Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a question? Please read our FAQ’s below for the most frequently asked questions from parents and the community.
If you cannot find the answer you were looking for please feel free to email us info@sikhacademiestrust.com and we would be happy to help you.
The Sikh Academies Trust (SAT) is being established with a governance and leadership structure based on the Department for Education (DfE) model for Multi Academy Trusts (MAT).
We have a Board of Trustees, which is accountable to the DfE for;
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding executive leaders to account for the educational and wider performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
Our Trustees have been chosen for their individual and combined skills and expertise across education, school standards, pupil support and safeguarding, finance & risk management and mitigation, HR, legal, strategy, compliance and asset management.
The Trust will comply with the terms of the agreements it has with the Secretary of State for Education and the regulation published by the DfE and Education & Skills Funding Agency.
We believe that a genuine partnership with Parents is essential and this is recognised by Ofsted as being embedded in our current practice at Khalsa Primary School (KPS).
Many of the current parents at Khalsa Secondary Academy (KSA) have previously been parents of pupils who were once at KPS. SAT continue to have a positive relationship with these parents. We have engaged with and continue to work based on input from current KSA parents.
Khalsa Primary School (KPS) is based in Slough just 2 miles from KSA and is regarded as the main feeder school for KSA. Key facts:
- KPS was inspected by OFSTED in January 2020 and judged to be ‘OUTSTANDING’ in all areas, with no areas for improvement
- KPS has a strong background of school improvement and are recognised as one of the highest performing schools in the Local Authority and the county of Berkshire
- KPS has acted as improvement partners to a number of schools, both Primary and Secondary, locally and nationally
- KPS currently have a teacher that has been shortlisted by the UK National Teachers’ Awards in the category of Teacher of the Year
- KPS Headteacher has been shortlisted for Headteacher of the Year, 2020.
- Khalsa Primary School was named as ‘Making a Difference, Primary School of the Year‘ at the Pearson National Teaching Awards, July 2020.
- KPS is currently a Voluntary Aided (VA) school and is working with the Department of Education to become an Academy.
- The Trust which currently runs KPS are working to form a MAT.
- Once complete, and if the bid is successful, KPS will join KSA as two academy schools under a single MAT called Sikh Academies Trust (SAT).
Our board Members, Trustees and School Improvement Partners, are made up from senior educationalists with extensive knowledge and proven experience of running secondary schools.
Raminder Singh Vig, KPS Headteacher has been an educationalist for the past 35 years, a Senior Leader for 30 years. During this time he has worked in the State and Independent sectors, in a range of contexts, with pupils from 3 to 18 years of age and is currently in his seventh headship. His experience includes headship in primary, secondary and all-through 3-18 schools in the UK and internationally.
Mark Pritchard, Executive Headteacher of Upton Court Grammar and Trevelyan Middle School. Upton Court Grammar School has been rated ‘Outstanding‘ by Ofsted. It is consistently placed in the top 100 schools in the Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ table. Mark is an experienced Designated Safeguarding Lead, he can offer expert support and guidance on developing, implementing and evaluating a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum that meets and exceeds the statutory requirements at every key stage. Mark provides expertise in reviews, training and bespoke support for pastoral leaders and teams in order to embed school-wide, cohort and individual student interventions that meet the needs of all students, including disadvantaged and those with SEND, in a way that is both measurable and impactful.
John Constable, Headteacher of Langley Grammar school, again consistently placed in the top 100 schools in the Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ table. John is a National Leader of Education, Lead Ofsted Inspector and Chair of Slough Schools Forum, a member of the Slough Education Partnership Board and Slough School Improvement Board. John has extensive experience in supporting the development of school senior and middle leadership, developing teaching school alliance provision and regular inspection work.
John Jones, a Headteacher currently leading a high performing secondary school, which during his tenure has moved from the bottom of the borough’s performance to the top few for GSCE’s in addition to the highest performing sixth form.
Prof. Ralph Tabberer CB, an Ex-Director General of Schools in England with over 40 years’ experience in schools, including several years as Chief Executive of the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
We are very confident we have the capability, capacity and vision to manage secondary school education. KPS has a leadership team which is ‘Outstanding’, have proven skills and experience that can be translated across the board, regardless of primary or secondary education.
Existing members or trustees of KAT will not be part of the new SAT structure or KSA.
No, this is not true, KPS has never put in a bid for any other school. KPS leadership team did however, help a school in Coventry as a School Improvement Partner.
We are aware that the Sikh Ethos is important to the students of KSA and their families. As an existing Sikh Faith School, the vision and values at KPS are based on the teachings of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji and a very important part of our curriculum that underpins all we do.
The spiritual aspects of our school are clearly visible to visitors and highly appreciated by our parents and the community. This is also highlighted and praised in our recent OFSTED report (Jan 2020) as a major strength, along with many other examples of exemplary practice.
If successful, we would ensure that the Sikh Ethos is maintained and developed at KSA and that it will be run according to the Sikh Code of Conduct (Rehat Maryada as issued by the Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar), as KPS is already.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. From experience, we know that culture of safeguarding needs to be embedded throughout an organisation, in particular in our schools.
We intend to do this by fulfilling our three overarching pillars:
Organisational Structure
With an emphasis on a “culture of vigilance” throughout the organisation “where safeguarding is an important part of everyday life in the setting”.
Keeping a strong focus on children and their individual experiences, having a structured approach that is proactive and underpinned by strong policies and procedures that ensure safeguarding is fully understood and owned by senior leaders. Leaders take responsibility to ensure safeguarding is built into the school structure from staff awareness to recognise abuse and neglect to young people understanding risky behaviours and having the confidence to share concerns and ensure we, as parents understand what safeguarding means.
Safer Recruitment & Training Practice
With a commitment to ensure “there are clear and effective arrangements for staff development and training… at every level” and for staff to be able to “demonstrate knowledge” in their work with children.
This is more than a tick box list of training, briefings and sharing of information, it’s about ensuring staff are able to recognise young people at risk of harm, abuse and neglect and being able to take the right action to keep them safe. Training should be delivered throughout the year with bite size regular sessions.
SAT has a proven record of establishing clear and effective arrangements for safer recruitment and safeguarding learning.
Engagement of Children and Families
with a commitment to broaden the PSHE curriculum for children and young people to explore topics such as Relationships, Sex and Health Education to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage life’s challenges and recognise the unhealthy behaviour traits so that they can keep themselves safe or flag a concern about a friend.
There is evidence to show that PSHE education can help young people make informed decisions about teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity, emotional health and other key issues. An effective PSHE programme can also tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations, and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils.
Working in partnership with Parents is vitally important. Creating opportunities for parents to gain insight into safeguarding through a structured programme where they can explore how to keep their children safe through topics such as what is child protection?; cyber safety, online grooming, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, domestic abuse and understanding what risky behaviours may look like and how and where to seek help if needed.
- The RSC and DfE have decided to terminate the funding for KSA under KAT and move the school into a new Sikh trust.
- This is due to the failings in leadership, governance and safeguarding outlined in the Termination Notice.
- Given this decision, we believe that KSA should remain a Sikh school, therefore SAT have made the decision to submit an application to sponsor KSA.
- We believe the synergies of both schools make it a viable prospect to serve the needs and deliver ‘Outstanding’ education to all the children.
- Children that leave KPS are well rounded individuals both from an educational perspective as well as emotional and well being perspective. It is our intention that they join KSA under SAT so that their education continues to be embellished with the Sikh Ethos values as well as British values. Under SAT KPS will become a feeder school to KSA hence improving pupil recruitment numbers.
We have been engaging with members of the community and parents of both schools over the last month, from which we have received a great amount of support and backing.
We aim to regularly update the community as and when we can. We will also continue to engage with all local stakeholders and carry out formal consultation once our proposal sponsor application has been approved. To keep updated with developments please visit our website www.sikhacademiestrust.com .
Once our initial expression of interest has been accepted and we have been approved as the sponsor for KSA, we will complete our due diligence on the secondary school. This will allow us to fully understand the challenges and work required to ensure we maintain our excellence across both KPS and KSA.
The first step thereafter, will be to engage all key stakeholders and educational experts to produce a detailed plan for the initial 3–12 months. We will bring in independent bodies to undertake external audits to monitor and track progress, particularly over areas that have been identified as needing improvement.
Absolutely yes, transparency is critical to rebuild and form long lasting meaningful relationships with parents. As part of our immediate actions, we have been and will continue to engage with parents to share the extent of the challenge to raise education standards and gain input into any changes required. This will be supported by meetings and or communications to clearly describe to parents what progress looks like and where they can readily access this information.
- Ensuring a seamless transition from primary to secondary education
- Providing opportunities for students to partake in joint spiritual and Sikh faith activities and events
- Create opportunities to share resources for students and staff
- Creating wider opportunities for enhancing the education of the pupils, Joint school projects, sports and creative projects
- Enabling pupils to meet and work as a part of a larger group
- Broad and deep curriculum offering to students
- Providing greater staff development opportunities enabling staff retention
- Securing and developing successful leaders for the future and ensure succession planning for smooth transition
- Sharing best practices at all levels by making full use of staff expertise in specialist areas
- Managing school budgets effectively to ensure support pupil progress and ensure value for money principles are adhered to
KPS is very fortunate to have well established outstanding leadership team and robust governance in place.
Whilst the SAT will be required to ensure that appropriate leadership is in place for KSA, it will also ensure that the standards are maintained at KPS through the existing strong governance in place.
No, as both schools will remain as separate schools under the umbrella of trust, the current ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating will be retained.
No, there will be no changes to the curriculum at KPS as a result of this transition. That is not to say that the curriculum will not be improved further to provide a broad-based education for the pupils.
No, staff at both schools will remain in their roles and if successful, the only change will be that staff will be employed by the new Trust. The staff will carry into the SAT all their pay and conditions. There will of course be the ongoing progress monitoring and where standards are not improving, then such changes will be made to ensure that there is improvement in student progress as well as attainment. As part of the due diligence we will have a staff review to ensure that changes are made to help staff development by the provision of relevant CPD and mentoring. We will also review and improve the staff structure, middle and senior leadership to ensure that all staff feels both valued and supported.
Our values and ethos are built upon the three pillars of Sikhism; Kirat Karna, Vand Chakna and Naam Japna. Sikh in nature, they represent values and principles that are important to people of all faiths and no faith.
There is a focus on individuality, collaboration and unity; there is a real sense of belonging within SAT and this is weaved together by the golden thread of Khalsa virtues.
Yes, the Darbar Sahib at KPS is an integral part of the children’s daily timetable and it allows them the opportunity to enhance their mental and spiritual wellbeing. When KPS opened, the school Gurdwara was not funded by the DfE, but built separately for this purpose. We therefore intend to ensure the students at KSA can also benefit in the same way and learn about Sikhi in a practical way. Any funds generated by the Gurdwara will be strictly used for the benefits of the student’s education and the improvement to the school setting and buildings.
No, KPS will retain its own admission policy as a separate school under the new trust.
No, any student who have been given a place at KSA from September will be unaffected. If successful, we will aim to make the transition as seamless as possible to minimise disruption for staff and student.
There are currently no plans to change any term dates, though MATs have more freedom to amend term dates. Any such changes would only be made after consultation with parents.
Scrutiny of the budget will be conducted by auditors as part of the due-diligence process, until that is complete, we cannot make comment on the financial status of KSA.
A new budget for the school will be allocated on 1 September 2020 and expenditure is currently being monitored by the relevant authorities. We will ensure that the budgets are monitored and scrutinised diligently as they are at KPS. The Governing Body at KPS has always ensured that finances are appropriately utilised for the benefit of the children, whilst maintaining healthy budgets year on year.
Despite completing various capital projects in recent years, KPS has never had a negative budget since its inception.
Until such time that our due diligence is complete, we will not know for sure the financial situation of KSA. However, additional funds are available for new MAT’s which will be utilised to help the financial situation at KSA
Within our trust, we prioritise value for money and economies of scale in order to ensure finances are deployed appropriately and effectively.
This means that we will be able to provide continuity and a range of high-quality school support services across both schools and, to other schools that may join the MAT in the future. Often, investment in one school of the MAT can result in benefits in another school e.g. Safeguarding, pupil assessment & tracking, health & safety and business continuity to name a few.
No. Only the source of funding will change, our funding currently comes from the Local Authority (LA) as a Voluntary Aided (VA) school.
Once KPS becomes an academy the funding will be allocated directly by the DfE to the MAT for both schools in line with the number of pupils that attend each school.
The MAT will then distribute this funding to KPS and KSA.
SAT are committed to use learning from their success at KPS, together with national best practice and outstanding School Improvement Partners to create a brilliant organisation, that is new and different to anything experienced.
We welcome support from individuals and organisations who wish to add value into our mission to enhance the personal, social and emotional wellbeing of all KSA children, alongside outstanding education provision that will be provided.
Feel free to use our contact form info@sikhacademiestrust.com to send us a request and a member of our team will get in touch.
A school is the heart of every community and we believe KSA is no different. Our experience of running KPS has taught us that giving your time to others can make you feel more ‘time affluent’ and less time constrained.
We want our students to make a positive contribution and be involved in society in a meaningful way. Whilst there are many benefits of community service, here are our top five:
- Community service develops an increased sense of social responsibility – a global view of society and a heart for ‘giving back’ and helping others
- Provides an opportunity to apply academic learning to real life events
- Builds relationships and a ‘social connect’ with peers and adults, and exposes students to diversity and multiculturalism
- Improves lifelong communication, interpersonal and critical thinking skills
- Helps students find their passions and interests that may lead to a career choice they may have not considered.
If we are successful in our bid to run KSA, we want to develop strong links with our local community. Our first step will be to consult the local villagers and initiate community projects that will enhance and add value to village life.
Visionary and inspiring senior leadership underpins the shared high aspirations and first-rate academic standards here.
The five Sikh virtues of love, compassion, contentment, humility and truth underpin all that the school does. Pupils flourish in an exceptionally caring and inclusive learning environment.
Pupils enthusiastically and articulately recall their achievements in
mathematics, sports, art, music, language, humanities and science.
Got Questions?
We would be delighted to hear from you and look forward to working with our stakeholders and the wider community. We are in the process of reaching out and would welcome your feedback on our proposals.