Support for Our Schools

Since 2014, Mark has combined being head teacher at the Thomas Alleyne Academy with the leadership of the Hart Schools Trust. Mark understands the challenges that come with headship and will help leaders in new schools at every step of their journey to join the Trust. Once on-board, Mark will work with academy leaders to plan how the Trust will support the work taking place in their academy. There will be increased opportunities to work collaboratively with professionals in the other Trust schools and to draw on their expertise.

Each school receives dedicated support from our finance team. The headteacher and leadership team of each school have key financial information shared in an easy to understand format that supports strategic decision making. Through regular contact with our Trust Finance Manager, schools are able to keep close control over all aspects of financial management and are empowered to ensure our resources are used effectively to improve education for the children in our trust.

We have an experienced Human Resources team available to support and guide individual staff and managers in each of our schools. Payroll is managed centrally and effectively. We offer monthly HR drop in sessions for all our staff and regular meetings to provide bespoke guidance for individual cases. Our HR team are experienced in managing transfers of staff into our trust and ensure this process is smooth and stress free for the individuals involved.

Our Trust benefits from expert advice from a highly experienced governance professional. We place huge importance on our local governing bodies and alongside our own support we buy into external training for governors. Chairs and members of local governing bodies have immediate access to our governance professional. We provide an expert clerking service for all meetings and in every inspection we have received the governance of our trust at all levels has been singled out for praise.

Our excellent estates manager provides support for our schools covering all aspects of health and safety compliance, repairs and maintenance planning, budget management and larger capital project management. Each school has a dedicated caretaker who is managed by our estates manager. The caretaking team across the trust provide support and cover for each other when required, keeping many maintenance jobs in house where possible. Our school estate has seen significant improvements and investment in recent years.

With over thirty years’ experience working in administrative and IT support roles – for the past 17 years in the education sector – Kate has the knowledge and skills to support new schools joining the Trust. Kate joined North Hertfordshire College in 2007 and worked in a variety of support roles prior to joining the Thomas Alleyne Academy in 2015, as PA to the Head teacher. Kate is a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the Thomas Alleyne Academy.
As the Trust Business Manager, Kate has an oversight of finance and estates projects across primary and secondary settings, and responsibility for HR, IT and procurement.