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Lynda Brown,
Since the Education Act (2010) we have witnessed exponential growth in the number of academies, from the relatively small number of sponsored ‘Labour’ academies in disadvantaged urban and inner-City areas, to the current prevalence of SATS and MATS. There are now in excess of 2,400 academy trusts and, somewhat surprisingly, approximately half of these are single academy trusts (SATs). Whilst we await a clearer direction from the new Government on the future of the academy programme, we predict that we will continue to see schools joining MATs, single academy trusts joining MATs and the continuation of Trust mergers.
We have become familiar with our mixed economy landscape, where Trusts of varying size and complexity sit alongside local authority schools. The Schools White Paper (2022), in setting out the previous government’s plan ‘for all schools to either be part of or have plans to join’ a strong MAT by 2030, focussed the minds of many in the sector, with cries of ‘jumping before we are pushed’. Despite the relaxation of this ambition under the latter years of the Conservative administration, to merge or not to merge, to join or not to join, continued to be a hot topic amongst school leaders, trustees and governors, and it is likely to continue to be so, in these early years of the new Labour administration. The driver for change, however, will continue to come from within the sector. For we know that it is we that should be seeking opportunities to be stronger and better, to deliver more and to maximise the resources that are available to us.
Of course, it is necessary and appropriate to scan the landscape and look to make strategic and structural decisions about the future. But time spent doing so must be commensurate. It cannot and should not be the issue that dominates the day, week, term, and every academic year for headteachers, CEOs, Trustees and Governors. Because the challenges facing the sector including standards and attainment, Ofsted, finance, safeguarding, wellbeing, recruitment and retention, falling roles and inclusion – must merit the full focus of leaders.
Time should be spent contemplating structural options, but it must be time well spent. Overthinking the options and never reaching a conclusion will be draining and counter-productive. Rushing into solutions from an uninformed or ill-thought-through position is likely to result in faulty decision making. The stakes are too high – for learners, staff and communities – for either of these approaches to be the answer.
These will reflect the particular circumstances of each School or Trust but could include.
You can make the right decision – and you can make the decision right. Go for both!
Our team have experience of supporting academies dating back to the original “Type 1” sponsored academies and since the Academies Act 2010. We regularly support MATs in planning for growth and managing both the academy conversion process and the process for those sponsored academies that have been issued with a directed academy order. We are also involved in supporting Trusts planning to merge; providing independent advice and support that help CEOs and their teams to navigate a process that can be complex and time consuming to manage when bringing two organisations together.
Lynda has spent her whole career in education with roles including the Head of Education and Schools in both Sunderland and Stockton. She has a passion for supporting school leaders so that they can energise staff and drive the change that will improve life chances for children and young people, especially through inclusion, governance, solution-focussed HR, organisational structuring, collaborative ventures and school place planning.