Aletheia Academies Trust consists of twelve academies including eleven Primary schools, one Nursery and one All-Through School in Kent. The catering service across Aletheia Academies Trust may require a new approach. Currently the catering is carried out via the model in Attachment 5, but the Trust are interested to see whether improvements can be found that are in the best interest of all the schools and offer best value. The Trust are open to finding new innovative ideas to make the catering service more efficient, better quality and more cost effective. At the sole discretion of the Trust any future schools that the Trust may incorporate into the Trust will also be added to the contract. Any additional schools will co-terminate to the end same end date of the initial contract.The Contract period will be for 3 years initially with the option to extend for two further one year periods.
Aletheia Academies Trust consists of sixteen academies including thirteen Primary schools, two Nurseries, and one All-Through School. With expansion on the horizon and their community growing, their student population of 4,600 pupils is projected to increase to over 8,000 by 2031 based on current and known growth plans. Alkerden Academy opened in September 2025. It is important that the Successful bidder is able to cope with the growth and support the Trust in a flexible manner.
There are currently approximately 136 devices across these 16 schools, 77 of which are expected to be mobilised in the first 12 months of the contract, largest number of mobilisations are expected to be in April 2026 and Summer 2026. Please refer to the Attachment 1b Hardware and Software Form for more information, including the range for other mobilisation dates. This is subject to change and a final version will be provided at ITT stage.
Some schools will be looking to reduce and streamline their volume of devices to make savings. However, the Authority will be growing as a trust steadily, over the course of the contract term, which has been taken into consideration for the value of the contract.
The Authority are not looking for a co-terminus end date for all devices across schools when they are mobilised under this contract, but instead intend to create groups of schools, each group with a firm contract end date. This will allow for an organised and simplified approach to renewals going forward. A suggested timeline and grouping list has been provided as part of the ITT pack which can be located in Attachment 1b HW & SW Form (tab 3) and the Authority anticipates shortlisted bidders being open to this approach.
Please be aware that Knowle Academy (KNO) will own all of their devices by the end of the contract date, therefore they require a “support, maintenance and toner” contract only.
The Contract period will be for 5 years initially with the option to extend for two further one-year periods.