Arthur Terry Learning Partnership “could be broken up”

Beleaguered academy trust could see its schools transferred to other chains, although continuing under a new, permanent chief executive is among two other options being looked at. Plus: new pressures on two Roman Catholic dioceses over trusts they control, and the latest thoughts of DfE behaviour adviser Tom Bennett, in this diary column.

An academy chain which has been much-featured on these pages in recent months could see its schools transferred to other trusts, Education Uncovered understands.

The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) could see all of its schools transferred to a larger trust. Alternatively, it could be broken up, with its academies transferring to several smaller trusts. Or it could continue to operate in its current form, under a new chief executive when the current interim leader leaves.

These, I understand, are the three options which the 24-school trust is currently discussing with the Department for Education, and which have been shared by the trust to its staff.

Losing its schools would complete a remarkably sad fall from grace for this trust, which until recently was led by a chief executive who had been appointed to several national positions under the Conservative government, and whose governance had featured a number of people with a national profile.