In her last article, Lisa Bower shared the experience of starting an academy conversion. This month, the work continues as Lisa talks about the transitional period and how supporting the process is a long game rather than a quick change
The work just keeps on going.
We received our Academy order in November 2023. Ten months have passed since that date, and we have still not converted.
This is due to complications and differences of opinion with regards to the Commercial Transfer Agreement and The Lease. As I sit here writing this piece, the lawyers for the Trust and the Local Authority are all sat in a room trying to come to an agreement so that we can convert on the 1st of November.
I’m sure that most business managers will recognise my traits of organisation, planning and preventing any surprises, so I have really had to push myself out of my comfort zone. The first time I realised how little control I had on this process was in June this year, when I could see our September conversion date slipping away. I was devastated at the time, and really struggled to make my peace with it. Now I am resigned and resolute! I know that it will happen, I know that we will get all the paperwork done and I will be ready to go as soon everything is agreed.
Getting Ready
In the meantime, I have had to write policies in areas that I never thought I would have to. I have attended LGPS Pensions training sessions and have written a Discretions Policy – one of my highlights this week was when the LGPS team approved it!
I have got payroll ready to run, we have written a finance manual, a Scheme of Delegation. We have set up our Trust sub committees and organised our annual meeting calendar. We are working closely with the primary school coming with us, and I’ve been having regular meetings with the business manager there.
This period between knowing you are becoming an Academy Trust and it happening is very strange. We are in no man’s land, where we are building relationships and working together, but in reality, there is no need to. For me, it is important that we work as one team and build trust which is why we have carried on doing this for nearly a year now. It already feels like we are one team, and I hope that is a sign that our working relationship will be positive when we finally get there. There is no one else in school who really understands most of the work that I am doing – they know that I am busy, they are very supportive and say all the right things, but they have no idea what I am actually doing.
Keeping Everyone Updated
Last night at SLT I did an Academy update, explaining where we are in the process, what we have done and what lies ahead. As I stood talking to the rest of the leadership team, it really struck me how this conversion will have very little impact on them. Day to day life won’t change for our teaching staff, or for most of our support staff – indeed we don’t want it to. It did make me realise how isolated my role is. Our SLT are supportive and generous with their time, but there were a lot of blank faces around the room. I got home (after another Governing Body meeting) and was struck by fear that I had been too negative, had I not been upbeat enough, had they understood what I was saying, were they interested? And does it matter?
I decided it doesn’t matter. They need to understand that future of the school, in the same was that we sit and talk about Curriculum Reviews or Teaching and Learning CPD.
So, we are nearly there. Hopefully next month I will be able to say we have converted! In the meantime, I will carry on trying to be positive, putting systems and policies in place and being incredibly relieved that I work in an environment where people do everything in their power to support me – even if they don’t understand!
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