Diocese of Chelmsford SLA
What can we offer your school?
If you’re considering joining Vine Schools Trust, you may be interested to know what you will get from your 5%. We are proud offer our member academies an excellent service that helps them to create stability and drive positive change in their schools.

Core Offer
- Access to ‘What If’ training
- Matched funding for - Church School Leadership, NPQH, NPQSL, NPQML, OTP, ITP and School Business Management Diploma.
- Academy Improvement Consultant for a single conversation with headteachers
- Academy Improvement Lead supporting HTs with school improvement
- HR service
- Legal service
- H&S service
- Occupational Health service subscription
- Governor services subscription
- Collective purchasing agreements
- Support to prepare and submit DfE returns
- Internal audit and compliance monitoring (RO visits)
- Audit costs (external)
- Teachers’ pension audit
- Financial and budget support software
- Preparation and submission of VAT return
- Financial strategic support and planning
- Finance support and helpdesk services
- Support and training for the academy finance lead
- Coordination of financial compliance
- Compliance and monitoring to assure academy leaders of financial compliance
- Facilities management and health and safety compliance monitoring
Members
- Stability and protection in a fast-changing educational landscape
- Maintaining the integrity and independence of good and outstanding schools
- Collaboration and sharing of best practice
- Training and development opportunities
- Strong strategic and operational guidance and advice
- A dedicated Academy Improvement Consultant
- Access to the ‘What If’ programme to develop Christian Character
- Support to develop excellent RE teaching
- A climate for further innovation
- Wider range of curriculum opportunities
- Support for academies requiring rapid improvement and those aspiring to become ‘Outstanding’
- Improved capacity to provide extended services
- Reassurance of compliance with all legal regulations
- Economies of scale and cost savings for centrally procured services
- Access to an established back office operational framework
- There is a financial benefit to being part of a multi-academy trust. The Vine has a holdback of only 5% of which approximately 3% is spent directly back on your academy.
The Vine Schools Trust
- Has a proven track record in School Improvement.
- Has gone through the long process of setting up a MAT from the ground up
- Has vast experience of the academy conversion process. OTP, ITP and School Business Management Diploma.
- Has built relationships and a reputation with the DFE, RSC EFA and Teaching Schools
- Has a local, regional and national outlook
- Has the benefit of economies of scale in procurement of goods and services.
- Has an experienced professional central team that care.
‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit’
JOHN 15:5
© The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust 2020 a company limited by guarantee and registered in England. No 8709542.
Registered address: The Diocese of Chelmsford Vine Schools Trust, Diocesan Offices, 53, New Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1AT.