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Welcome

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Welcome to the Brooke Weston Trust Toolkit.

Onboarding

Career Pathways

How to use

CPD Courses

*There are now 11 schools in the Trust as Thrapston Primary officially became part of BWT on 1st October 2023.

Induction Information

About the Trust

Procurement

Trust Team

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Welcome to the Brooke Weston Trust Onboarding area.

Safeguarding

Staff Benefits

Overseas Staff

1. Policy Statement

3. Who is responsible

2. How to apply it

Click to read full policy

5. Procedures

4. Principles

7. Compliance

8. Policy Review

6. Conflicts of Interest

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Executives

Heads of Profession

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Please find below information on the benefits provided for staff of the Brooke Weston Trust:

Staff CPD

Collaboration

Pay

Additional Benefits

Food

Finder's Fee

Support

Childcare

Family Policies

• Adverse Childhood Experiences training completed
• Female Genital Mutilation training completed

• BWT Basic Safeguarding Training completed

• Online Safety Awareness E-Learning completed
• Prevent Awareness training
• Harmful Sexual Behaviour training

• Acceptable Use Policy read and understood
• Behaviour policy read and understood
• Safeguarding response to children who go missing from education provided
• Attendance processes explained
• Children missing from education processes explained
• Child on child abuse procedures explained

• Introduction to DSLs and Deputy DSLs completed, explanation of roles and contact details provided.
• Safeguarding, Low-Level Concerns and Allegations processes explained
• CPOMS Induction
• Safeguarding and Child Protection E-Learning completed

• CPOMS account set up
• Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy read and understood
• Professional and Safe Conduct Policy read and understood
• Part 1 of the latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education read and understood

End of Month 1

End of Week 1

End of Day 1

Pre-appointment

End of Month 5

End of Month 3

3.3 The Business Systems Manager will support the Trust and Academies with high value projects, procurement advice and training. 3.4 All contracts are to be approved by Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer, the Business Systems Manager will support the Trust and Academies with review of contract terms ahead of approval.

3. Who is responsible for carrying out this policy?

3.1 Everybody in the Trust and Academies who is responsible for purchasing whether as an employee or contractor and anyone who is responsible for authorising a purchase. 3.2 The implementation of this policy will be monitored through the financial approval process carried out by the delegated authority outlined in Appendix A (Principals and Executive Leadership Team) and will be checked by auditors and will remain under review by Brooke Weston Trust (Finance & Resources Committee).

Breakfast and Lunches

Subsidised meals for all members of staff who chose to eat in our restaurants and Dining Areas. BWT is proud to provide all of our catering in-house with fresh and nutritious meals prepared every day in our kitchens delivered by our in-house catering teams.

Additional Benefits

All staff can borrow up to £1000 to buy a bicycle through the Bike2Work Scheme and save up to 42% on the cost of bicycles and/or safety equipment, reducing your carbon footprint as you go! The Trust also offers a salary sacrifice scheme to enable our employees a tax efficient way to afford a brand-new car. Put simply, an employee can swap some of their salary before it is taxed, which means they get more car for a lot less. BWT also BWT subsides the membership to the Chartered College of Teaching, which enables teachers to get aced to training and accreditations, and is a fantastic source for personal CPD.

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Heads of Profession

7.1 You should check with the Business Systems Manager or Trust Financial Controller if you are unsure about how this policy may apply to you. 7.2 Non-compliance of this policy by Trust and Academy staff may lead to disciplinary procedures, this will depend on the nature of the breach. HR guidance on policy breaches will be followed.

7. Compliance

Finder's Fee Offer

The most important and valuable asset of our Trust is the committed and passionate staff who contribute to improving the life chances of our young people. However, recruiting good quality teachers can be difficult at times. To help us recruit yet more excellent teachers into our organisation BWT offers a ‘finder’s fee’ of £1000 (per teacher recruited) to any member of staff, whatever their role in the Trust, who introduces a new teacher who fills a vacancy in any of our schools, and is still employed as a good teacher 6 months down the line

Collaborative Working

As a family of 10 schools in a close geographical area, we have the luxury of being able to work collaboratively with those doing similar roles in different schools, picking up best practice and sharing great ideas. To support our staff to develop the best curriculum possible, we believe in collaborative planning and sharing ideas and best practice. We have a team of subject specialist Directors of Subject, who support this collaborative approach and are up-to-date with the latest subject developments. We regularly get our subject teams and leaders from across the trust together to share best practice and discuss the latest curriculum thinking to develop our staff. We also use our network of external contacts through our Teaching School Hub to support our curriculum development. Our teachers do not work in isolated bubbles when developing the ambitious curriculum our students are entitled to.

Staff CPD

All staff have access to the Ambition Hub: a rich and diverse programme of professional development opportunities for staff. As a Trust, our core values resonate powerfully through our actions: Ambition for All is the founding stone of the Ambition Hub. The Ambition Hub will provide professional development opportunities for staff with diverse roles across the Trust, as well as for staff at differing career stages. The Ambition Hub is also home of the Northamptonshire Teaching School Hub, meaning all staff have access to high quality professional development programmes in a range of different areas. Great for teachers wishing to progress within their careers or learn new and exciting skills.

8.1 This policy will be monitored, reviewed, and updated as part of the Trust’s annual internal review or as required by legislation changes. 8.2 An up-to-date copy of the policy will be available on the Trust website.

8. Policy Review

Flexible and Family Policies

BWT have generous policies for maternity leave, paternity leave, flexible working and discretionary leave. All staff have the right to request flexible working from the first day of their contract. We include an informal stage in our flexible working policy to ensure that any concerns or worried can be discussed and talked through and explored with a senior manager before having to proceed to a formal stage.

2.1 This Policy is mandatory and applies to any purchase or contract for services, supplies or works which results in a payment being made by the Trust or an Academy, and is therefore important that all staff are aware of it.

2. How should this policy be applied?

Emotional and Legal Support

All staff have free access to Health Assured, a confidential counselling service which has been developed to support the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of employees, as well as offering legal advice. Health Assured also offers staff access to a wellbeing portal with a number of resources, guides and plans for a healthy lifestyle. Further information can be found here.

6. Dealing with Conflicts of Interest

6.1 This section applies to all purchases and contracts, regardless of value or duration. 6.2 The Academy Trust Handbook puts strict obligations on the Trust to ensure that conflicts of interest in procurement are managed. 6.3 Trust employees, governors and contractors must declare any interest which may affect the outcome of a procurement process, prior to their involvement. 6.4 A record of all such declared conflicts of interest will be capture during the procurement process and must be sent to the Trust Financial Controller. 6.5 No gifts or hospitality of any type should be accepted by the employees of the Trust from any service provider as an inducement to award a contract to that supplier. This may be an offence under the provisions of the Bribery Act 2010. You must inform the Trust Financial Controller immediately on becoming aware of any such gifts or hospitality.

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Executives

4.3.2 Fairness: Competition between suppliers is dealt with fairly, equitably and

4.4 Persons responsible for purchases must ensure expenditure is conducted in line with the Trusts Financial Scheme of Delegation, Procurement Categories (Appendix B), and this policy. 4.5 Contracts or purchases must be properly assessed for value and must not be deliberately divided into smaller purchases / contracts to avoid procurement rules. 4.6 Persons responsible for purchases should endeavour to identify opportunities to aggregate spend within the Trust and its Academies, to deliver economies of scale and added benefits where possible.

transparently by the Trust and Academies. For example:• All potential suppliers must be given the same information, and no supplier should be treated more favourably than another; and• Competitive tenders must be carried out impartially with clear and transparent processes, including defined specification of requirements, evaluation methodology and timescales.

4.3 Persons taking part in the procurement process must be able to demonstrate they have followed the principles laid out in the Regulations, including but not limited to:4.3.1 Probity:It must be clear that there is no private gain in the Trust / Academies contractual agreements. See section 6 dealing with conflicts of interest.

4. What are the principles behind this policy?

4.1 The aim of this policy is to achieve best value for money from all purchases at all times. This means purchases should meet the defined needs of the Trust or Academy and be delivered within the appropriate timescales for the best possible price. 4.2 The Trust and Academies will include environmental and sustainable criteria in its contracts where possible.

Pay

Teachers – Teachers on our Main Pay Scale receive automatic annual pay progression each September. All of our teachers and leadership roles are part of a supportive and developmental approach to performance and career progression. Support – Members of our support team receive automatic annual pay progression each September up to the top of their grade. All of our colleagues are part of a supportive and developmental approach to performance and career progression.

1.3 The Trust is the sole legal entity which can enter into contracts for itself and its Academies. The Academies themselves are not separate legal entities and any contracts awarded by the Academies will be binding on the Trust.

1.2 The Trust is obliged to comply with (the Regulations),• Academies Financial Handbook, • Funding agreements with the Department for Education (DfE), • DfE Buying for Schools Guidance • Public Contracts Regulations 2015, • Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 • Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 • Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Notes • EU Public Contracts Directive 2014

1. Policy Statement

1.1 This policy (Policy) sets out the rules by which The Brooke Weston Trust (the Trust) spends money and explains the Trust's approach to the purchase of goods, works and services for its schools (the Academies or Academy ).

Discounted access to our BWT Schools Extended Provision

BWT employees can get 20% off the cost of childcare with access to our Trust schools extended provisions and wrap-around care facilities.

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