Norfolk and Waveney school academies CEOs earn over £ 150,000

Senior executives at chain academies in Norfolk and Waveney won salaries of up to £ 230,000 last year, with some receiving salary increases despite nationwide pledges to cut the payroll.

Earning more than a third of the Prime Minister’s annual salary of £ 150,000, Ormiston Academy Trust paid a maximum salary of £ 200,000-210,000 in 2019/20, giving its biggest earner a pay rise of £ 10,000.

It comes amid a crackdown by the Education Department that sent warning letters to trusts with bosses earning more than £ 150,000.

REAch2 Academy Trust, which operates primary schools in Lowestoft and Beccles including Northfield St Nicholas, Phoenix St Peter Academy and Gunton Primary, paid its highest salary between £ 220,000 and £ 230,000 in 2019/20, putting a higher salary in 2018/19 until accounting errors.

“The CEO’s salary has remained the same over the past four years and reflects the fact that REAch2 is the largest primary-only academy trust in the country,” a spokesperson said.

Graham White, national executive member of the National Education Union for Norfolk and Suffolk, called the sums “excessive”.

“I would say these are excessive salaries for the roles they have to fill – you don’t have to charge that much,” he said.

Graham White of the National Education Union.
– Credit: Andy Abbott

“Obviously the head of an academy trust has an important role, but I would say the caregiver for children and youth in Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex has an even bigger job and gets paid. far from £ 200,000. “

The base salary for a qualified teacher in England is £ 25,714 a year, according to Prospects, which means top-paid executives earn around five and a half times the salary of an average teacher.

Ormiston Academy Trust locally operates secondary and primary schools including the City of Norwich School, Cliff Park Ormiston Academy in Great Yarmouth, Ormiston Venture Academy in Gorleston, Flegg High in Martham and Ormiston Denes Academy in Lowestoft.

He said executive compensation is set after a rigorous review and market benchmarking process.

It takes into account excellence and performance as leaders of one of the country’s largest trusts, a spokesperson added, with the channel responsible for educating more than 30,000 young people in 40 schools across the country. country.

“We are proud of the high standards of education we provide in all of our academies – many of which are located in truly disadvantaged areas – and this leadership has been at the forefront throughout Covid-19, which presented the circumstances the most more difficult to provide education and care. for children in their 80s, ”they added.

Former CEO of Inspiration Trust, now Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza.
– Credit: Tom Barnes

Others with salaries over £ 150,000 included Dame Rachel de Souza of the Inspiration Trust, which operates 14 schools across Norfolk and Suffolk – who has just secured a government post as commissioner of the ‘childhood.

The former CEO took home up to £ 10,000 more in 2019/20, with a salary of £ 160,000 to £ 170,000 – which bosses say takes into account overall performance and experience.

A spokesperson added that the compensation of CEOs is compared to their competitors and “reflects the responsibilities and expectations placed on the individual.”

West Norfolk Academies Trust, which operates schools such as Springwood High and St Clement’s High in King’s Lynn and Smithdon High in Hunstanton, paid its highest income between £ 150,000 and £ 160,000 in 2019/20.

In a note to his accounts, he said his highest salary reflected “significant responsibility” for the oversights of his 11 member schools.

“At the same time, they retain full responsibility for the director of their own large secondary school,” he added.

The salaries of the highest paid person at the Academy Transformation Trust, which operates 21 schools, including the Iceni Academy in Methwold and Nicholas Hamond Academy in Swaffham, were £ 180,000 to £ 190,000, up 10,000 £ compared to the previous year.

Some academy trust bosses are paid over £ 150,000 per year.
– Credit: PA

The highest paid Norfolk Schools patron of 2018 was Valerie Moore, of the Norwich-based Boudica Schools Trust, who received a total of £ 235,000 in the year she left. She resigned in September 2018 after six years and the role was taken over by Don Evans.

Latest trust accounts show that the highest income in 2019/20 was paid between £ 110,000 and £ 120,000.

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