Policies

Consultation on admission arrangements for 2027/28 (2026 determination year)

In accordance with the DfE’s 2021 statutory ‘School Admissions Code’ guidance, as an admissions authority we must consult on our admission arrangements at least once every seven years, and when changes are made, other than rolling forward dates and deadlines for the admissions process and for reductions in the PAN (Planned or Published Admission Number) of an academy.  St Benet’s MAT consulted on admission arrangements for six weeks from 31 October 2025 until 14 December 2025; during this time, members of our community were invited to express their views and any concerns about the proposed changes to the admission arrangements.

A response to the consultation was received from Norfolk County Council who did not raise any objections to the changes either to the admissions policy or to the academy PANs where changes were proposed. No other responses were received.

On 14 December 2025 The Trust Board approved the St Benet’s MAT Admissions Policy 2027-28, as provided for consultation.

Trust Policies 

The procedure for Trust policies is that the Board’s Committees review and approve the draft policies at their meetings each term in line with an annual schedule of policy review. Most policies are reviewed every three years. As soon as the Trustees have approved a policy it should be applied in all of the Trust’s schools and therefore will be communicated to the schools at the earliest opportunity so that it can be applied if the need arises.

The Governance office will advise when new policies are approved and uploaded to the website and an editable version of the policy will be circulated to academy offices and Headteachers for use. The academy should personalise the red text of the core policy for their academy setting. The Local Governance Committee (LGC) will then receive and note the policy at an LGC meeting.  No other changes should be made to Trust policies. A PDF version of the policy should then be uploaded to the Academy’s website when applicable (see below).

Not all policies need to be displayed on Academy websites, they just need to be available for staff to use and refer to and to provide to parents if requested. However there are some that are required to be included on Academy websites by the DfE and some that are required by the Trust. Altogether the policies that need to be included on the Academy websites are:

1. Safeguarding Policy (Trust)
2. Data Protection Policy and privacy notices for parents (Trust)
3. Health and Safety Policy (Trust)
4. ICT and Internet Acceptable Use Policy (Trust)
5. Administration of Medicines Policy (Trust)
6. Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy (Trust)
7. Behaviour Policy (Academy)
8. Attendance Policy (Academy)
9. Careers Information & Guidance (Academy (Secondary Academies only))
10. Charging and Remissions Policy (Trust)
11. Complaints policy/procedure (Trust)
12. Equality and Diversity Statutory Duties and Objectives (Trust)
13. Speak Up Policy (Trust) – fulfils requirement to have clear whistleblowing procedures in place
14. Remote Learning Policy (Academy)
15. Uniform Policy (Academy)
16. Relationships, Sex and Health Education Policy (Trust)

It is left to the discretion of the Headteacher whether other policies are displayed on the Academy website.

If staff or Governors have any comments or suggestions for improvement, then please feed these through to governance@donesc.org so that they can be considered by the Trust Board. This will usually be when the policy undergoes the next formal review but may be sooner in appropriate circumstances.

Gender Pay Gap Report:

Gender Pay Gap report March 2025

Equality & Diversity Report:

St Benet’s Equality Objectives 2024-2028

Equality and Diversity Report – July 2025

N.B.  Currently, we are not able to publish information in relation to other protected characteristics as we do not have reliable data at Trust level and publishing information at school level would risk compromising individual’s personal information.

Trade Union Facility Time:

TU Facility time April 24 – Mar 25 – St Benet’s

St Benet’s MAT Contact Details:

Registered and postal address: Orchard House, Hall Lane, East Tuddenham, Norfolk NR20 3LR
Main office tel: 01603 550147

There are a number of policies which include the Trust’s contact details, these will be updated as the policies are reviewed in line with the review cycle. Please use the contact details noted above where needed.