Thinking of joining a Trust?

We believe that considering whether to join a Trust is the most important individual decision an academy or school can make on behalf of their children and community. We understand the importance of the alignment of vision and values as this is the foundation for an successful relationship which keeps the focus upon the needs of the children and safeguards the individual character of the academy/school and the community it serves. Please visit our vison and values section of our website and if you think your vision and values mirrors ours, get in touch to explore whether being an equal part of Inspiring Futures partnership Trust is right for you and your academy/school.

What Difference will joining IFPT make to our Academy/School?

IFPT’s vision clearly states:

“For all our children to be inspired by an excellent education that raises their ambitions and enriches their lives. To invest in and build a self-sustaining team of highly skilled and passionate staff who relish the opportunities presented by our family of academies, School Centred Initial Teacher Training, Inspiring Futures Professional Development and school-to-school support activities.”

IFPT believes in always putting the needs of our children first but understands that to successfully do this we must invest in and value our staff and strategically support them to be the best caretaker, teaching assistant, teacher, leader or administrator they can be. We believe this will maximise the richness of the educational opportunities and experiences we offer our children as well as importantly securing job satisfaction, well-being and sustainable long-term careers. All IFPT staff will have opportunities to engage in our wide range of professional growth (CPD) courses provided by Inspiring Futures Professional Development as well as our constantly evolving Trust wide collaborations such as: Peer Previews, moderation, Subject specific meetings and networks, cross Trust coaching and mentoring. Across IFPT INSET days are aligned to support co-ordinated staff training. You will have IFPT’s Central Team’s support in the following areas:

IT, HR (including staff well-being and Supervision), Finance, Marketing and PR, Estates and Premises, Safeguarding, Governance, Curriculum Development, Academy Improvement.

You will be part of growing network of academies who continue to work with academies/schools outside of IFPT to support each other to be the best that they can be, this network offers a huge advantage to any academy/school who joins it.

Academy/School Improvement Approach

IFPT’s approach to academy/school improvement originates from the highly successful school improvement work undertaken by Chepping View Primary Academy as a National Support School, Lead School of a Teaching School Alliance and Lead School for the DfE’s Behaviour Hub Programme.

Within IFPT we have a wealth of nurtured and proven educational expertise, the vast majority of whom still have teaching commitments, as we believe it is vital that support is provided by those who are still teaching. This ensures they are able to constantly evaluate their own practice and pilot emerging evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning before recommending them to the Trust and our academies.

This approach does result in expert staff from across IFPT having reduced timetables to ensure they have capacity to work in partnership with colleagues from across IFPT in other academies. We have found this model highly effective and also contributes to our very high levels of staff retention and job satisfaction as we are able to provide trust wide leadership and improvement opportunities to staff who desperately want to stay in the classroom. These passionate staff are typically the best at carefully supporting colleagues with sustainable improvements to teaching and learning.

This model is also very cost effective and ensures we can support all subjects, SEND and other aspects of academy life such as behaviour and attendance.

All IFPT academies who have been inspected by Ofsted are Good or Outstanding, this includes our teacher training facility.

What does joining IFPT mean for you and your academy/school?

At IFPT we understand and value the expertise and commitment of your existing staff; we believe in investing in staff and not replacing staff and so we will not be asking for any staffing changes, everyone would come with you over to IFPT. We believe in supporting and learning from academies/schools and staff so together we can be the best we can be. IFPT never underestimates the power and importance of local contextual knowledge and understanding and always takes an individual approach to the support each academy gets when part of the trust. This support plan is entirely bespoke and decided on in a consultative way with the leadership of the academy school and will also look to include how your academy/school can make positive contributions to our other academies.

Every academy/school joining the IFPT will adopt and embrace our wider vision and values, as well the inclusion of our subtle branding which is designed to proudly show our connection whilst safeguarding your existing academy/school name, uniform, character and identity.

Every Academy within IFPT will enjoy and benefit from local governance with the Chair and possibly Vice Chair automatically sitting on the Trust Board to ensure your academy/school’s voice is heard at Trust level.

A summary of the joining process

If you're interested in joining Inspiring Futures Partnership Trust, after getting in touch we will arrange a visit to your academy/school and meet with you and your team to initially explore whether we appear to be the right fit for each other. There is absolutely no pressure or expectation at this time and this stage of the process does not have a set time frame; it must feel the right thing to do.

Once both parties agree that there is natural alignment and wish to move forwards and governors and the Inspiring Futures Partnership Trust Trustees are also in agreement, we both start a process called Due Diligence. IFPT can support you with this.

The process of Due Diligence usually lasts between 4–6 weeks and is a way for the individual components of each organisations to meet with each other and explore current structures, systems and processes and all other background information; for example, IFPT’s finance department meeting with your finance department and team. At this stage it is vital that you understand IFPT’s harmonisation model and scheme of delegation. At this stage we would also expect to see the start of plans for departments working together. The Due Diligence process is also an opportunity for your academy/school staff to meet Trust staff that they will be working with, should they join the Trust.

Once the process of Due Diligence has been completed and subject to all remaining happy to continue an application to join the Trust is completed and sent to the Department for Education Advisory Board for approval. Upon approval the 4-6-month transfer process begins, however certain legal complexities such as being a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) school can delay and prolong this process.

The complete joining process is dependent upon many factors with the entire process, from expression of interest to transfer, typically taking between 6-12 months.

The IFPT Welcome and Induction

IFPT’s central team will work with key senior leaders and governors from your academy/school to design and manage a personalised Onboarding Project plan. This Onboarding Project Plan will initially focus upon when training will take place for the systems we need to share and the migration to these systems. For example, we use Iris Financials, and the training and implementation of this would be part of this plan. Our HR, IT, and Safeguarding systems are the same across the Trust. Quality of education/academy/school improvement would also be heavily focused upon with a Trust wide collaborative approach; all resulting improvement plans would reflect the current standard of provision in your academy/school.

During your first term with IFPT you will receive additional support and guidance as we learn to work together, you will have close contact with the onboarding team who will support and add capacity through this process when needed. We understand the vital importance of making our union work and will invest accordingly to ensure our collective vision is achieved.

During this time, you will also have your IFPT Welcome Event, this event will be held at IFPT’s central office (High Wycombe) where all of your staff will meet key people from across the Trust. This is a celebratory event where everyone learns what it means to be part of IFPT.

To find out more contact us