Staying ahead of the game
– how to make the right
decision for your school
Leora Cruddas
ASCL Director of Policy
@LeoraCruddas
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The world of Whitehall and policymaking – Brave new Wonderland
• A White Paper promising compulsory
academisation
• An announcement that looked like a
climb-down (at first but was in fact a
political three-card trick)
• A referendum …
• A Green Paper – which umm, isn’t a
Green Paper…
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The time has come", the Walrus
said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and
sealing wax —
Of cabbages — and Kings —
And why the Sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings."
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Calm, steadfast, sure-footed leadership is what is needed now
“It will take some time for the dust to settle [after the referendum] and for
us to have a clear picture of the impact on our education system.
Young people only get one chance to go through their school and college
career and a successful education system is essential for the future
economic and social wellbeing of our country. As school and college
leaders, we must take the lead and speak and act on behalf of our pupils
and the teaching profession.”
Malcolm Trobe CBE, Interim General Secretary
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ASCL’s “White Paper”
Our blueprint sets out a vision for our
education system …a system in which allchildren and
young people achieve.
This will involve acts of imagination,
courage and collective action.
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Structure
1. What are we being asked to do?
2. Why?
3. How many schools have already done
this?
4. What can we learn about what good
looks like?
5. How will performance be measured?
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1. White or Green?
What are we being asked to do?
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The academy system is now sufficiently
mature to take a step that wouldn’t have been
possible in 2010. This white paper sets out
how, by the end of 2020, all remaining
maintained schools will be academies or in
the process of conversion.
We will take new powers to direct schools to
become academies in local authority areas
which are underperforming or where the local
authority no longer has capacity to maintain its
schools; or where schools have not started the
process of becoming an academy by 2020.
This process will be complete by the end of
2022, by which point local authorities will no
longer maintain any schools, so they can focus
on delivering their core functions.
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1. What are we being asked
to do?
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did
What does this mean?
• The Government has decided that it is not necessary to bring
legislation to bring about blanket conversion of all schools to
achieve this goal.
• BUT Nicky Morgan has reaffirmed her commitment to every
school becoming an academy by 2022
• She will bring forward legislation to create new powers to
convert all schools in underperforming or unviable local
authorities
The Queen’s speech: “a bill will be brought forward to lay
foundations for educational excellence in all schools, giving
every child the best start in life.”
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In what circumstances?
Conversion of all schools within a local authority triggered
in two specific circumstances
• Firstly where it is clear that the local authority can no longer
viably support its remaining schools because a critical mass
of schools in that area has converted. Under this mechanism
a local authority will also be able to request the Department
for Education converts all of its remaining schools.
• Secondly where the local authority consistently fails to meet
a minimum performance threshold across its schools,
demonstrating an inability to bring about meaningful school
improvement.
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U-turn or political three-card trick?
“The best u-turns are the ones that
allow you to do what you wanted to
while reducing the noise.”
Sam Freedman
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Education for All Bill – deceased!
“Our ambition remains that all schools should
benefit from the freedom and autonomy that
academy status brings. Our focus, however, is
on building capacity in the system and
encouraging schools to convert voluntarily. No
changes to legislation are required for these
purposes and therefore we do not require
wider education legislation in this session to
make progress on our ambitious education
agenda.”
Extract from the written Ministerial Statement
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Non sequiturs and nonsense verse:
• Reforms to encourage “high
performing institutions –
independent schools, higher
education institutions,
selective and faith schools – to
help improve the quality of
school place in the
mainstream sector”
• Hmmm – 86% of state schools
are good or outstanding
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A nice, knockdown argument…
• May wants to focus on "just managing" families
rather than the very poorest.
• The problem with targeting these families is that there's a lot of
them. Essentially the entire bottom half of the income distribution.
• In large swathes of the country the majority of families are "just
managing".
• So you can't target this group centrally with something like a pupil
premium because it's too big...
• And you can't ask schools to target them either because there are
too many. In lots of schools it's basically everyone.
• Only way to help the "just managing" is to focus on excellence
across the system through high quality curriculum, assessment,
good teachers and leaders (Courtesy of Sam Freedman)
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Justine Greening @
Education Select Cttee
• The government will continue to pursue all-out
academisation, but its main drive now is to focus on
“underperforming” schools.
• She said: “I do want to see all schools over time become
academies but I think our focus has got to be on the schools
who are struggling and not doing well enough for children at the
moment…
• “Our hope and expectation is that schools will want to steadily
take advantage of the benefits and advantages that academies
can bring, but our focus will be on those schools where we feel
that standards need to be raised.”
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Lest we are in doubt…
• Independent schools: with capacity and capability, sponsor
academies or set up new free schools in the state sector
• Universities: as a condition of charging higher tuition fees,
establish a new school in the state system or sponsor an
academy
• Grammar schools: as a condition to expanding, establish a
new non-selective secondary school or primary feeder,
partner with an existing non-selective school within a MAT or
sponsor a currently underperforming non-selective academy
• Faith schools: consider setting up mixed-faith MAT including
becoming a sponsor for underperforming non-faith schools
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The wrong question:
• “Should my school become an academy or form
a MAT?”
The right question:
• “How can my school best collaborate with others
in a strong and resilient structure to ensure that
each child is a powerful learner and that adults
have the opportunities to learn and develop as
teachers and leaders?”
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The mind-set that underpins
future leadership thinking
• Future-focused: scan the horizon and look ahead,
prepare and anticipate change
• System-focused: lead the system and lead at scale
• Impact-focused: lead on the basis of the best available
evidence
Be bold enough to embrace – and even define - the future
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“The best way to predict the
future is to create it.”
Abraham Lincoln
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2. Why?
(And what is the evidence?)
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Is there evidence that
academies improve pupil
outcomes?
“Current evidence does not allow us to
draw conclusions on whether academies
in themselves are a positive force for
change.”
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What about formal partnerships?
“School partnerships and cooperation have
become an increasingly important part of a
self-improving or school-led system. We
believe that such collaboration has great
potential to continue driving improvement.”
“87% of headteachers and 83% of chairs of
governors describe partnership with other
schools as ‘critical to improving outcomes
for students’.”
“We believe that school partnerships with
clear lines of accountability and some
element of obligation are more likely to be
successful.”
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“The primary sector benefits more from
collaborative structures.”
“Primary heads told us that, whilst becoming an
academy had improved their practice and their
school, this was primarily because of the
advantages generated by the collaborative
framework of a multi-academy trust.”
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The power of the group
Chapman et al (2011) studied the impact of ‘federation’ on student outcomes. This
study uses the term ‘federation’ to mean two or more schools in a hard
accountability structure. It includes ‘academy federations’ i.e. multi-academy trusts.
The findings are as follows:
• Performance and academy federations have a positive impact on student
outcomes. However, there is a time lag of two to four years between formation
of the federation and when their performance overtakes their non-federated
counterparts. Secondary school federations outperform collaboratives.
• Secondary federations with executive leadership outperform federations with
traditional leadership structures (one headteacher leading one school).
• Becoming a federation has an economic impact on schools. By definition, the
size of a federation requires a larger budget than for an individual school.
However, the increased costs are offset by greater resources and capacity for
change.
• Federal structures promote opportunities for professional learning and
collaboration.
Chapman, Muijs, and MacAllister, 2011, A study of the impact of school federation
on student outcomes, NCSL.
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“There continues to be very significant variation in outcomes for
disadvantaged pupils, both between and within chains
This year we identified seven out of 39 chains that are performing
significantly above the national average for all mainstream schools
(maintained and academies), for their disadvantaged pupils.
Around half (18 out of 39) are improving faster than the
national average.”
Those chains that were most successful with disadvantaged pupils
also tended to be successful with their more affluent pupils, while
less successful chains tended to have poor results for both groups
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Critical success factors in collaboration
• The purpose of collaboration must
be to improve outcomes for all
• Building on this, every partnership
must be founded on a clearly
articulated shared moral purpose
• If we accept this, then we should
also see that transparency, trust
and honesty are crucial and a
professional obligation
• Secure accountability from the
inside out
Michael Fullan and Steve Munby
Inside-out and downside up
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The wrong question:
• “Do academies automatically improve outcomes
for pupils?”
The right question:
• “How can my school best collaborate with
others in a strong and resilient structure to lead
the system on the basis of the best available
evidence, improve outcomes for all pupils and
create local solutions?
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A multi-academy trust is in the end just a legal
vehicle.
Fill it with your own beliefs, values, principles and
moral purpose. This is an opportunity to create the
education system at local level that you believe
will be best for the children and communities you
serve.
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Make your trust this kind of trust…
“There is no trust more sacred than
the one the world holds with
children."
Kofi Annan
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3. How many schools have
already done this?
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Type of academy breakdown
Converters
Sponsored and Fast Track
Sponsored (including
Intermediate academies)
Free schools
(includes special and alternative
provision)
Studio schools
UTCs
Total
Others including CTCs
Total number of academies
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Cumulative total as Cumulative total
at Sept 2015
as at Sept 2016
3410
3977
1513
1694
302
344
32
38
5295
3
5298
36
49
6100
3
6103
Type of academy breakdown
Cumulative
Cumulative
total as at Sept total as at
2015
Sept 2016
All through
140
156
Primary
2878
3505
Secondary
2103
2229
Special
177
213
Total number of academies
5298
6103
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Trust breakdown
(Includes data up to end Aug 2016)
Number
MATs with 1-5 academies
865
MATs with 6-10 academies
120
MATs with 11-20 academies
32
MATs with 21-30 academies
9
MATs with 31+ academies
10
Total number MATs
1036
Number of SATs
1857
Total number of trusts
2893
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Asymptotic Atrophy?
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4. What does good look like?
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“The highest performing academy
chains in this country have a clear vision
and a distinct model of teaching. I would
encourage all new academy chains not
to see themselves only in terms of being
effective administrators, or competent
managers. They should also be bound
by a philosophical and pedagogical
vision."
Nick Gibb, Minister of State for
Education
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Characteristics of high performing MATs




There is a well-communicated strategic vision and plan
that moves seamlessly from implementation into impact
There is a clear accountability framework for the
performance of the trust that all staff understand
There are clear quality assurance systems in place to
improve consistency and performance
There is a clear delegated framework for governance at
trust board and local governing body level that makes the
responsibilities of both the board and any local governing
bodies explicit
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• There is a trust-wide school improvement strategy
that recognises the different interventions needed at
different stages of the improvement journey that a
school undertakes
• There is a systematic programme of school to
school support that is focused on the need of
individual academies
• There is evidence of skilled management of trust risk
indicators
• There is a clear succession plan for the key posts
within the MAT
• There is a trust-wide commitment to making a
contribution to local, regional and national educational
networks beyond the MAT.
(A self-assessment tool developed by Sir David Carter)
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In addition, ASCL suggests:
For your group:
• Articulate your shared moral purpose – the values that
will underpin your strategic vision and plan;
• Design your curriculum and assessment;
• Create environments for collaborative professional
learning and joint practice development;
• Decide on your local solutions to teacher supply;
• Design leadership development opportunities;
• Decide how you will use data to be accountable to
parents and communities you serve.
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DfE advice to organisations setting up or
growing MATs, based on emerging evidence
Growth and
development
Be aware of key transition points. Particularly the phase from 5-10
academies when there is a need to develop skills and infrastructure.
Grow carefully, understanding your own capacity and the challenges
and risks you take on – this might mean steady growth followed by a
spurt.
Portfolio of
schools
It’s advisable to have a mixed portfolio of schools – specifically a
balance of sponsored and converter projects. Chains with exclusively
primaries also appear to find it tougher – although some primary
specialists are thriving.
When planning growth think consistently in terms of geography, plan
your development in terms of clusters and understand the risks of
adding isolated schools to your chain.
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People and
leadership
CEOs of high performing chains tend to be strong, ambitious and
determined leaders with clear moral purpose – appetite to grow is
healthy but focus on delivering great outcomes for the schools you
have first.
Make sure your vision and purpose is well understood throughout
your organisation – branding can be a tool but it is collective ethos
that counts.
Having individuals with strong commercial skills at board level is
crucial, and the importance of these skills increases when chains
grow beyond 4-5.
Nurture leadership internally and make the most of cross-chain CPD
and progression opportunities. High performers are much more likely
to do this.
As you grow beyond 5, a full time financial director will be essential
and you may need to recruit this person externally.
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Governance
and finance
Clear accountability and governance are vital. Small boards are more
likely to be successful and strong board-school level governance
links are healthy.
Be proactive in finding innovative ways to achieve efficiencies.
Formulate your business model carefully – and look at what others
have done. There is no single formula for top-slice and central
services.
Strong financial planning is vital. If you have very strong school
improvement and nothing goes wrong you may be lucky for a while
but cannot rely on this.
School
improvement
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It is your choice on how prescriptive to be with schools in your chain
that are performing well – but take swift and assertive action with
failing schools.
HMCI: high performing
multi-academy trusts
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
an ability to recruit and retain powerful and authoritative executive
leaders, with a clear vision for bringing about higher standards
a well-planned, broad and balanced curriculum that equips pupils with
a strong command of the basics of English and mathematics, as well
as the confidence, ambition and team-work skills to succeed in later life
a commitment to provide a high-quality education for all pupils, in a
calm and scholarly atmosphere
investment in professional development of teachers and the sharing of
knowledge and expertise across a strong network of constituent
schools
a high priority given to initial teacher training and leadership
development to secure a pipeline of future talent
clear frameworks of governance, accountability and delegation
effective use of assessment information to identify, escalate and tackle
problems quickly
a cautious and considered approach to expansion
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5. How will performance be
measured?
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MAT performance tables
• Measure at key stage 4 was published last year, which
covered MATs with at least five schools with results at key
stage 4. This year performance tables cover MATs with at
least three schools with results at key stage 4, as well as
publishing a measure at key stage 2 for the first time.
• DfE has changed the presentation of the tables to be more
consistent with how data on the new progress 8 measure at
key stage 4 is published on the department’s performance
table website.
• Further changes to the accountability measures are planned
in 2015/16 and these tables will reflect those changes in
future years.
(July 2016)
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But…
• The overall performance of MATs has many dimensions
including pupil outcomes, financial management, quality of
leadership, value for money, workforce management and
capacity to expand. Performance can also be impacted by a
number of contextual factors including, for example, start
point and pupil make up.
• No single measure is ever likely to capture every element
of performance or impact.
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Inspection of MATs
• The Secretory of State is considering whether full inspections
of MATs should take place:
• She said at the Education Select Committee that she wanted
to "reach a conclusion" on the issue but indicated she
thought the job could be beyond the skills of Ofsted.
• Ofsted, she said “would not necessarily have the expertise”
to look at overarching issues around governance, financial
systems and risk management beyond school level. “You
need to have the right person with the right skills”, she said.
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