Monday 27^th April 2026

Consultation

Monday 27^th April 2026 – Friday 22^nd May 2026

Proposal for St Helen’s Catholic Primary School to join Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust  

Dear St Helen’s School Community,

The governing body of St Helen’s Catholic Primary School has applied to become an academy under the Academies Act 2010 and is proposing to join Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust. The governing body is now consulting stakeholders on this proposal before a final decision is taken on entering into the funding agreement and completing the conversion. Further information about what becoming an academy means and how to comment on the proposals is set out below.

Will St Helen’s Catholic Primary School definitely become an academy?

The governing body has submitted an application to convert to academy status and is working towards a conversion within the new academic year. However, the school is not obligated to become an academy until the contract between the multi academy trust and the Department for Education (known as the Funding Agreement) is signed.

The academy trust will not sign the Funding Agreement until parents and carers of pupils at the school, staff at the school, and pupils themselves have had the opportunity to comment on the proposals.

Parents, carers and staff will be invited to separate meetings during the consultation process to learn more about the proposals to become an academy or to comment on the proposals.

There will also be assemblies and meetings with pupils to ensure everyone is kept informed throughout the process and that our children are also given the opportunity to respond.

Any comments or representations which are made about the proposals will be considered by the governing body before it takes the final decision to convert to academy status. Details of how to provide comments and representations are set out below.

The governing body will not vote to proceed with academy conversion unless they are content that conversion would be in the best interests of the school, taking account of all of the legal and practical ramifications.

What is an academy?

An academy is a state-funded school that is independent of local authority control. Academies receive their funding directly from central government rather than through the local authority.

It is being proposed that we become an academy as part of Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust. This means that we would be part of an academy group comprising Ursuline High School, St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School, St Elphege’s Federation of Catholic Primary Schools, St Cecilia’s Catholic Primary School, and St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School.

What are the benefits of being an academy?

The governing body believes that becoming an academy and joining Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust could bring a number of benefits for the school:

• Academies are independent of local authority control — this means that academies have more freedom about how they conduct themselves.
• Academies receive their funding direct from central government — this means that academies receive more funding because none is retained by the local authority for the provision of central services.
• Academies have more freedom over the curriculum taught — this means that academies do not need to teach parts of the National Curriculum which they do not consider appropriate for their pupils.
• Academies can set their own pay and conditions of service for their staff — academies have the freedom to alter the pay and conditions of their staff (subject to normal employment law protections for staff) and so can provide staff with better pay and conditions than previously.
• Academies have more freedom to undertake innovative projects — academies are companies and so have more freedom to undertake innovative projects, such as setting up and utilising trading subsidiaries.

Are there any disadvantages to becoming an academy?

Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust would be directly liable for matters such as insurance, employment liabilities, pensions, health and safety, and property maintenance. However, as mentioned above, academies receive more funding from central government to help them meet these additional costs and, in any event, Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust already deals with these matters for several schools it currently supports.

Once a school has converted, there is currently no route to revert to being a maintained school under local authority control — academy conversion is a permanent change.

If the school were underperforming in the future, the Secretary of State may have the power to force the school (as an academy) to transfer to a different academy trust. However, in those circumstances, it is likely that the Secretary of State would have the power to intervene, even if the school remained a local authority-maintained school.

Will the admissions arrangements change?

As a voluntary aided school, St Helen’s already deals with its own admission arrangements. As an academy, Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust would deal with admission arrangements and would also still be bound by the national School Admissions Code and School Admission Appeals Code.

The current admission arrangements would remain in place for the time being. If the academy wanted to change its admission arrangements, consultation would be required.

What will this mean for staff?

If the school converts to an academy, all staff currently employed by the school would automatically transfer to the new academy on their current pay and conditions. Although the academy would have more freedom to amend those pay and conditions in the future, the governing body would not intend to take such a step in the foreseeable future and, in any event, any change to pay and conditions would need to be consulted upon with staff representatives. 

Will St Helen’s Catholic Primary School change?

It would not be intended to change St Helen’s Catholic Primary School, except in ways which could improve the school even more. For students, it is unlikely that they would see much, if any, change in their day-to-day school lives.

Academies do have the power to vary their curriculums and vary the length of the school day. However, it would not be intended to take any such steps initially, and there would be engagement with parents/carers, staff and students if there was an intention to make such changes in the future.

How can I find out more?

Meetings will be held at the St Helen’s Catholic Primary school and stakeholders will be notified when these meeting will take place during the consultation period.

All stakeholders are encouraged to attend the meetings if you have any questions or simply want to learn more. The children will also be given the opportunity to take part in the consultation process.

There is also more information about academies on the DfE website:

https://www.gov.uk/education/setting-up-or-changing-the-status-of-a-school

If you can’t find the answer to your question here or on the DfE website and cannot attend the meeting, please email head@st-helens.lambeth.sch.uk and I will try to assist.

In addition, you can find the governance arrangements for Sancta Familia at this link:

Trust Documents | Sancta Familia Catholic Academy Trust

How can I submit my comments or representations on the proposed conversion?

To respond to this consultation on whether the conversion of the school to academy status should take place:

Representations can be made in writing to:

Mr. Adrian Le Cuirot

St Helen’s Catholic Primary School

6, Knowle Close

Brixton

SW9 0TQ

or by email to:

head@st-helens.lambeth.sch.uk

The closing date for representations to be made is Friday 22^nd May 2026.