The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders
The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders
February 2019 edition
Welcome to the third edition of Trust the digital professional journal for executive and governance leaders. This publication is one of the many outcomes of the close collaborative partnership between the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) and its wholly owned subsidiary National Teacher Accreditation (NTA). CST is the national organisation…
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Last month, the Department for Education launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, and the Early Career Framework (ECF). There was an astonishing amount of support from the sector for both. I think this reflects the way the DfE worked with the sector to develop this policy, but particularly the…
What gives us character? What makes us resilient? These are two of the questions I look forward to grappling with as I chair the group announced by the Secretary of State Damian Hinds in his recent speech focussing on this topic. The discussions and consultations which lie ahead for our…
I won’t pretend to be a governance expert, but I’ve served on the body of an independent school, as the chair of a single Academy trust, now as a chair of an LGB, as a trustee and member of a large MAT, and also on the board of a national…
It’s that time of year again when schools are beginning to consider what their curriculum and staffing structures might look like in September. The process of making the head’s educational vision a reality is not easy, and we know that School Business Professionals (SBPs) are a key link in the…
As part of a huge swathe of policy on teacher recruitment, retention and development, the government has announced a new suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). These new qualifications will offer specialist routes for teachers to complement the existing and well-established management and leadership pathway. In this article I lay…
Without a curriculum, a school is just a building full of teachers and pupils. Curriculum matters and is key to defining the knowledge and experiences that pupils receive beyond their home environment. There are many extant definitions of curriculum, but at Ofsted our working definition is: ‘a framework for setting…
Not a day goes by when there isn’t something in the press about executive pay. Whether it’s a piece urging ethical governance or a piece challenging value for money, the emphasis placed on getting the process and decision making right is what trustees are now focused on and rightly so.…
Strong governance is vital to the success of any organisation and it is essential that those people employed to implement good governance practices in schools and multi-academy trusts have the skills and knowledge to make a positive difference. ICSA: The Governance Institute has, therefore, unveiled a new competency framework that…
Throughout 2018, the threat to schools from fraudsters has compounded – not only are schools’ finance teams being targeted through malicious emails or vishing (telephone) scams but their pupils also face an increasing threat. They too are vulnerable to scams, but equally worryingly fraudsters also look to vulnerable young people…
December 2018 edition
Welcome to the second edition of Trust, our Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders. We launched the journal at the inaugural conference of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) on 11th October, and we were delighted that the Rt Hon Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education made the opening…
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Reminding ourselves of our core purpose in education is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in building a strong and resilient school system. For multi-academy trusts in particular, having and restating a core purpose or goal is vital, as it helps bind schools together to improve education for even…
I wanted to join Ambition School Leadership and the Institute for Teaching (IfT) for the opportunity to work alongside people I trust and respect. Also because the organisation is a highly effective charity that places improving the life chances of disadvantaged young people at its core. Ambition and the IfT…
I am lucky enough that each working day, I get to drive throughout the whole of Teesside, Yorkshire, the Humber region and the East Midlands, beautiful places both to live and work. In doing this, I often find myself driving down the A1 on my way to Doncaster or even…
The challenge the sector faces in teacher recruitment and retention needs little introduction; increasing pupil numbers, fewer teachers joining the profession, and more teachers leaving. Early career teacher retention in particular is becoming progressively worse, with a quarter of new teachers now leaving the profession within three years (Worth, 2018).…
One of my favourite phrases in leadership is when the CEO of an organisation brushes away the ‘executive’ part of their job title and replaces it with ‘learner’. This happens in industry, and, of course, in education. Successfully shifting from being the expert to the chief learner requires a change…
Since its earliest days, the academy movement has provoked fierce debate on the merits of centralisation. For some schools, a centralised management model signals a loss of autonomy – something that flies in the face of the academy ethos with its promises of greater freedoms. However, few would deny that…
A New Year brings with it renewed vigour for the months ahead and that vigour is going to be needed as 2019 is again going to be a busy year for schools. Just three of the forthcoming challenges include the thorny issue of Brexit for staff, the added safeguarding focus…
October 2018 edition
Welcome to the first edition of our Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders. We call it ‘Trust’. We aim for Trust to be a regular, digital, periodical for our new organisation, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST, formerly FASNA) and for our wholly owned subsidiary, National Teacher Accreditation (NTA, formerly…
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Over the past decade, academies have become a powerful force in education reform. With half of our children and young people in England educated in the academy system, it is now time to…
I’ve been around from the beginning of the academy movement. Academies have seen a huge transformation of the system.
A new school year presents us with the perfect opportunity to set out priorities and build on existing developments…
“Can I borrow your school field please?” That question led to a life in governance locally, regionally and nationally. The trade-off for using the school field was…
NQT induction is an important part of the life of a school. Getting this right can play a major part in retention of staff and, having a reputation for a high standard of induction for new teachers…
MATs are still new, complex and evolving in the education sector, which means leaders can often find themselves reacting to what is happening around them…
“Governance” is not a word or topic that typically sets the pulse racing. However, we all know that effective governance practice is critical to the success of your trust
In March 2016, the Trust Board of Westbourne Primary School, a two form entry academy in the London Borough of Sutton, agreed to consult on proposals to expand the school…