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Home > People > Emma Swann

Our People

Emma Swann, Partner, Head of Academies

Education and Charities

Direct Dial: 03301 075 973
Mobile: 07773 937 401

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A bit about me

I have a long-standing specialism in education law, an area which is constantly evolving. Because I’m part of the Department for Education’s academies working group and have excellent contacts within the sector, I can keep clients up to date with prospective changes and make sure that I help them to come up with practical and commercial solutions.

I’ve worked with a wide range of schools, supporting them through academy conversions and expansions and helping with issues such as admission appeals, exclusions, safeguarding, parental complaints and governance. I also have extensive experience advising Church of England Diocesan Boards, diocesan multi-academy trusts (MATs) and local schools forming mixed MATs.

Outside work, I love spending time in the countryside with my family – my son especially enjoys feeding lambs and riding on tractors.

Want to know more?

We can prepare a full school policy audit to ensure compliance with education law and best practice.

Your board of trustees should regularly review governance structures – are they working?

Ask questions before taking controversial decisions rather than afterwards!

How do we prepare for GDPR?
Your starting point is a school audit. You should also update your privacy notices and data protection policy.

How do we expand our Multi Academy Trust (MAT)?
Assess the capacity of your MAT to expand (including performance/financial issues). Do due diligence on potential schools that might join your MAT.

How do we deal with a vexatious parent?
Follow school complaints procedure – this should allow communications to be terminated if a parent’s behaviour is unreasonable.

Teams I work with

Commercial

Education and Charities

Where I work

Wye Valley

Endorsements & Awards

Education Investor Awards 2022 Winner

Specialist legal support enables academy to open new sixth form

Dene Magna School were able to call on the specialist expertise of academies expert Emma Swann and the education team when approval for their new sixth form in Cinderford, Forest of Dean, was challenged by another local school.
view full case study

Read my
latest articles

Breach of contract

Undoubtedly your academy trust will be a party to a number of commercial contracts, whether…

Read full article

Force majeure: not just a boiler plate clause

A recent case in the Court of Appeal, MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022],…

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Updated intervention guidance

The Department for Education recently held a consultation on supporting schools that are not making…

Read full article

The Trust Capacity Fund

The Department for Education’s 2022/23 Trust Capacity Fund window two (the “TCaF”) opened on 20…

Read full article

Free schools: key questions answered

While there is a great deal of focus on academy conversions and growth of multi…

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Academy transfers Q&A

Whilst all academies will be familiar with the academy conversion process, many may not be…

Read full article

Schools Bill and new intervention powers

Back in June the government laid the Coasting Schools (England) Regulations 2022 before Parliament to…

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Ofsted registration and safeguarding obligations

Increasingly, parents rely on both before-school and after-school clubs to provide childcare during working hours.…

Read full article

Schools bill: academy trust intervention powers

In the recent government white paper, the DfE has committed to the development of high-quality…

Read full article

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