Background

Recently there has been a renewed focus on schools forming or joining MATs.

During the past year, at meetings of the Governing Body of The Piggott School and the Governing Body of Altwood C of E School, Governors have discussed forming a MAT together. We have also been liaising with the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education and the Regional Schools Director's office.

Both Governing Bodies have agreed that the strategic direction of our schools should be to form a MAT, being an enormously positive step for both our schools.

MAT Vision

'A collaboration of schools that aims to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for children aged 4-18; maximising and sharing the benefits of working together whilst maintaining the individual culture and ethos of each individual school'.

In the first instance, the MAT will include the following schools:

• The Piggott School, Wokingham
• Altwood C of E School, Maidenhead

The MAT would expand over the coming years to include other secondary and primary schools.

The benefits for the schools in the MAT would be to support each other in regards to teaching, learning, educational outcomes, leadership and back office functions. Forming a MAT would also enable us retain our ethos, culture and vision, preventing these being imposed upon us, and allowing us to control the future of our schools.

Our MAT model would be 'mixed articles' meaning that both church and non-church schools would be able to join.

It is important to state that each school in the MAT would retain their own individuality, culture and ethos. All schools would benefit from shared resources, school improvement strategies, procurement, experience and talent.
 

Consultation with Staff

The consultation with staff is underway and we will be speaking with teachers and support staff at both The Piggott and Altwood.
 

Consultation with Parents

The process we are going through to decide whether The Piggott School and Altwood C of E School should become a MAT has been in development for some time.

The parental consultation starts today and will finish on 12^th June 2023. We will be holding parent consultation events at both schools. Further information regarding these consultation evenings will be sent to parents in due course.

A final decision on MAT conversion will be taken by the Governing Bodies of both schools following these consultations, due diligence processes, and final agreement by the Regional Schools Director.

If you have questions regarding MAT conversion, we would hope to answer these during the meetings. If you would like to send a question in advance, please e-mail to: MATconversion@piggottschool.org

A MAT overview summary will shortly be available on each school's website.

We hope that you too will be excited by the potential benefits this collaboration can offer our schools. We look forward to your contributions to the process.

Yours faithfully

 

DJ Gray	N M Dimbleby
Executive Headteacher	Headteacher
The Piggott School	Altwood C of E School