Sheffield’s council, schools and academies join forces to create new company

The plan is for the new body - Learn Sheffield - to take on the city council’s statutory duties for intervening and supporting schools at a time when budgets are under pressure.

The company will be run by a partnership of all the city’s schools, including academies, colleges and those maintained by Sheffield City Council. A report to the authority’s cabinet said this approach would stop the risk of the city’s schools becoming fragmented and isolated.

Under Government reforms schools have been encouraged to take on academy status - meaning they are run autonomously by an academy trust and are directly accountable to the Department for Education rather than their local council.

Sheffield City Council says the plan for the new company would also help to support growth and financial sustainability of the city’s school improvement service “at a time of increasing pressure on education budgets.”
There would be a consultation over some council staff being transferred to the new company.

The plan is for Learn Sheffield to provide teaching, learning, and leadership support to schools and to also challenge “schools and education settings”.

Learn Sheffield will be directly owned by schools, colleges and the council.

They will form the membership of the company and nominate the directors of a new board.

Councillor Jackie Drayton, Sheffield City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families said: “It is our key priority that all children and young people have the best education they can and Learn Sheffield will go a long way to ensuring this happens.

“In the past few years there have been sweeping changes in the landscape of education across but here in Sheffield we have a strong history of partnership working and people believe in our family of schools.

“It is about working together to improve attainment for all children across the city.

“This is the next step in what we are already doing as a city and will strengthen our partnership. Schools see themselves as part of Sheffield city’s education system and they want to make a difference. That is why Learn Sheffield will be critical in ensuring continued and sustained improvement in Sheffield children’s attainment.”

Sheffield’s City Wide Learning Body - which has representatives from all schools in Sheffield - including academies - was set up in 2011.

Coun Drayton said the new company would build on that approach. She said: “We have been highly innovative and shown our true Sheffield steel by working in partnership with the City Wide Learning Board to keep our schools together and sharing our learning and best practice.”

She said the vision was for Learn Sheffield to be the company of choice to support Sheffield schools. The plan is for the City Wide Learning Body to become the new incorporated Learn Sheffield company which can then by commissioned to run school services by the council. The company is expected to be governed by a board of directors, which will include nominated head teachers and council representatives.