As the Confederation of School Trusts’ national school trust report highlights, the challenges facing trusts nationally are universal. Finance, attendance, lack of SEND provision and recruitment and retention are key themes affecting schools and trusts – and the interactions between them.
Operating in such a tough landscape, many maintained schools already delivering high-quality education are looking at how they can future-proof their provision and sustain their excellent offer.
Joining a trust can seem like a silver bullet to achieving this sustainability, with the promise of efficient central services, economies of scale, access to more resources and two-way sharing of expertise.
But what happens if a school goes through the extensive process of joining a trust, only to realise that they’ve got it wrong? What if the fit isn’t right after all?
To mitigate this risk, our organisations have just embarked on a journey to explore the benefits of associate membership. The new model is designed to give us both the opportunity to work together for a year initially.
This is enabling Manor Mead and Walton Leigh schools to fully understand the culture, vision and operational ways of London South East Academies Trust. Conversely, it allows the trust evaluate the potential impact of bringing these schools into our family.
There are broader benefits too, over the short and longer term, and not just for our organisations but potentially system-wide.
Strengthening outcomes
Associate membership will provide the opportunity to share expertise and see the mutual benefits of coming together more formally in the future. This process has already started with Manor Mead School set to work with an external adviser from the trust’s school improvement team on a key curriculum area this term.
This systems-leadership approach provides an opportunity to strengthen teaching and learning on both sides, as well as addressing specific challenges like curriculum development, attendance and behaviour.
We are confident that working together like this will have a positive impact on staff development and pupil outcomes, whether associate membership leads to full membership or not.
CPD opportunities
Recruitment and retention continues to be a challenge, especially in specialist provisions. Professional growth for people at all levels is fundamental to attracting and retaining great staff, as well as improving the quality of teaching and leadership.
Through our partnership, staff at Manor Mead and Walton Leigh gain access to the trust’s extensive CPD programmes and can explore different educational settings within a more diverse network of schools.
By further expanding the trust’s network of SEND schools, more opportunities will also be available for current staff to develop skills in these very specialist settings. One school in the federation is already planning to access the trust-delivered ‘outstanding teacher’ programme.
Financial resilience
There is a clear and obvious financial rationale for schools to join trusts, especially at a time when funding is such a challenge, and particularly in terms of SEND provision.
Associate membership offers excellent opportunities to see the benefits of resource sharing. Through our partnership, Manor Mead and Walton Leigh schools will be able to trial shared procurement services, explore economies of scale and dip into the trust’s central services, like finance, HR and IT.
This will allow the federation to look at the business side in more detail and try services before committing to join the trust. In turn, the trust will be able to refine its service model, ensuring we can scale efficiently while helping our associate schools achieve greater financial resilience.
Establishing our associate membership partnership has certainly taken time and commitment on both sides. But with careful preparation and a clear plan across the year, both organisations have the opportunity to get to know each other, establish shared values and vision, and build towards a formal, long-term partnership.
Although this process may extend the timeline of a transfer, it will ensure we are aligned in our ambitions, vision and goals, as well as establishing a commonality in ethos.
Ultimately, this approach is providing us both with a flexible way to test compatibility. And in these challenging times for schools, it’s a great way to share the benefits of trust membership without the risks of a rushed decision.
It’s easier to just wise up and accept that they are all terribly managed with money flowing to the Trust execs and the staff treated poorly with unreasonable demands by an army of subject directors, so called specialists and teaching an learning bores who wouldn’t dare stand for what they impose on and the manner in which they execute their policies when they were in the classroom actually teaching.