Confederation of School Trusts

Applications close next week on Monday 7 April at midday for our Interim Partnerships Executive role. To find out more and apply, please visit our website: https://lnkd.in/eWZvvvCn

We want to hear about the work your trust has been doing for a new project we're working on, looking at SEND: Inclusion in practice. Alongside Tom Rees, Ambition Institute and a number of trusts, we are developing a sector-led initiative to gather practical examples of successful approaches to inclusion in mainstream education. The project will: ⭐ Collect and share evidence-based strategies that can be replicated across diverse settings ⭐ Create a resource hub to build system-wide capability in inclusive practice ⭐ Surface best practice in breaking down barriers to participation and learning for all children We are now inviting teachers, school and trust leaders, and those involved in delivering education to contribute their experiences and insights through out open submission process. Over the coming months, your examples will help us to develop actionable insights to support schools across the country. Find out more and submit your experiences now: https://lnkd.in/dYUgqizV

📢 Calling members of our People and culture professional community Clive Bane, Director at B3sixty, and Emma Hughes, Partner & Head of HR Services at Browne Jacobson Legal & HR for Education, are joining us to lead an agile seminar on building relational trusts and internal disputes. This session will explore how trust-based cultures enhance teacher recruitment, retention and school effectiveness. Clive will offer insights from multiple sectors, while Emma will focus on school trusts, covering dispute prevention and maintaining high trust levels. Discussions throughout the session will highlight the key questions HR leaders must ask to align policies with trust, accountability, clarity and transparency. It will draw on evidence-based insights from research and illustrate through practical strategies and takeaway resources the role of leadership, culture, climate and structure in building trust. CST members can join this session via our community platform. Not yet a member of our People and culture professional community? Register via our website to access our unique knowledge-building networks where you can connect with colleagues, hear from sector experts and access a range of role-specific resources: https://lnkd.in/dtrK2vPj

📣 As part of AI month, we’re excited to launch our brand new eBook in partnership with Confederation of School Trusts. Hear from Harbour Learning Trust, Haberdashers’ Borough Academy, TKAT and our very own Head of AI on how they’re using AI to drive operational excellence. From streamlining project management and trust-wide communications, through to creating equal opportunities for students through AI analysis, you’ll learn how these four organisations are adopting AI into their ways of working. Download your free copy: https://hubs.li/Q03dQC-J0 #AI #OperationalExcellence #Arbor

🔎Trust case study: Balancing direct teaching and structure with play in the curriculum At our Early Years Summit in May, Katharine Young and Katherine Roberts from Elmhurst Primary School, New Vision Trust, will share their approach to early years education, which has the goal of an effective balance of direct teaching and formal routines, and intentional play-based learning at its heart. They will discuss how they addressed some of the challenges of working in a significantly disadvantaged area with high numbers of pupils with English as an additional language (EAL). They will also share their model for developing early language through meaningful interactions and to successfully embedding reading and maths mastery from an early age. Browse our summit speakers: https://lnkd.in/eZQn4GsH Join us to hear from a wide range of sector experts as we explore our theme, excellence in early years education. CST members can book now: https://lnkd.in/gPzU_4qW

We are pleased to announce that bookings for CST’s Data and Insights Conference 2025 are now open. This year’s theme the coming wave – preparing together, will explore the powerful new technology which is forcing us to rethink our approach to data collection and insight, information governance, and our software and data ecosystems. The conference will bring together trust leaders and expert providers to delve into these areas of change, and the opportunities there are for trusts to collaborate on how to respond. Speakers joining us include Lauren Thorpe (Chief Transformation Officer, UNITED LEARNING TRUST), Matt Woodruff (Founder and CEO, Open Education AI), Jonny Wathen (CIO and Founding Director, TransforMATive) and more. Browse our speakers: https://lnkd.in/etDZdQWc Topics that will be discussed include: 💡 Opportunities and risks of AI in education – understanding how AI is shaping school trusts and the potential challenges it presents. 💡 Building strong data foundations – exploring strategies trusts are using to enhance data maturity, governance, and management. 💡 The evolving approach to school performance – discussing how performance measurement is changing and what it means for trusts. 💡 Using broader data sets for accountability and assessment – exploring how trusts are responding to more widely available education data. Join us Thursday 19 June in Birmingham, CST members can book their place now: https://lnkd.in/eWpY6epH #CSTData

We've added a new case study to our schoolimprovementhub.org ahead of next week's CST School Improvement Conference. The study looks at how WISE Academies grows culture and leadership across their trust. “People are incredibly important to us,” says Zoe Carr, CEO of WISE. “Each person is crucial to our success. We’re one team.” This people-driven culture underpins WISE Academies’ approach to school improvement. To make this culture tangible, WISE gives all staff members its Little Purple Book. The book outlines the trust’s values, and specific behaviours associated with each value, as well as the way that WISE staff should interact with pupils, parents and the outside world. WISE has also changed the way it appraises staff, moving away from performance-related pay towards a model focusing on staff improvement – “It’s about improving, not proving,” Ms Carr says. The Purple Book is part of this process, helping staff talk about how to inspire success. To ensure staff feel valued – particularly in a retention crisis – WISE has boxes for staff-appreciation notes in every school. At the end of term, all appreciation notes are read out one by one, and staff have a buffet lunch. The WISE people and culture team helps employees identify potential for career progression, emphasising that there is no single career path. Where no relevant opportunities for promotion yet exist, they create “aspiring” positions and secondments to promote development. All our case studies are here: https://lnkd.in/ebGuMC5p Our conceptual model for trust-led improvement provides a shared language and set of concepts, so we can compare the differing ways trusts do school improvement. #SchoolImprovement

Just like Bilbo setting off from the Shire, the interim report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review treads a careful path – and rightly so, says CST Deputy Chief Executive Steve Rollett in our latest blog. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eudgBt5W

We are recruiting for an Interim Partnerships Executive who will play a key role in developing CST’s commercial relationships. Visit our website to find out more and apply: https://lnkd.in/eWZvvvCn Applications close on Monday 7 April.

Are you looking for professional development opportunities next term? We have a number of CST masterclasses starting in early May ⬇️ Our risk assurance masterclass starts on Tuesday 6 May and is led by colleagues from RSM. This three-part course will guide you through the key concepts and core principles of risk management. You will gain the skills needed to take a strategic approach to risk management in your #schooltrust and receive real assurance that risks are being mitigated. Find out more and book now: https://lnkd.in/eC5a6Qbq Starting on Wednesday 7 May is our designing central and shared services masterclass, which offers practical, expert guidance on how to approach the design and set up of efficient and effective services in a school trust. This expert-led course will develop your understanding of shared service design in the wider context and ongoing evolution and revolution in trust growth. Book your place: https://lnkd.in/ep4yUQuv Our three-part crisis communications masterclass is led by experts PLMR, will give delegates the confidence and knowledge to meet crises head on. This course will help you identify key reputational risks for your trust and plan appropriate strategies to respond. Using practical examples and case studies, the course will explore the importance of both internal and external stakeholder management and getting your messaging and communication channels right. This course starts on Thursday 8 May, book now on our website: https://lnkd.in/eWvk7GK6