The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders
The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders
October 2019 edition
Welcome to the first edition of Trust for the new 2019/20 academic year. I am pleased to provide my synopsis of the range of topical subjects covered in this issue. In her lead article, Leora Cruddas, CEO of CST, builds on her previous Trust article ‘Changing the Story’ to counter…
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Earlier this year, I was delighted to give evidence to the UPP Foundation Civic University Commission. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to think hard about the civic role of universities and the role they play in their localities by making a strategic contribution to the greater social…
The growth of multi-academy trusts provides the opportunity for organisational added value. However it presents too, the risk of non-value-adding bureaucracy and control. This is a challenge faced by multi-unit organisations whether they are businesses, charities or public bodies. There are lessons to be learnt across all sectors. Firstly, in…
So….I used to be responsible for evaluation in Ofsted. I’ll just get that out there before I say any more as it is relevant to virtually everything that comes next. But I’d like to think I would say the same even if I hadn’t. Now that I am in Ormiston…
Reflecting on the word ‘Trust’ – the ‘T’ of our Multi Academy or Single Academy Trust designation – centres our thinking on the importance of our relationships with one another, and the extent to which they reflect our vision and values. Trust is created between institutions, teams, individuals and children,…
In 2010, the coalition Government invited parents, teachers, businesses, charities and existing schools to establish new schools across the country, and the free school programme was born. Since 2009, NSN (New schools Network), the organisation that I run, has sought to empower local groups to demand something different and better…
Teaching is stimulating. You use your brain in numerous ways: as an academic, a communicator, a parent and an actor. Teaching makes your synapses fizz and crackle like a sparkler. Those at the beginning of this exciting career have a lot of information to absorb: in addition to knowledge of…
Online technology in education is evolving, with cloud-based applications, social media, and great educational resources online all becoming commonplace in the classroom. As a result staff and students have access to a much greater range of knowledge but they are also more exposed to online threats. Earlier this year RM…
Like every organisation, school trusts are made up of lots of different teams. Whilst the board and the executive are teams within their own right, they also jointly make up an incredibly important team. In this article, I briefly explore two key areas where it is important for the board…
July 2019 edition
Welcome to the July edition of Trust. I am pleased to provide my synopsis of the range of subjects covered in this issue. As we approach the end of the first academic year in which CST has been operating as the Sector Body for School Trusts, in her lead article,…
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We launched the Confederation of School Trusts on 11 October 2018. By this edition of Trust, we are thirty-eight weeks old and I thought it would be a good time to take stock of what we have achieved over this period. Let’s start with our mission – to support our…
In June 2019, I was delighted to lead alongside Leora Cruddas, the CEO of the Confederation of School Trusts, (CST) a short series of roadshows with CEOs of Multi Academy Trusts that focused upon the ‘white paper’ that CST have published called the “Future Shape of the School System in…
It’s good timing to be writing for Trust as new teachers are very much on my mind right now. I have recently started chairing the DfE expert group that has been asked to help develop guidance for ITE providers as to how to amend their curricula so that they align…
Since multi-academy trusts were created, or school trusts as we would now know them, there has been much discussion about what it is that great MATs do that transform standards and the quality of teaching and learning in schools. In 2017 a group of trust CEOs in the South West…
How do people react when you tell them you work in teaching? Do they look at you with respect and admiration, celebrating your work to benefit the future of young people and society? Or do they offer a look of sympathy for the endless pressures that are associated with being…
At the Spring CST conference on Effective, Accountable and Ethical Governance I was asked for the one piece of advice I would give to a new trustee. My answer was to invest in effective induction. I went on to say that I meant not just effective induction of trustees but…
Academy trusts’ financial circumstances are becoming more challenging and increasing numbers are now seen to be at risk of insolvency. With the fall in free reserves, and an increase of the reported number of academies running at a deficit, it is important that trustees are aware of the tipping points…
Social Value UK defines social value as “the quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives”. Social value is a concept that addresses the benefits to the wider community, as well as the non-financial impact of businesses, such as the wellbeing of…
May 2019 edition
Welcome to the May edition of Trust. I am pleased to provide my synopsis of the topics covered in this issue. In her lead article, Leora Cruddas, CEO of CST, shares her reflections on autonomy. She considers what we understand by autonomy, where autonomy should sit and whose interests’ autonomy…
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The term ‘autonomy’ is a highly contested and misunderstood concept. The whole question of the practice of autonomy needs more careful thought and analysis. What do we understand by autonomy? Where should autonomy sit? Whose interests does autonomy serve? A loss of freedom or interdependence? Recently, there has been a…
Every trust executive needs to prioritise taking care of their teachers and leaders. The evidence on exit rates shows that we cannot afford not to do so. Earlier this year, the Department for Education’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy articulated the complex challenges we face to attract and keep talented educators…
There are growing numbers of people – teachers, parents, students, employers – who believe that our current education system and the debate around it is too narrow, too small, too introspective and ultimately not living up to the vision needed for the challenges the country faces. It is clear what…
You will not have missed the continuing dialogue concerning challenges in school funding. Impassioned reactions of education leaders and the concerned public into the state of school funding have maintained prominence for some time. Education conferences would have you believing that the education world is in melt-down! £87.2bn is not…
Chairs of multi academy trusts (MATs) are spending an average of fifty days per year – or approximately one day a week – carrying out the role, recent new research from the National Governance Association (NGA) revealed. This is well above the twenty days per year which practice from the charity sector…
There is so much that has been written on the subject of clarity of purpose and vision and how that should shape and drive everything done in an organisation to optimise organisational results. Without a clear vision and purpose how are the people in an organisation able to see the…
For Multi Academy Trusts, the matter of accountability and transparency remains a growing concern with parents calling for greater clarity on decision-making processes and lines of responsibility. In 2018, Parentkind research found that nearly nine out of 10 parents want to play an active role in their child’s education, with…
Once upon a time, schools were schools. Some of them were good, some of them less so. But they were all schools – and they were all called schools, whether they were grant maintained, comprehensive or foundation. Then the Labour Government of Tony Blair conjured up academies, failing schools taken…