Who are we?
A consortium of three educational organisations known as the Trust and Foundation Schools Partnership (TFSP) - Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), Youth Sport Trust (YST) and Foundation & Aided Schools National Association (FASNA) - has been contracted by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to support the national Trust and Foundation Schools Programme.
The consortium brings:
- Experience and expertise covering the key areas needed to embed the Trust and Foundation Schools Programme within the wider raising achievement agenda.
- Established networks, programmes and activities which enable the consortium to rapidly, directly and cost-effectively reach the key audiences (secondary, primary, special, governors and partners).
- Wide experience of supporting fast-growing national education programmes of comparable scale and complexity.
The consortium represents a full and formal partnership between SSAT, YST and FASNA. It will present a single identity, and single point of contact, for school leaders, governors and partners with the consortium national office based within SSAT.
About Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT)
Established in 1987, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, working to raise achievement in secondary education. SSAT has a membership of 2750 mainstream English secondary schools. The SSAT’s schools network also includes around 2000 other secondary, primary and special schools, both in England and abroad.
The SSAT has been the main deliverer of the government’s Specialist Schools Programme and supports several of the other large educational programmes at the heart of raising achievement and standards in English secondary schools.
About Foundation & Aided Schools National Association (FASNA)
The Foundation & Aided Schools National Association is a national forum for primary, secondary and special self-governing schools. It is the only national organisation that expressly represents the interests and views of self-governing schools (foundation, foundation with trust and voluntary-aided).
Its membership covers primary, secondary and special schools with equal representation of heads and governors as well as including clerks to governing bodies.
As a 1000-strong membership organisation, FASNA represents the interests of self-governing schools to government, DCSF, National Employers’ Organisation for School Teachers (NEOST), unions and other groups in the educational field. FASNA’s philosophy is focused on increasing autonomy in order to support creative leadership that develops individual school strategies responsive to the needs of the local community – leading to raising standards.
Alongside increased autonomy FASNA promotes the benefit of schools working cooperatively with a variety of agencies and different groups to fulfill the school’s vision.
About Youth Sport Trust (YST)
Established in 1994, the Youth Sport Trust has a mission to support the education and development of all young people through physical education and sport. The YST has a proven track record of working with primary schools, including:
- The development of resources, training and equipment in physical education for all primary schools in England (TOP programmes) – successfully implemented across all 18,000 primary schools in England.
- The development of a simple and sustainable subject co-coordinator support programme – resulting in every primary school now benefiting from the establishment of a primary link teacher and support work.
In addition, YST has a successful and respected record in developing and delivering strategies in response to national policy, eg:
- Identifying and supporting 400 schools to gain sports college status and building a national and regional support programme for them.
- Development of practical approaches to behaviour management with its Sky Living for Sport programme.
- Supporting and driving key elements of the DfES strategy response to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Trust and Foundation Schools Partnership statement (November 2007)
The consortium is contracted to raise awareness and support all schools who express an interest in trust or foundation status.
All schools can access web based information and resources and have support via a central helpline.
Interested schools will have the opportunity to apply for consultant support and, in the case of Trust schools, funding for set up costs. Application is via an Expression of Interest and the number of successful applicants is dependent on the available funding at that point.
Click here to find out more on the Trust and Foundation Schools Partnership.