FASNA is a national forum for primary, secondary and special self-governing schools. It is the only national association that expressly represents the interests and views of self-governing schools (foundation, foundation with trust, voluntary-aided and academies). FASNA has a national committee with elections structured to ensure equal representation of heads and governors as well as including clerks to governing bodies.

FASNA represents the interests of self-governing schools to government, the Department for Education, the National Employers’ Organisation for School Teachers (NEOST), unions and other groups in the educational field. FASNA aims to promote autonomy for schools to enable them to raise standards for students. The philosophy is focused on developing school autonomy to support creative leadership and school strategies responsive to the needs of the local community which leads to raising standards. Alongside increased autonomy FASNA also support schools in working cooperatively with a variety of agencies and different groups.

Vision and Aims

Our vision for the future of the educational landscape is;

RAISING STANDARDS in a climate of ‘AUTONOMY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY’

Requiring:

• Smaller Government
• Less bureaucracy
• ‘Academy freedoms’ for all schools beginning with ‘successful’ primary , secondary and special schools
• National funding formula which is transparent
• OfSTED beyond data with a focus on:-
  
  
  • Learning and teaching
  • Leadership and management
  • Financial excellence
• Employer flexibility
• Rigorous audit
• Simplified ‘fair’ Admissions Code
• No Local Authority interference

Our overriding purpose is

To provide the best possible educational experience for young people

FASNA exists to:

• Promote and campaign for school autonomy
• Represent the interests and concerns of foundation, foundation with trust, voluntary-aided and academies to the Department for Education and other bodies representing schools education professionals
• Respond on behalf of membership schools to formal consultations from the above bodies
• To support schools who wish to change character

To enable FASNA to meet increased activity in the future FASNA has reflected on the structure of and relationship between both the National Committee and Executive Board.

The Chair of the National Committee is the elected President of the Association.
The Chair of the Executive Board is the Executive Chair of the Association.

Executive Board 2010/11

Tom Clark CBE - Executive Chairman
Helen Hyde - President of the Association

Joan Binder - Vice President of the Association

Karen Mort

George Phipson CBE
Patricia Sowter - Cuckoo Hall Primary School, Enfield

Mike Griffiths - Samworth Academy, Nottingham

A biography of each member of the Executive Board can be found in the Committee Profiles section of this website.

The relationship between the National Committee and the Executive Board is illustrated in the membership diagram which can also be found on this website.

In the future FASNA aims to:

• Lobby all political parties to promote school autonomy and seek to influence future provision
• Deliver CPD for school leaders in relation to the three areas of additional responsibility for foundation schools, Admissions, Employer status, management of land and assets
• Deliver CPD for Associate Staff in schools
• Provide bespoke training and development for schools/consortia of schools determined by need

In order to enable FASNA to respond to the increasing demands for its knowledge and understanding of education across all sectors, and for us to share our expertise we are developing teams of individuals to support the further development of activities in distinct areas of our work. These are as follows;

• School Funding (George Phipson)
• Admissions, Employer status and Governance (Joan Binder)
• Commercial Seminars, Capital issues, and changing category to Foundation or Trust (Karen Mort)
• Consultations (Paul Strong)

If you would like to contribute to any team activities then please express your interest by contacting the FASNA Registered office, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

FASNA will continue to deliver termly conferences and issue a termly newsletter which focuses on the additional responsibilities of self-governing schools. FASNA offers associate membership to schools considering a change of status. FASNA will continue to retain lawyers and human resource experts to provide technical and authoritative responses to issues raised. For further information relating to our national conferences and commercial seminars click here.