The decision follows discussions at a dinner hosted by Anthony Collins Solicitors where delegates received presentations from Frank Green, National Schools Commissioner, and Pank Patel, West Midlands Regional Schools Commissioner.
The event was attended by over 60 guests including the chief executive officers of a number of leading local multi-academy trusts and the Head of Education and Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People in Birmingham.
Simon Ramshaw, a partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors, said: “Three themes emerged from our dinner event at Hotel du Vin.
“We need to re-imagine what we mean by ‘school’ and mentally compare this to the transition from Stephenson’s Rocket to The Flying Scotsman, the bullet train and the jumbo jet.
“The economic situation can be turned to our advantage. Innovation thrives when times are tight.
“And the academy system must develop to become self-serving. Academies and MATs need to work together to find solutions to challenges as they emerge, rather than wait for the regulators to address them.”
He said the event heard that 40 per cent of children and 40 per cent of teaching staff are now in academies, so although the number of academies may seem small, the proportion of those working in and being educated by academies is larger than might be thought.
“The event was extremely successful and it was very helpful to hear the views of Frank Green and Pank Patel.
“We want to harness the energy generated at this event and the aim is now to set up a Midlands Forum for MATs.
“We hope that academies and MATs will see this as a positive initiative and drive it forward. Anthony Collins Solicitors will provide support and encouragement in any way we can.”
He added that other themes to come out of the evening included the idea of an annual awards dinner that would foster and support best practice and help the development of initiatives in the Midlands region.
Volunteers are often the bedrock of charitable organisations, but they are not protected from sexual harassment within those organisations.
Here at Anthony Collins Solicitors, we have been hard at work advising a charity client, BICMP, on its new music project, ‘Resonance’.
Currently, the only ground for divorce is irretrievable break down of a marriage. Following a consultation, the Government has announced its intention to reform the legal requirements for divorce.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently made some noteworthy changes to its guidance around data subject access requests (DSARs).
In the fourth part of our series on contract management pitfalls, we look at the risks arising out of varying the terms of construction contracts.
A local authority recently received a "roasting" by the Pensions Ombudsman for their delay in processing an employee’s ill-health retirement pension, following her diagnosis with advanced cancer.
The Times is looking for three or four charities to feature in their editions running in December 2019 and early January 2020.
Cliff Mills defines and talks about the importance of social value in his blog, and its potential within Greater Manchester.
Following a power outage at Anthony Collins Solicitors’ (ACS) Birmingham office, our employees and partners currently have limited functionality, including no access to emails.
Joint ventures present an opportunity for housing associations to build organisational capacity, the revenues from which could help deliver on wider social housing commitments.
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