Education

Our Education department is nationally recognised. The Legal 500 2012 edition highlighted the firm as one of the leading schools specialists in the country.

MAINTAINED SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES

We provide the full range of legal services to maintained schools and Academies including:

Academy conversions
Employment contracts, policies and procedures
Support for all employment issues including disciplinary, grievances, discrimination and redundancies
Governance
Constitutional changes
Governor training
Commercial contracts and partnership and collaboration agreements.
Funding Agreements
Property, Construction and Development Agreements
Advice on Education legislation
Free schools
Judicial review
Child protection and safeguarding
Pupil discipline including exclusions
Admissions
Advice on reverters under the School Sites Act and s554 orders
Advice on the maintained school law as it differs between England and Wales
"Transfer of Control Agreements" for Children's Centres over community use of school property

We also have particular expertise advising, Diocesan Boards of Education, schools, sponsors and trust partners on school reorganisations including:

The conversion of community and Voluntary schools to Trust schools.
The conversion of community schools to Church Voluntary Aided or Voluntary Controlled schools.
Incorporating Diocesan Boards of Education
Federations and amalgamations

LBMW advise the Church of England nationally on education legislation and have recently settled with the Department for Education ("DfE") a suite of model documents that provide the means by which Church of England schools wishing to convert to Academy status may do so with the support of the Diocese and their trustees. Click here for link to Model Documents.