ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
THE OXFORD DIOCESAN SCHOOLS TRUST (ODST)
The Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust (ODST) is a not for profit multi-academy trust set up in July 2012 to
provide a suitable vehicle for schools in the Oxford Diocese to come together in a multi-academy Trust. Open
to both convertor academies and those requiring sponsorship, the Trust’s objects also allow for community
schools to join. Already containing a mix of former VA and former VC church schools, we aim to offer a
meaningful partnership built on the Christian principles of fellowship, where schools can share best practice,
and work in support of one another, with the added benefit of the central resource which the Diocese itself
can provide. The Trust is open to both primary and secondary schools across the Diocese. Central support
services include school effectiveness support, adviser time to enhance collective worship, RE and aspects of
church school leadership, including preparation for SIAMS. We also provide finance systems through PFS
Financials, a leading provider to multi-academy trusts, premises and resources support, admissions advice
and training for local governing body members.
Our board of directors comprises leading educational experts, as well as those with business, legal and other
relevant experience. The Trust seeks to expand from its current core of 5 academies, growing towards 20
schools.
Mission
At the heart of our vision for the schools in the Oxford Diocesan Schools Trust is our belief in educational
excellence. We are called to serve our pupils, staff, parents and their local community by providing
academies with the highest levels of academic rigour and pastoral care, with opportunities provided for
spiritual growth and intellectual enquiry.
We seek to embody the Christian experience of community by being and growing communities where we
share our gifts, where the emphasis is on what we can contribute, rather than what we can receive, and
where each is given according to need. All our schools are places where children and young people can learn
the value of service and of human endeavour, where they can be sure they are valued for who they are and
where they can be supported to be the best they can be.
Working together we are:
• Dedicated to achieving excellence in education
• Inclusive and diverse, open and welcoming
• Promoting a rich and creative curriculum
• Creating rewarding places to work
• Supporting communities
THE OXFORD DIOCESAN BOARD OF EDUCATION (ODBE)
The Oxford Diocesan Board of Education has 284 schools with over 55,000 pupils. Of these schools 12 are
secondary and the rest cover the primary phase. The Board has a diverse range of schools from small rural
primaries to inner city schools with a wide range of challenges. The ODBE adopts an innovative and
entrepreneurial approach to the constant changes within education and has a skilled and professional staff
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team, albeit relatively small, which plays an active role in national bodies concerned with Church of England
education. The Board is very conscious of the diminishing role of local authorities, the move to academy
conversion (forced and voluntary) and the need to provide additional support and services to our schools.
ODBE was incorporated as a separate charitable company in 2010 with the Board as its directors.
WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Together, the ODBE and the ODST provide educational services to a large number of schools and academies.
The Christian vision of the ODST and ODBE, their ethos and principles underpin all aspects of the way the
companies run and their partnership with schools and academies. For detailed information on our vision and
values, please see the ODST leaflet.
ODST and ODBE are currently co-located in Diocesan Church House alongside the Oxford Diocesan Board of
Finance.
THE ADMINISTRATION NEED
As the number of schools within ODST grows, there is an increasing need to provide a central administration
service that works closely not only with the schools, the ODST Board and the wider ODBE, but also with
prospective schools. The post-holder will be the first point of contact for any queries coming into the Trust
and will have responsibility too for areas including minute taking, the production of training materials and
updating the ODST website (training to be provided as necessary). The role is offered initially on a fixed-term
basis but it is hoped that as the Trust grows the need will become ongoing.
THE DIOCESE OF OXFORD
The Diocese of Oxford has an estimated population of 2,123,000. It is the fourth most populous diocese in
the Church of England. More or less covering the counties of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and
Milton Keynes, it is the fifth largest in land area (covering 2,221 square miles) and it has by far the largest
number of parishes and churches – 300 benefices, 623 parishes, and 815 churches served by almost 900
licensed ministers. Recent figures show that there are approximately 55,000 people on the electoral rolls of
the Diocese.
Although the Diocese covers a mainly rural area it also has large urban conurbations which can contain high
level of deprivation. The Diocese’s unique combination of buildings, volunteers, voluntary giving and
involvement in the lives of the community make it the largest self-funded voluntary organisation in the
Thames Valley. The Diocese has 284 church schools which is the largest number of any Church of England
diocese in the country and it liaises with the 9 local authorities which cover the area.
LIVING FAITH FOR THE FUTURE
‘A touchstone to remind us all of the values we try to live by and the directions we need to take if we are to be
faithful to Jesus Christ in the 21st century’
Living Faith for the Future is a vision for the Diocese of Oxford. It came out of a series of conversations all
around the Diocese in 2008 on a paper produced by the Bishop of Oxford in the light of his first impressions
in office.
The Living Faith vision offers a strategic framework for the life and work of the Church of England in
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
Further information on Living Faith for the Future may be accessed on the dedicated pages of the diocesan
website at www.oxford.anglican.org/livingfaith
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