Horizon Multi Academy Trust Information Guide

I am delighted to welcome you to the Horizon Academy Trust (HAT).

Our aim in these pages is to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the trust, our commitment to providing excellent teaching and learning support and our relentless drive in providing a first class education. We are excited about the opportunities the partnership will create to further raise aspirations, progress, and achievement for pupils at all our schools.

We are a primary MAT because we feel this is where our expertise lies, and where we will have the greatest impact. A key function of the MAT is school improvement; this is our top priority. In all our schools we have a wide range of high quality teachers and leaders who have proven track records. This team provide effective support and challenge for all schools regardless of how well they are performing. We offer colleagues the opportunities to share best practice, learn from each other, share resources and have access to significant career development and prospects.

If after reading the following pages you are unable to find answers to any questions you may have please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our schools. Horizon has the drive and ambition…

Alan ChaffeyCEO

Welcome Statement from the CEO of Horizon Academy Trust

“A key function of the MAT is school improvement - this is our top priority”‘Where anything

is possible’

Horizon was founded by three strong primary schools, Biggin Hill, Cleeve and Spring Cottage, with the aim of developing a vision and strategic plan for Primary Education in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Horizon is exclusively a Primary Multi-Academy trust and therefore our focus will always be on the education of pupils from 3-11. Primary education underpins the success of a community and this has been a key driver in the development of Horizon.

Horizon recognises that every school is unique and serves their own unique community, therefore there cannot be a one size fits all model to continue to develop successful schools. Each school within Horizon maintains their own sense of identity as we believe they understand how to best serve their community.

The vision of Horizon is to improve outcomes for young people within our unique location that covers coastal, rural and urban schools. Horizon has a relentless focus on breaking the link between context and attainment through a no excuses ethos, high levels of collaboration and challenge and a commitment to providing a quality school experience for every child.

We believe that in every academy within the trust outstanding practice exists, which will be utilised fully to underpin continued success and sustainability.

We are also developing services which will remove some of the burdens for school leaders provided by our Services team which already includes: Finance, HR, Estates and Facilities, Cleaning and Catering.

By working together collaboratively we are not only able to increase the opportunities we can offer our own students and staff, but we are also able to offer specialist knowledge and skills across the curriculum to support teaching and learning.

Horizon was established in April 2017 with a commitment to supporting Primary Education in our region.

Vision and Values

“We believe they understand how to best serve their community”

Teaching and Learning

We genuinely believe through partnership working within our schools; empowering staff through support, training and career development we can make a difference to every child.

Outcomes for pupils are key and through a collaborative ‘no excuses’ culture these will be improved by sharing outstanding practice across the MAT. Horizon, through our link with Tidal Teaching School, have a pool of Specialist Leaders of Education who are experienced in providing bespoke support, for schools or individual staff through coaching and mentoring. Networks of practitioners have been set up to work on specific elements of provision – these include: Early Years, SEND, Mathematics and English, providing opportunities for professional development, moderation of standards and assessment.

Continuing Professional Development

Horizon believes in a learning culture and recognises that continuous learning helps us to grow as individuals and strengthens our organisation. CPD opportunities will be offered to all staff, this may include shadowing outstanding practitioners, gaining experience in another school or by simply attending a training opportunity provided by the MAT.

Schools within Horizon have the opportunity to attend shared training days, providing the ability to attract inspirational speakers and develop innovative practice across the schools.

Leadership Development

Horizon is committed to retaining and developing talented staff and providing opportunities to gain experience and skills for leadership. We want to maximise talent and ensure future succession plans are in place. This will help create sustainability and stability within our schools and ensure staff are ready to make the next step in their careers.

Initial Teacher Training

All schools within Horizon have had close involvement in the School Direct programme over the past few years. A number of outstanding staff across the MAT have been trained successfully

through this programme. Schools within Horizon will be given the opportunity to become a School Direct partnership school and provide placements for talented graduates. This approach, where outstanding teachers provide training, has proven very successful and ensured that recruitment needs can be addressed through careful planning and development.

School Improvement and Challenge

Horizon schools will receive an annual challenge visit over two days utilizing the skills of the CEO and his improvement team of National and Specialist Leaders of Education. The lines of enquiry for this visit will be determined through data and analysis and following the visit a support plan will be developed to help schools to move to the next level.

In total all Horizon schools will each receive 9 days of school improvement support across the year as a minimum. In addition, another 9 days will be available for schools that are preparing for inspection or require further support and development.

Our school improvement provision includes support from a leader with substantial experience of leading school inspections and designated leaders of education.

Tidal Teaching School

Tidal Teaching School Alliance is based at Spring Cottage Primary School and is an alliance of schools from across Hull and the East Riding with the core belief that the capacity to improve schools lies within schools.

Tidal has developed a strong School Direct programme in partnership with The University of Hull, helping to train the next generation of teachers. This is an aspect of the teaching school that Horizon schools can directly benefit from.

Tidal has also developed a strong track record in School-to-School support and has provided training across the full curriculum. Tidal can provide accredited training through their links with Carnegie Leaders of Learning, such as the NPQH, NPQML and NPQSL.

Tidal does not have a formal membership structure, and therefore Horizon schools will be able to access all areas of the teaching schools work.

Benefits of joining Horizon

Finance

Horizon’s finance function is led by the Chief Financial Officer who provides advice and practical support to each of the school’s finance teams. Strong financial management is a key component in any successful academy. Our focus is on providing senior staff and governors with up to date, clear and relevant information for informed decision making. Financial returns and audit services will be provided at Trust level, leaving finance staff free to concentrate on managing their budgets and maximising the use of resources.

Each school will be provided with on-site support during the joining process, along with ongoing financial training and oversight. The CFO will ensure that financial processes and procedures within our schools are robust and effective and compliant with EFA regulations and with Company and Charity Law.

Human Resources

At Horizon we value our staff as our most important resource. As such, staff wellbeing is considered vital to the effective running of our schools.

The central HR service delivers specialist support to each school on matters of recruitment, employment law, performance management along with compliance and staff relations. The service is provided by experienced staff with a vast knowledge of school specific arrangements.

Our intention is to ensure there are consistent HR policies across all our schools so staff are treated fairly no matter which of our schools they work in.

Catering

Our catering provision is provided by an in-house team of experienced personnel. Our aim is to achieve a catering service which supports and responds to the individual needs of the school, making the lunchtime experience enjoyable for all our pupils and staff.

We believe catering teams are an integral part of our schools and are able to provide exciting menus of nutritionally balanced meals, resulting in higher uptakes of school lunches.

The provision is overseen by a dedicated administration team, allowing the schools management more time to focus on the school.

Estates & Facilities Management

Here at Horizon we are committed to easing the burden on our schools by providing essential core services throughout the Trust.

Our schools enjoy access to a central programme of services including building cleaning services management, grounds maintenance and health and safety advice and support. Each service is managed by a central administration team who ensure quality of service is maintained across the schools within the Trust.

The Trust’s vision is to expand this range of services in the future to allow our schools to procure effective resources which represent value for money.

Future services

At Horizon we do not rest on our laurels and are committed to an ongoing programme of review of all services. We believe that economies of scale can be achieved through central procurement for the benefit of all our schools. Future services to be reviewed include payroll, ICT services and management information systems.

The Department for Education places great emphasis on effective governance within multi academy trusts, a key requirement in all successful trusts.

The diagram above indicates the planned governance arrangements for the Horizon Academy Trust. As the Trust grows this structure may change as representation at board level increases, however our website includes the most up to date governance arrangements.

Horizon Trust consists of three main layers of governance:

Members

The members of Horizon Academy Trust are responsible for the strategic direction of the MAT including setting the visions and aims of the Trust. They have the ability to appoint some of the trustees.

Board of Trustees

The board of trustees are responsible for overseeing the management of the MAT. This includes setting the direction of the trust, holding the Headteachers to account and ensuring financial probity. As charity trustees they are also responsible for ensuring compliance with relevant charitable and company law. Appointments to the board of trustees will be made on an assessment of the skill set required.

Local Governing Bodies

The local governing bodies of each academy will perform the duties and responsibilities delegated to them by the board of trustees. The LGBs will have responsibility for overseeing the day to day operations of the academy, with strategic decision making being made by the board. However, local governing bodies will have scheme of delegations depending on whether they are supported or non-supported academies.

Trust Governance Structure

Spring Cottage Primary School LOCAL GOVERNING BODY

(with own committees)

Cleeve Primary School LOCAL GOVERNING BODY

(with own committees)

Biggin Hill Primary School LOCAL GOVERNING BODY

(with own committees)

AcademiesLOCAL GOVERNING BODIES

(with own committees)

Tidal Teaching School• SLE development

• Initial Teacher Training• Leadership development

Also in attendance:Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Trustees forming the Board of Directors

Education Executive • Chief Executive Officer

• School Improvement Lead• Chief Financial Officer

• Head teachers of Founder Schools• Academy Head teachers

Education ForumHead teachers of all academies in MAT

regardless of Ofsted rating

Members

Forming an advisory body to the Board of Trustees is the Headteachers Group. This group, made up of Headteachers from our schools along with other key personnel, meet regularly to discuss ways in which we can improve education for our children across the MAT. The group offers support and sharing of best practice in all areas of teaching and learning with a key focus on raising standards. We encourage a culture of openness and transparency amongst the members of the group facilitating a collaborative working partnership.

Headteachers’ Group

‘This is a really exciting time for us, as we formalise our partnership and release

the huge potential of excellent practice within

our schools for the benefit of our pupils.’

Michael Dodd – Executive Head, Biggin Hill and

Cleeve Primary Schools

‘Working as part of Horizon has enabled us to

drive up standards in books and lessons through genuine

challenge and through the sharing of best practice

across schools.’Andy Rhodes –

Headteacher, Spring Cottage Primary School

‘We, as a school, are looking forward to the exciting

challenge provided by being a member of the Horizon Academy Trust. This is an excellent opportunity to

develop, share and enhance the excellent practice amongst

the schools for the benefit of both pupils and staff.’

Stuart Clark,Head of School,

Biggin Hill Primary School

Horizon Multi Academy Trust Information Guide

There are approximately 300 Primary, Junior and Infant Schools within a 20 mile radius of the Kingston Upon Hull city boundary. Our Trust will have no Local Authority (LA) boundaries within this area and we encourage approach from all schools no matter under which LA they currently operate. Our commitment to attracting additional strong schools to the Trust would allow us to deliver school improvement to further schools requiring support.

We envisage our Trust extending to encompass the following local authorities:

• Kingston Upon Hull• East Riding of Yorkshire• North East Lincolnshire• Lincolnshire• North Yorkshire• Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

What’s on the Horizon?

Hornsea

Scarborough

Bridlington

Hull

York

Beverley

Dri�eld

Scunthorpe

MarketWeighton

Pocklington

Selby

Goole

Hedon

Filey

Withernsea

Malton

WillerbyHessle

Barton-upon-Humber

HumberstonBrigg

Scampton

Gainsborough

Barmston

Finningley

Pickering

Grimsby

Joining HorizonFor further information on joining Horizon Academy Trust please contact us on 01482 825377

Email: CEO@bigginhill.hull.sch.uk Visit our website: www.horizonacademytrust.co.uk

Our current schools