About FASNA

FASNA is a national forum for primary, secondary, special self-governing schools and academies. 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 including the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA), and the School Funding Implementation Group (SFIG). 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 THROUGH AUTONOMY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY

Seeking:

  • Smaller Government
  • Less bureaucracy
  • "Academy freedoms" for all 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

FASNA exists to:

  • Promote and campaign for school autonomy
  • Represent the interests and concerns of foundation, trust and voluntary-aided schools 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
  • 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 FRSA - Chairman of the Board
  • Helen Hyde - President of the Association
  • Joan Binder - Vice President of the Association
  • Patricia Sowter - Executive Member
  • Mike Griffiths - Executive Member
  • George Phipson CBE - Non-Executive Director

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

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 areas of additional responsibility for foundation schools, trust schools and Academies including Admissions and appeals, Exclusions and appeals, Employer status, management of land and assets, conversion to Academy status
  • Provide bespoke training and development for schools/consortia of schools determined by need

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 see the events page.

20 – not out

The Foundation, Aided Schools and Academies National Association (FASNA) can trace its origins back to 1992 when the Association of Head Teachers of Grant Maintained Schools (AHGMS) was formed. Subsequent mergers with AFVAS, AHFAS and FAVASA1 led to the emergence of FASNA in 2004.

Back in 1992, the organisation was launched by a group of Grant Maintained School head teachers who shared a firm belief in the power of self-determination to free schools from the Local Authority and deliver the highest standards for their pupils unencumbered by unnecessary bureaucracy and restrictive practices. Their belief was not ideological in origin - it was founded in pragmatism and based on real evidence of the difference to standards that freedom from Local Authority control had made in their schools. They believed that ‘independence' did not need to equal isolation. Their initial intention was to secure the freedoms they had, to support like-minded schools in making the most of those freedoms, including in obtaining 'value-for money', and to press for greater freedoms, allied to clear accountability.

The organisation still reflects those intentions. The modern FASNA has a strong and vibrant membership, continues to offer practical advice and support to those seeking to maximise the benefits of autonomy and to champion ‘autonomy with accountability'. Since 1992, FASNA has helped to transform the educational landscape. Today, the understanding that headteachers are better placed than bureaucrats to assess the needs of their pupils is commonly shared. Today, the value of diversity and self-determination in shaping outstanding educational provision and the importance of clear accountability within this is widely accepted. None of these facets of how we understand education today would have been as clearly understood without FASNA.

When you visit FASNA's head office there are not many clues to this rich history. There are no photographs of the politicians and advisers that have addressed FASNA conferences though every one of them has the last 20 years. There is no written history capturing the policy shaping advice and guidance that FASNA has given to successive governments, though FASNA's work led to concrete change and major reform in education policy. The offices reflect the character of the organisation, purposeful, productive, without pomp, pretension or any sense of self importance. In talking to the key players in FASNA over the last twenty years, people like Tom Clark, Joan Binder, Helen Hyde and George Phipson, there are three unifying characteristics on display - passion, commitment and determination. They display a passion for the cause of school autonomy based on a firm belief in the difference it makes and a total commitment to creating the best conditions in which all young people can be educated.

Alongside this, they demonstrate an absolute determination to ensure that school leaders have the freedom to shape the best provision possible.

Notable in this determination, is an element of defiance, an unwillingness over time to give in and bow to the many voices that argued for maintaining a status quo which failed too many children for too long.

At many points the leaders of FASNA might have looked at the odds stacked against school autonomy ever emerging as a reality. In 1997, when New Labour acted to abolish Grant Maintained Schools it looked like the brief period of freedom enjoyed by schools was over. FASNA lobbied, engaged, highlighted the benefits and refused to give up. Where others protested, FASNA persisted. In the 1998 School Standards and Frameworks Act, to the surprise of many, the creation of foundation status allowed a level of independence to be retained in the system. The determination FASNA showed paid off.

Through the New Labour years, FASNA continued to use the power of advocacy and the real knowledge of how schools worked and what mattered in shaping outstanding education, to inform the development of policy. FASNA briefed Tony Blair and his cabinet on the benefits of schools autonomy, liaised with Andrew Adonis and advised ministers from David Blunkett to Ed Balls in informing policy development. The emergence of trust and foundation schools across the country was supported both in policy terms and practically by FASNA. To its members, FASNA is a valuable source of information, insight and support. Through its national conferences, workshops, briefings, and response to member questions and queries, FASNA's core commitment to autonomy manifests itself in practical ways in which its members can get the most for their pupils from the freedoms that are available to their school.

In 2010, when the coalition government was formed, FASNA once again played a role in helping to inform policy through insight. As a strictly ‘a- political' organisation, FASNA has always kept channels open to politicians from the three major parties. Through an understanding of the direction of travel from coalition policy makers, FASNA was able to rapidly provide support to schools seeking to convert to the new academy status. As FASNA approaches its 20 year anniversary in 2012, the passion, commitment and determination that has characterised it over time is still strong. The current government has introduced another level of self-determination for schools but barriers still remain in creating a truly autonomous system. The need for FASNA is perhaps stronger than ever in helping to show that autonomy works for schools. More and more schools are choosing greater freedom. The support and advice FASNA provides in helping these schools to maximise the benefits of autonomy continue to be in much demand.

What might education look like in a further '20 years' time? Can schools harness the power of autonomy to drive standards forward further and ensure every child fulfils their potential? It's a tough challenge. The record shows that FASNA is not an organisation to give up on this challenge.

Gareth Cornwall , Director, The Decision Point

1AFVAS - Association of Foundation and Voluntary Aided Schools. AHFAS - Association of Headteachers of Foundation and Aided Schools; FAVASA - Foundation and Voluntary Aided Schools Association.