AMAT Parent & Community Consultation

Dear AMAT Pupil / Parent or Carer and Community Stakeholder 

For the last 18 months, Trustees from AMAT and Mr Middlebrook have been working closely with representatives from Brine MAT with regards to a possible ‘merger’ of the two organisations. 

Brine MAT, consisting of Brine Leas and Audlem St James Primary schools is very similar to AMAT and there is considerable synergy between the two Trusts. By becoming one organisation, it will mean we will remain as a local Trust with much more capacity and expertise to support our young people, create opportunities for staff and raise standards at all five schools even further. 

At a meeting on 8/12/21, after a thorough and robust due diligence process, AMAT Trustees voted to proceed to the next stage of this potential merger. That next stage involves informing, and if necessary consulting with, all key stakeholders; staff, parents, pupils, local governing bodies, trade unions and the community. To help with this process, we have attached a list of FAQ’s about Academy transfers and mergers. 

The key points for your information are; as AMAT is the more ‘mature’ Trust, we will be using it as the ‘the shell’ or ‘transferee’ which Brine MAT will join as the ‘transferor’. If the merger goes ahead, the merged Trust will be called ‘The 3 Shires Trust’ but it is in effect, the same company as now. Similarly, the scheme of delegation will remain as it is now under AMAT, namely while Mr Middlebrook and the Trustees have overall responsibility, the leadership and management of each school will be delegated to the Headteachers and local governing bodies at each school. For example, the names, individuality and uniform for the individual schools will be unaffected by this and will remain a decision for the individual Headteachers and local governing bodies. 

The window for this information sharing period will run from 24/1/22 to 28/2/22. This will be the opportunity to ask any questions about this proposed merger and make any representations which the Trustees would consider before their final vote on whether to proceed on 23/3/22. You can email questions or make any representations on this planned transfer using the address Clerk@AlsagerMAT.org Similarly, if you would like to express an interest in being considered for a position on the Board for the merged 3 Shires Trust, please use the same e mail address and briefly outline your relevant skills and experience. 

In addition, we will be holding an optional socially distanced face to face Q&A session in the Hollinshead Hall at Alsager School starting at 5:00pm on 25/1/22. Please understand that attending this event is not in any way compulsory, as all your questions may be answered by the attached. 

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