Now that we are adjusting to the new normal, this edition of Trust builds on the last by offering examples of approaches to strategic planning to mitigate the considerable challenges facing us in the new academic year. There is also a strong theme about the importance of the sector seizing the day and taking the unique opportunity the pandemic has presented to play its part in achieving both real educational and wider societal positive change.
Read moreWe have seen a plethora of articles and blogs written over the past few months, regarding all aspects of education. Many have called for fundamental and...
Read moreWe know we need to be attracting great people into the teaching profession, and that we want to retain and develop that talent. This was true well before...
Read moreI was both pleased and a bit embarrassed to be recognised in the last edition of Trust as someone that had shown ethical leadership during this time of...
Read moreSince March, schools have risen swiftly to extraordinary challenges, including logistical, cultural and emotional challenges – to support pupils and...
Read moreAs the lockdown eases and we continue to refine our Trust’s strategic approach in readiness for the new academic year, being agile and confident in response...
Read moreEmbark Federation is an Education Charitable Trust that serves 3,000 children and their families. Formed in January 2019, it now works with 9 schools,...
Read moreWe have been talking a lot recently, about the role(s) schools have been playing throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the role they could – and...
Read moreFor the last nine years I have had the huge privilege of serving as Chair of the L.E.A.D Academy Trust and this article offers a few reflections on that...
Read moreIn January 2020 the talk around teachers’ salaries focused heavily on the government’s proposal of a pay increase for all teachers, including a suggested...
Read moreIt would be fair to say that Covid-19 has turned education on its head.
Read moreIn this edition of Trust, as you would anticipate, we continue to focus on the impact and longer-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our sec...
Read moreWe have seen some magnificent examples of civic leadership exercised by local authorities, schools and trusts during COVID-19 – leaders acting with professional...
Read moreWe often stretch metaphors at our peril. When telling the story of Oak National Academy, I think it’s worth the risk. Often in education we talk about...
Read moreCOVID-19 has brought so many different challenges in so many shapes and levels of stress for everyone working in the education sector. Those who are about...
Read moreSchool closure due to COVID-19 has reduced the training time for those on ITT courses by over one third. Not surprisingly, feedback is suggesting that...
Read moreThe question of how we rebuild our economy, infrastructure and continue to work towards a fair and equitable society following the COVID-19 pandemic must...
Read more"Allow me to encourage you to reflect on the impact you have had at this time.”
Read moreThe coronavirus crisis has disrupted our lives but, as the dust settles, it presents a golden opportunity to rethink and reframe our approach to professional...
Read moreWe find ourselves in unprecedented times. Our schools have risen superbly to the occasion and are doing a remarkable job in carrying on the education of...
Read moreRecently I wrote an article in TES about the path from crisis to recovery in the COVID-19 response. In this article, I talked about the need to build resilience...
Read moreMarch 2020 will be seen as a watershed moment for education in this country. It was the moment that concerns about public exams, the new inspection framework...
Read moreI want to start by expressing sincere gratitude to everyone working in education at the moment, in all capacities; you are supporting our young people...
Read moreLife in a school or trust is always busy and full of challenges but a global pandemic has brought new problems for schools to wrestle with.
Read moreWhen I was asked to write this piece, the world was a different place. The original article that I had written was about how we were working across REAch2...
Read moreAs part of our COVID-19 resilience and recovery planning it is important to give consideration to the other global threat we face, that of the climate...
Read moreWith Covid-19 declared a global pandemic, school trusts need to be prepared for homeworking. Organisations where agile working is the norm will already...
Read moreWelcome to the new edition of Trust. With the ever present backdrop of some of the key challenges facing the sector, not least the issue of teacher recruitment...
Read moreIn the last edition of Trust, I wrote about school trusts as an insurgent mission. This is a bold mission, requiring spikiness and limitless horizons....
Read moreIn Robert MacFarlane’s ‘Mountain of the Minds’, he tells the story of cartography through the ages. MacFarlane describes how explorers were able...
Read moreDespite all the turbulence around us with the election, Brexit, new Ofsted framework, education funding and so on, as we start the new year one issue remains...
Read moreOne of the most important challenges facing any school leader is deciding how best to create working conditions that maximise staff motivation to perform...
Read moreSince the publication of Making Data Work (the DfE Workload Advisory Group’s report on data use and workload) I have been invited in to explore workload...
Read moreSchool trusts are facing unprecedented reputational challenges in a post truth world. Whilst the requirement for schools to have an online presence is...
Read moreTrust boards discover they have a leadership vacancy in one of two ways. But whether planned or unexpected, it’s a supremely valuable moment, where the...
Read more"Good leaders change organisations; great leaders change people.” (Hoerr, 2005)
Read moreWelcome to the new edition of Trust. I am pleased to provide my synopsis of the range of topical subjects covered in this issue.
Read moreThe government continues to find it challenging to meet its recruitment targets for teachers – not least in shortage subjects. Meanwhile, a significant...
Read moreIn their excellent book, The Founder’s Mentality, Zook and Allen talk about the insurgent mission as one of the key features of the founders of successful...
Read moreAt the beginning of the original Academies Programme many curious school leaders looked across the Atlantic to learn from the US Charter schools movement,...
Read moreDo you know how well your school trust is positioned to achieve its goals or what elements influence its ability to implement change successfully?
Read moreThe premise of Patrick Lencioni’s excellent book, The Advantage, is that the single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organisational health....
Read moreTo put this in some context: academisation is still relatively young. And in this short space of time, those who academised have had to formalise collaboration...
Read moreIn a period of political uncertainty, many trusts find themselves facing forceful intervention by the DfE when one of their academies gets into trouble....
Read moreAs education leaders, but also as parents, I think we can all agree that reading is at the heart of all learning. So I found it encouraging that, since...
Read moreWelcome 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...
Read moreEarlier 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...
Read moreThe growth of multi-academy trusts provides the opportunity for organisational added value. However it presents too, the risk of non-value-adding bureaucracy...
Read moreSo….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...
Read moreReflecting on the word ‘Trust’ – the ‘T’ of our Multi Academy or Single Academy Trust designation – centres our thinking on the importance...
Read moreIn 2010, the coalition Government invited parents, teachers, businesses, charities and existing schools to establish new schools across the country, and...
Read moreTeaching is stimulating. You use your brain in numerous ways: as an academic, a communicator, a parent and an actor. Teaching makes your synapses fizz...
Read moreOnline technology in education is evolving, with cloud-based applications, social media, and great educational resources online all becoming commonplace...
Read moreLike 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...
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