Continuous improvement awards and accreditations

ISO 14001 Environment
The SSAT have been working towards gaining ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems since June 2006 and successfully gained certification in November 2007.

Compliance with ISO 14001 demonstrates the SSAT’s responsibility and commitment to reducing the environmental impacts of its activities, through a managed system of continual improvement structured around the SSAT Environmental Policy.

The SSAT will be subject to regular third party audits to maintain certification, giving assurance to staff, schools and other stakeholders that the organisation shall consider its environmental responsibilities in all aspects of its operations.

Copies of the SSAT Environmental Policy are available by request from the Environmental Manager (020 7802 0673).

European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
The SSAT achieved the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) ‘Recognised for Excellence’ status (3 stars) in 2007.

The SSAT has been a member of the EFQM since 2002. The scheme provides an opportunity to be externally assessed and recognised against consistent European wide standards. The Recognised for Excellence status is a rigorous standard. It is designed for organisations ‘well on their way to organisational excellence’.

Investors in People
Since 2002, SSAT has successfully retained Investors in People recognition. It is recognition of good practice against the benchmark of a nationally recognised standard and underpins our absolute commitment to best practice in the management and development of our people.

Positive about Disabled People
The SSAT has Positive about Disabled People recognition. This recognition is given by Jobcentre Plus to employers based in Great Britain who have agreed to take action to meet five commitments regarding the employment, retention, training and career development of disabled employees. This represents our commitment to promote and support the employment of people with disabilities and ensure that they are treated fairly at every stage of their selection and employment

Payroll Giving Quality Mark
The SSAT has been awarded the Payroll Giving Quality Mark. The Payroll Giving Quality Mark is a new scheme that recognises businesses for making Payroll Giving available to their staff. The Awards recognises employers fostering a culture of committed giving in the workplace.

ISO 27001 IT Security
The SSAT Information Services Department gained ISO 27001 in April 2006 and was successfully re-audited in October 2006.

The aim of ISO 27001 is to ensure that organisations reduce the risk of information security breaches by having in place a robust technical infrastructure, procedures and processes in place to manage risk and the documentation to support the infrastructure and processes.

Direct Marketing Membership
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has been accepted as a member of the Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd. (DMA).
Compliance with the DMA code represents the SSAT’s commitment to best practice and self-regulation and provides our customers with the reassurance of our ethical conduct, quality and professionalism in marketing practice. As the SSAT develops its marketing activities and maximises communication channels to reach its target audiences there are legal implications that we would need to take into consideration. To become a member, the SSAT was required to go through a number of stages including financial checks and the collation of references from DMA listed suppliers.

Moving forward
In moving forward the SSAT is currently aiming for EN18001 European Standard for Health and Safety Management systems and the equivalent of Level 2 of the Local Government Equality Standard.