the GST academy Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Risk Register
• Oversee an annual programme of safeguarding external audits in GST academies
• Organise and deliver Governor safeguarding training provision
• Point of contact for academies for oversight advice and guidance to support academy Headteachers in discharging their safeguarding responsibilities, including safer recruitment

Quality Systems

• Provide advice and support to HoF, AHoF and Subject Specialist Leads in their roles within all schools across the Trust.
• Weekly collaboration with academy senior leaders as the ‘Trust Quality Alliance’, providing specialist support and focus to quality systems and assurance processes
• Peer Review Systemic Review, SEND Review and Literacy/Numeracy Review programmes led by Director of Quality Systems to support self-evaluation across the Trust and facilitate the roll-out of the GST blueprint.
• Support on SEND through targeted deployment of senior SEND practitioners within the Trust
• Co-design and coordinate schemes of work with particular emphasis on a knowledge-rich, vocabulary-led curriculum within subjects.
• Quality assure the implementation of the curriculum to ensure that it is ambitious for all students, including those with SEND and/or disadvantaged.
• Disseminate good practices to colleagues across the Trust by teaching, team-teaching, coaching, mentoring observation and the proliferation of subject-specific knowledge and understanding.
• Provide up-to-date information about current initiatives and research within each subject field.
• Liaise with outside groups to support the core subjects (Inc Exam boards, curriculum hubs, IOP, RSC, etc).

Institute of Character & Leadership

• CPD programmes for senior and middle school leadership and ECTs
• Support effective CPD through working with FCTSA and other external bodies.
• Priority access to NPQ and other leadership development programmes in line with the Trust’s talent management strategy
• Access to half-termly networks for various groups of school leaders
• Access to whole trust training days
• Access to CPD opportunities

We provide a customised service for you, which lifts the burden of financial compliance and keeps things simple. By managing this centrally we are able to take advantage of economies of scale, whilst ensuring we are fully compliant with the rules of the various funding and statutory bodies.

We benefit from powerful IT systems and flexible accounting software to provide an appropriate local solution; we will build relationships with your key leaders to reduce the financial administrative burden yet ensure the integrity of your finances is maintained.

The key services we provide are:

• Compliance with Academies Handbook and Master Funding Agreements
• Oversight and production of all finance policies as listed on the policy page
• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy finance links, local academy council contacts.
• Management, analysis and direction of annual budget process, including preparation and submission of annual financial statements, mandatory three-year plans, consolidated budgets, VAT returns.
• Management, analysis and direction of monthly management reports, cash flows, and balance sheets
• Project management of year-end accounts production process
• Management of year-end external audit, lead contact with External Auditors, manage and monitor queries, respond to technical accounting queries
• Scrutiny and challenge of academy finances, including budget setting, cash flows, staff costs and reserve levels. Consolidation of figures for Board review.
• Support academy Finance links, Principals and Academy Councils in the preparation and understanding of financial information.
• Supply and administration of Central systems including on-line banking, nominal accounting and budgeting software.
• Overseeing external and internal audit programmes.
• Preparation of year-end Pension submissions, point of contact for HMRC.
• Group procurement, assessing opportunities to reduce costs through economies of scale.
• Management and provision of external services for all internal audit functions
• Collate, review and quality assure all submissions to DfE/ESFA that affect funding, including pupil number returns and funding claims to ensure compliance. Present Annual Accounts submission, AFR, AAR, BFRO, BFR, LBCT and a new Annual Internal Scrutiny Report
• Management of Annual audit of pension schemes and related certificates
• Production of curriculum-led financial planning KPIs across the schools compared with national benchmarks to help direct budgets and plans
• Management of Trust trading company, VAT and Corporation Tax requirements including submission and process of quarterly VAT Return
• Provision of Trust Company Secretarial Services and statutory filings
• Communication and clarification of all DfE funding streams for both accounting and budgeting purposes
• Statutory National Statistics Survey filings
• Management of banking arrangements
• Treasury management
• Management of annual SCA Capital Funding submissions and allocations.
• Provision of Brom Com Finance/accounting software including Chart of Accounts mapped to DfE reporting requirements as well as specific school support to transition to HMRC’s Making Tax Digital requirement
• Provision of Academy Payroll Processes including meeting all requirements of PAYE, LGPS and Teachers Pensions
• Provision of HCSS accounting and planning software to enable reports to ESFA
• Provision of Asset Manager software or alternative arrangements for fixed asset accounting
• Handling of major insurance claims.
• Provision of utilities invoice checking service with all savings given directly to schools
• Co-ordination of procurement reviews
• Oversight of reserves enabling emergency capital funding requirements and mutual school assistance for benefit of the whole Trust
• Legal support and costs in event schools face issues outside of normal annual operating requirements
• Support, guidance and accounting framework to ensure the Trust meets all requirements of VFM and regularity as annually certified by the accounting officer
• Provision of financial support and advice from the Centre including CFU-led seminars to establish and share best practices across the Trust

The Trust provides a People and HR service that is personalised and helps your leadership team achieve their aims to improve and develop your school. Our HR policies are models of best practice; reflect the trust’s ethos and are structured to build a culture of continuous improvement and development. Our People team works closely with you to fit your individual needs. We use an effective HR database system that provides an efficient self-service operation meaning less administration for your school office staff.

We can support you and your leadership team with the full range of HR including:

• Oversight and production of all People/HR policies as listed on the policy page
• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy HR contacts.
• HR Network for Academy HR leads – support, advice, professional development Completion of employment-related government returns – single employer.
• Provision of a suite of Trust HR policies, toolkits and procedures which are legislatively compliant, ensure best practices in people management and are operationally effective and efficient.
• Statutory Gender Pay Gap Reporting
• Provision of expert HR advice on both informal and formal employee relations (e.g. disciplinary, grievance, capability), attendance management, appraisal and probationary, recruitment and retention, organisational change, organisational development, terms and conditions of employment.
• Provision of training and coaching on best practices in HR management to middle and senior academy leaders. This includes mandatory training and training/coaching identified through a skills and training needs analysis.
• Access to the Trust’s HR Contacts Drive – a bank of resources which enables academies to undertake their HR administration operations effectively and efficiently.
• Provision of workforce performance data to academies on a monthly basis.
• Provision of Trust Recruitment and Selection policy, toolkit and procedure to enable consistent, fair effective and efficient recruitment procedures which enable the very best candidates to be appointed to the Trust.
• Centralised recruitment administration including central logging of Vacancy Details Form, placing of vacancies on the GST website, internal GST recruitment e-mail and any other agreed external advertising medium (TES contract). Access to any Trust negotiated and agreed recruitment agencies.
• Support with senior appointments, overseas teaching and Home Office Tier 2 and Tier 5 applications.
• Tactical support with recruitment challenges
• Provision of Trust model contracts of employment and advice on variations
• Centralised provision of offer letters and issuing of pre-employment documents for completion.
• Centralised writing of Contract and Main Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment.
• Trust strategy for People-Centred Leadership in replacement of traditional performance management. Training on Performance Appraisal and People Management. Contribution to wider CPD offer on people management topics.
• Trust strategy on workforce reform
• Staff wellbeing audit and support with staff wellbeing
• Assist with staff formal and informal support plans where appropriate.
• Management of all national union negotiations including pay & grading, general contract, employment policies, performance appraisal, and teacher and support staff pay policies. Provision of Trade Union Facilities costs for all schools
• HR advice and support with staff re-organisations and managing changing staffing needs. Advice and support on the management of absence and related casework
• Unlimited HR advice and support with staff disciplinary, conduct and capability processes and meetings. Attendance at meetings to advise dismissal or appeals panels
• Coaching and advice for Principals and other senior leaders with respect to complex people issues and employee relations casework
• Safeguarding advice and guidance on Single Central Record, Safer Recruitment and advice and guidance on the management of allegations against staff
• Bulletins on changes to employee relations legislation and good practice
• Provision of a comprehensive range of model letters and resources to assist the management of employee relations casework
• Procurement and provision of DBS services
• Procurement and provision of Occupational Health services
• Employee engagement and well-being support and advice
• Development and maintenance of relationships with Apprenticeship providers to use apprenticeship levy. Direction for using the apprenticeship levy to develop the workforce at all levels
• In conjunction with the Principal, the management of protected conversations and the negotiation of settlement agreements (with legal advice) – single employer
• Provision of Management Information System support and workflow development
• Undertaking job evaluation across the Trust, supporting schools with revisions to jobs/grading

The Great Schools Trust (GST), Board of Trustees and its executive team understands that joining a multi academy trust can be an extremely daunting and stressful time for schools and their governing boards. Choosing the right trust and the right people to work with is so important, and will ultimately lead to the future successes of your organisation and the children that you serve.

As you have probably already found out, all of our academies are ‘values led’ and follow the Trust’s ASPIRE code. It is through this code we strive to encourage:

Aspiration Achievement Self-awareness Professionalism Integrity Respect Endeavour

This is something that the GST trustees pride themselves on. They also hold the Seven Principles of Public Life close to their hearts and believe in open, honest and transparent leadership.

Our current internal governance team comprises of our Director of Governance and an experienced local governance professional, who both provide the Board and its committees with the advice and guidance they need to ensure that they are able to fulfil and deliver their core governance functions:

1.      ensuring there is clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

2.      holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils and the performance management of staff

3.      overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent

4.      ensuring the voices of stakeholders are heard (as recognised by the NGA)

Schools joining our trust will have the same access to our expert team as our current schools and will also have access to a training and development package which will be updated on an annual basis to ensure that trustees and local governors remain up to date and knowledgeable in their roles.

Joining schools will also have access to a clear and concise scheme of delegation, a governance code of conduct, relevant terms of reference and a wealth of trust policies for adoption at school level. A governance schedule of business and model agendas are also provided to support with consistency of discussion and reporting across the trust and its schools.

Other key services are:

• A strong, experienced and friendly Board of Trustees (more information can be found on the governance page of our website)
• Advice and guidance on the requirements and expectations of governance in a rapidly changing environment of increasing compliance and responsibility
• The maintenance of all legal registers, for example, register of members/trustees, pecuniary interests, GIAS etc…
• A range of resources to support good governance, including a web based, paperless governance portal (Governor Hub)
• Model templates for governance documentation, such as agendas, principal/head teacher reports, governor challenge reports, policies etc…
• A clear meeting schedule which is planned well in advance of the academic year ahead, aiding communication between governance tiers and trust/school leaders
• A hybrid approach to attending meetings
• A direct link to the trust board and CEO via half termly meetings
• Regular meetings between local academy chair and their respective principal
• Support for the chair of governors in facilitating governors’ self-assessment
• Support with local governor recruitment including succession planning
• Induction and training for local academy council members based on skills audit outcomes
• Access to the National Governors Association membership and resources
• Access to the Key for School Governors
• Advice and guidance for dealing with parental complaints
• Clerking and advisory service for all governance meetings, including panels and hearings
• Advice and support for local governors with their involvement in sitting on panels for example reviewing exclusions or hearing complaints
• Reassurance that the Trust and its schools are adhering to both company and charity law, as well as other legal and regulatory frameworks
• Access to a risk register template to enable statutory risk reporting to trustees
• The organisation of an annual trustees away day

As an EdTech ambassador trust, GST provides a comprehensive IT infrastructure; ensuring data integrity, security and platform flexibility to allow your school to develop its unique systems within a secure infrastructure.  Our reliable system has stood up to the current demands of secure access whilst working from home.

Our experienced team will help with major projects and assist with strategy, procurement and installation, as well as providing advice and guidance; not only technically, but practically about what can work well in an educational environment.

The key services we provide are:

• Compliance with Academies Handbook law Cybersecurity and GDPR
• Oversight and production of all ICT-related policies as listed on the policy page
• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy ICT links
• Lead a 5-year rolling ICT device and infrastructure procurement plan to assist in budget planning
• Support of centralised systems including Broadband connection, Firewall, Web Filtering, IP Telephone, print management and IT Helpdesk
• Group procurement, assessing opportunities to reduce costs through economies of scale
• Overseeing medium to large IT projects from procurement to completion
• Supervise and line manage academy IT Support technicians and provide access to training material
• Advise on the strategic planning of IT infrastructure and hardware to support teaching and learning and keep systems up to date
• Maintenance of IT assets register 
• Oversee training to staff on the use of IT in the classroom and general IT use
• Centralised IT Support Technician meetings to share best practices
• Provision of ICT helpdesk support

Our experienced Insight, Data Exam and GDPR team will support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. 

Insight, MIS & Data

• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy data links
• Support for SLT and data link in each academy with responsibility for data and assessment in the understanding of GST assessment and reporting systems (Brom Com, SISRA & Power BI)
• Provision of educational data analysis and predictions software
• Provision of GL assessment software. Provides baseline core subject testing, reading age, PASS, CATS and SEN Diagnosis as well as staff and parent survey tools 
• Support and training in the use, setup, management and updating of internal and external data and information systems
• Support, guidance and training data officers in all aspects of their roles relating to data management and reporting
• Provide data analysis dashboards and reports following data collections for SLT and Academy Council
• Support and guidance for statutory returns to LA and DfE such as Census & end of Key Stage data
• Support and development of internal data and information collection used by middle leaders and classroom staff
• Supporting and guidance on timetable construction including building blocks and banding
• Develop and Maintain GST Information Asset Register in compliance with GDPR
• Provision of a Data/MIS helpdesk support

GDPR

• Oversight and production of all Data Protection/GDPR policies as listed on the policy page

Exams

• Oversight and production of all Exam policies and ensuring they meet JCQ as listed on the policy page
• Support, guidance and training of exam officers in all aspects of their roles relating to exam management
• Support and guidance for internal and external assessment and exam results reporting and analysis

Our experienced estates and technical services team will be able to support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. All with the aim of helping you to ensure a ‘safe place’ for teaching and learning, and make the most of your estate assets. Where necessary we can help improve policies and procedures covering, for example, health & safety, site maintenance and regulatory compliance.

We have a breadth of experience in delivering effective capital-building programmes through to operational estate management, including CIF and major project developments.

The key services we provide are:

Capital

• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy estates links
• Major capital project support from bid writing support (CIF and other bid writing); through project planning to delivery and close
• Oversight of capital projects funded through the Free Schools Programmes, Condition Improvement Fund and SCA funding allocation
• Liaison with GST academies to scope condition spending priorities and agree on spending priorities with the GST Executive and Board
• Support academies to achieve best value procurement in line with GST Financial Regulations
• Support academies in developing a proposal for site development and provision of site development advice to academy Headteachers, site staff, GST Executive and Directors.

Estates 

• Compliance with Academies Handbook in Estate Management and Asbestos Management 
• Oversight and production of all estate/facilities-related policies as listed on the policy page
• Lead a 5-year rolling Estates Management and procurement plan to assist in budget planning
• Support academy Site Leads and Headteachers in the day-to-day management of their estates and procurement of regular site maintenance and services
• Contract management and procurement across a range of services including insurance, gas, and electricity supplies
• Regular premises meetings to share best practices
• Provision of property survey services when schools have special requirements
• Scrutiny and challenge of routine procurement/estate improvements/maintenance and repairs
• Administration and day-to-day management of all Estates/Health and Safety monitoring and auditing
• Oversee the day-to-day on-site administration and management of any commercial catering contracts 
• To review large-scale contracts across the trust with a view to obtaining cost savings through group procurement
• Provision of Estates/Facilities helpdesk support

Health & Safety 

• Oversight and production of all H&S policies as listed on the policy page
• Provision of Health and Safety Support including Management Reporting as well as Reviews of Health and Safety framework and compliance in each academy to ensure the Trust meets statutory fire safety and other regulatory requirements as well as deploys the best sector practice for schools and minimises risk to children and staff
• Preserve, develop, promote and maintain GST’s health and safety management system
• Develop local plans to achieve GST health & safety objectives
• Develop management arrangements for the identification of hazards and control of risks within each academy
• Support academy HSE and Premises Leads, Headteachers and Governors on Health and Safety matters and legislation 
• Monitor that H&S targets are being met and each academy is meeting health and safety obligations by checking that policies and procedures are being implemented by assigned staff in accordance with requirements, and by reviewing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of health and safety performance on a regular basis 
• Ensure that each academy has a structure in place to manage health and safety which includes; planning, implementation of plans, monitoring, reviewing and auditing
• Oversee external and internal audit programmes and monitoring of statutory premises reporting and testing

Our experienced Marketing & Communications team will support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. Our breadth of experience in delivering compliant web design, web content and ongoing maintenance of all website and digital/social media services provides Head Teachers with complete peace of mind. 

We have extensive experience in developing student recruitment campaigns, PR and reputation management and delivering marketing training and support to school staff, whilst producing high-quality design and artwork for marketing materials, onsite signage, prospectuses and newsletters. 

The key services we provide are:

• Regular meetings with Academy Headteachers and academy communications links
• Training and mentoring of staff in areas of website management, social media management and general marketing of the school
• Guidance regarding GDPR and parental consent when using photography, and videography for marketing purposes
• Build, design and maintenance of all website services including compliance with DfE/ESFA governance requirements
• Central oversight and management of all GST Academy websites, including annual audit against Ofsted requirements
• Assist with content input and give general support to ensure a fully Ofsted-compliant website is being upheld 
• Production of high quality designs and artwork for marketing materials, prospectuses, websites
• High-quality photography and videography for marketing purposes reflecting the school ethos and fully representing the school cohort
• Constructing press releases, liaising with local, regional and national press and coordinating material ready for publication
• Assisting academies with organic social media post creation and scheduling (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), user engagement, Facebook advertising and social media platform set-up
• Support Headteachers with PR and crisis/reputation management, media enquiries and statements 
• Development of student recruitment and stakeholder engagement campaigns supporting the set-up, execution and monitoring of results
• Supporting academies with event bookings, promotion and support materials e.g. open days, transition events, and primary liaison events

The Personal Development Team have a proven record of the successful establishment and delivery of a wide range of leadership development programmes for both staff and students, including the establishment of 5 Cadet Contingents in each GST academy. In 2019 the Trusts Personal Development Team set up Kings Adventure to allow them to operate commercially selling services in support of other schools. Our experienced Personal Development team will be able to support your school with professional advice and hands-on service across key areas. We have a breadth of experience in delivering:

Student Leadership:

• Leadership scheme of work for all year groups commensurate with their current understanding and progress through the leadership/ASPIRE curriculum
• Lesson content including resources for lessons consisting of specialist leadership equipment for activities, presentations and/or worksheets.

Outdoor Education:

• Character residentials (students and/or staff)
• A residential programme in line with the schools' values and intended outcomes for students
• Devise full outdoor education package including pre/during/post work at school
• Support school staff in the completion of Evolve & risk assessments
• Be the link between the school and centre to ensure the smooth running of the trip; pre, during and post-visit.  

Curriculum Linked Outdoor Education Offer:

• The team will work with subject leads on delivering outdoor trips that support links to the curriculum
• Support on trips where needed and support pre trip paperwork (Evolve and risk assessments) 

Combined Cadet Force/King’s Cadets:

• Setting up the Combined Cadet Force
• Appointing and training aacademy-basedCadet Officers to run the unit
• Being an active part of all weekly parade afternoons
• Attending all CCF residential camps
• Ensuring that the academy is successfully represented at the trust’s annual CCF ‘Parade Day’

Duke of Edinburgh Award:

• The team will oversee the management and administration of the award system, supporting academies to deliver baseline contact with students and support them with eDofE on a daily basis
• The Trust’s ‘Adventure Team’ will plan, implement and lead Year 9 students, in each academy, towards gaining their DofE Bronze Award.
• Year 10 and 11 students towards gaining their Silver award 
• Sixth Form students towards gaining their Gold Award. 

King’s Adventure:

• The Trust’s ‘Adventure Team’ will offer a range of personal development and leadership experiences as part of each academy student recruitment strategy. Full public liability insurance is included in the team’s offer
• Student First Aid courses – Call Push Rescue, Heartstart, Youth First Aid, Bespoke Training
• Staff – Basic Life Support, Emergency First Aid at Work, First Aid at Work
• Level 1-2 Mental Health First Aid programmes

As an organisation with over 250 employees, Great Schools Trust has its own, qualified and experienced Data Protection Officer (DPO). The Trust also has a data protection team which works together to ensure compliance with regard to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations. 

Schools joining the Trust will also have access to this team, and will also receive the following benefits:

• A compliant trust data protection and privacy policy, including privacy notices
• Regular online training that meets legal requirements with the option of bespoke training sessions for different groups of staff
• Access to GDPRis, a platform that supports data protection compliance, including record keeping, update training and reporting
• Direct reporting to the Board of Trustees
• A point of contact for the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
• Ongoing advice, guidance and support from the DPO and the data protection team
• The option to have a school-based data protection champion who would work closely with the trust data protection team to ensure local compliance
• Regular site audits conducted by members of the data protection team
• Support with retention schedules and data minimisation
• Support with dealing with data breaches and data subject access requests (DSARs)
• Support with dealing with freedom of information requests
• Support with data mapping exercises
• Support with the implementation and review of data protection impact assessments (DPIAs)