Join Mercia Learning Trust
Find out more about joining Mercia Learning Trust, a multi-academy trust of schools in Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Mercia Learning Trust is a successful 2-18+ multi-academy trust located in the south and south-west of Sheffield. We have a clear identity and reputation for educational excellence, integrity and an unrelenting commitment to children and community. We are committed to a locality-based approach to future partnership and growth.
Vision for future growth
After careful consideration, trustees believe Mercia Learning Trust is well-placed to grow carefully and sustainably. They are convinced that the impact of our trust on its current schools is substantial, and that our trust as an organisation is strong. They believe the current model of partnership, which is based on primary and secondary schools working together in a distinct geographical area and serving similar local communities, is the right one.
Why Join Mercia Learning Trust?
Schools may consider joining Mercia Learning Trust for a number of reasons.
Firstly, as a multi-academy trust, our trust can offer schools a range of resources, support and opportunities to help improve the quality of education they provide. This includes access to expertise in areas such as finance, governance and HR, as well as support with curriculum development and teaching practice.
Secondly, our trust has a strong commitment to collaboration and a focus on helping each individual student achieve their full potential, which can be beneficial for schools seeking to improve their educational outcomes.
Additionally, being part of a larger network of schools can provide opportunities for joint projects and initiatives, sharing of best practice, and greater leverage when negotiating with external partners.
Finally, by joining a trust like Mercia Learning Trust, schools can benefit from increased financial stability and security, which can help them to better manage their budgets and resources in the long term.
Mercia Learning Trust is a strong Sheffield-based MAT
Mission
Our trust is based around a shared mission. Working as individual schools, and in partnership, our singular intention is to ensure every child, whatever their background, will attend an exceptional school. We believe children should enjoy school, feel safe and fully supported, be inspired to learn, develop character and aspiration, and realise their full potential. We are so committed to their success and wellbeing that we choose to think of every child we serve as if they were our own, and to measure our actions and impact against this.
Reputation
We have a reputation for leading highly effective and sector-leading schools (including transforming standards in previously under-performing schools and establishing an exceptional free school). In 2024, we have 4 Ofsted Outstanding and 3 strongly Good schools. We are the only multi-academy trust in South Yorkshire to run a newly inspected Outstanding secondary school.
How does Mercia Learning Trust operate?
We strive to operate in a partnership ‘sweet spot’ which we call aligned autonomy. We share the same mission, but understand each school is different, has a unique identity and is led by a headteacher and a local governing body.
Common focus
Our trust is committed to challenging and supporting each school to ensure that they meet our high standards. Our focus is on developing a set of common features that we expect to see in every school. These include an ethos of high expectations, care, and inclusion, as well as behaviour of the highest standards and a culture of safeguarding.
We believe that a meticulously planned curriculum, taught consistently well by all teachers, is essential to ensuring that every child receives an exceptional education. Additionally, we place a strong emphasis on providing exceptional support for the most vulnerable children, as well as offering a thorough and inclusive personal development strategy.
We recognise that our staff are essential to achieving our goals, and so we are committed to providing them with the necessary support and development opportunities. We also believe in the importance of working in partnership, and strive to involve our schools in appropriate partnerships.
At every level of leadership, our focus is on the right priorities, and we rigorously assess the quality of our work to ensure that we are continuously improving. Our CEO, central school improvement team, SEND and safeguarding leads, and school improvement partners are all central to this strategy, and we work together to ensure that each school in our trust is providing an exceptional education to every child.
Central Teams
At our multi-academy trust, schools receive support from a finance and operations director who leads central teams with expertise in finance, payroll, estates management (including health and safety), IT, human resources, design, and marketing. This ensures that schools are efficiently and safely managed, allowing headteachers to focus on their core responsibilities of leading their schools.
We also pool resources for estate improvement and IT investment and direct them to areas where they are most needed. This approach ensures that our learning environments are of the highest quality, giving our students the best possible education.
Find out about our governance structure and scheme of delegation here.
Aligned Autonomy
Our approach of aligned autonomy allows each school to maintain its individual identity and while benefiting from the support and guidance of our trust. We prioritise sharing best practice and implementing effective school improvement strategies while providing high-quality central services that alleviate the burden of administrative and operational tasks.
By freeing schools from many administrative and operational responsibilities, each headteacher can focus on what really matters - delivering exceptional education to their pupils.
Find out more about our approach here.
Testimonials
"Headteachers work really closely with the CEO and Trust Improvement Director.
We have regular weekly conversations about the core business of what we do at our school; what we're doing in the classroom, how we are enabling our students to make great progress, what we're doing to support their welfare, and ultimately driving us to think about the next steps we need to take for our young people when they leave us.
One of the real benefits as a headteacher is that not only do I get support from the CEO and the central team, there are other headteachers in the trust who I can connect with and feel like I'm part of a larger leadership team."
Ann Farrar, Headteacher, Anns Grove Primary School
"Mercia Learning Trust is a very effective organisation, delivering strong outcomes for its pupils in the Sheffield community that it serves. Governance at trust and school level is strong and they appear to be getting the right balance of challenge and support. The concept of Mercia Learning Trust as a single organisation is very evident and is the anchor for the next phase of development.’"
Sir David Carter, Ambition Institute ‘Trust Diagnostic’ MAT Review, February 2020
"We are so proud to be part of Mercia Learning Trust. It is a highly supportive trust, with aligned principles, but we are very much encouraged to be our own school.
There are so many projects we simply couldn't have achieved if we weren't part of Mercia Learning Trust. An example of this has been the extensive refurbishment and maintenance of our school, which is a large Victorian building. As a maintained school, we couldn't have afforded these necessary upgrades."
Michele Nott, Headteacher, Nether Edge Primary School
"One of the strongest features of Mercia Learning Trust for me, is that each school genuinely has its own identity, and is encouraged to flourish. We are not a trust where we are clones of each other.
Yes, we look for opportunities to align ourselves with the other schools and work in partnership, but that is not a 'straight-jacket' approach. There is definitely a degree of freedom and trust in the schools to be able to make the very best decisions for their own school's community."
Ben Paxman, Headteacher, Totley Primary School
"Being a headteacher in a Mercia Learning Trust school means there is support and capacity where I need it. My team and I can then focus on the curriculum, teaching and learning, and looking after the children. There is a team of expert people in the 'back office' of the trust who deal with all the HR, finance, estates, IT, payroll and marketing.
If I was a headteacher thinking about joining a multi-academy trust, one of the questions at the front of my mind would be "will I lose autonomy?" The honest answer is when you're in a MAT there is alignment, but our MAT is very clear that each school is distinctly different to each other because they serve their own community, and those communities have different needs.
It's true, there is some loss of autonomy, but I'd want to reassure headteachers that's because we do things together. We are a team who run a group of schools together, and the benefits far outweigh any loses you may be concerned about."
Paul Haigh, Headteacher, King Ecgbert School
Guidance for maintained schools considering joining a multi-academy trust
What are the benefits of joining a multi-academy trust?
Research conducted by the DfE in 2021 found that the vast majority of schools who had recently converted reported that the overall impact of joining a MAT had been positive.
The research found the key reason for joining a MAT was increased collaboration and sharing of skills.
Schools joining Mercia Learning Trust will not only benefit from exceptional shared practice and expertise, but also school improvement, a strong and skilled central team, and the feeling of being part of something bigger. At the same time, our schools maintain their own identities and autonomy, but are aligned to our values and common frameworks.
What are the first steps in the process?
In their guidance paper, Taking the Next Step: Joining a multi-academy trust, ASCL recommends the following:
Start a conversation with the MAT(s) you are interested in
Once you’ve narrowed down the number of MATs you’re interested in, it is sensible to have an initial conversation with their chairs, CEOs or executive heads to ascertain whether they would welcome your application to join before going any further.
All MATs should have a plan for how (or even whether) they intend to grow, and there’s no point in setting your heart on joining a MAT that doesn’t have the desire or capacity to expand or doesn’t see your school as a good fit.
A chair or CEO won’t at this stage, of course, be able to give you a categorical answer about whether you can join their MAT. The trust will need to carry out due diligence on you, as you will on them, and the final decision will be made by the Regional Director (RD). But they should be able to give you an indication of how interested they are in having you on board before you invest any more time and energy in pursuing the partnership.
To take the first steps with Mercia Learning Trust, please email us, and we'll get back to you to get the ball rolling.
Following these early stages of selecting a trust, the school and trust will work together with the local authority and DfE on the following stages:
- Two stages of due diligence
- Consultation
- Application to convert
- Advisory Board
- Aim for roughly 6 months to conversion
What is due diligence and how do I do it?
ASCL says:
Due diligence is the process of investigating an organisation prior to entering into a contract with it. It shouldn’t just be focused on compliance; ultimately both parties should have confidence in the merits of your school joining the MAT. Effective due diligence is therefore essential in ensuring you find out as much as you possibly can about any MAT you are considering joining. MATs will also undertake due diligence into schools that are considering joining their trust.
You may wish to undertake due diligence in the following areas:
- Ethos and culture
- Vision and strategy
- Size and capacity
- Geography
- Diversity
- Performance, challenge and support
- Leadership and governance
- Finances
- Legal and commercial
Maintained schools need to begin the process of conversion by completing a short online form to register interest in becoming an academy with the DfE. The DfE will then appoint a nominated project lead to get in touch with you and support you through the process of getting consent, converting to academy status and joining the MAT.
The full DfE guidance on how to convert to an academy can be found here.
Find out more about academisation and joining Mercia Learning Trust
Further reading
Convert to an academy: guide for schools
Academy Trust Handbook
Due diligence: best practice guide for maintained schools, local authorities and academy trusts
Convert to an academy: documents for schools
Academy Converter Checklist for Schools This includes a handy checklist and an idea of timescales.
Taking the Next Step: Joining a multi-academy trust
If you would like to talk to us about our trust, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via enquiries@merciatrust.co.uk.
The team are ready to meet with you to discuss future partnerships and can facilitate meetings with the relevant people and trips to see our fantastic schools.
