Growth is a big deal at the moment, with lots of discussion in the news around economic growth - or the lack of it.
For those of us in education, there is another growth issue dominating the agenda - the growth of multi-academy trusts.
Because whether the Schools Bill ever sees the light of day or not, the steady march of academy growth continues - underlined by Donisthorpe Primary in Leicestershire becoming the 10,000th academy conversion last month.
Such a milestone is no surprise - and it won’t be the last we hit.
Indeed, when I became CEO at E-ACT, the board tasked me with developing our strategy for growth because, as a strong national trust, we felt pressure from the system to grow and that if we didn’t we would somehow be left behind.
However, the truth is we don’t necessarily feel the need to grow. Our schools are doing well, often in the most challenging of environments; we are financially secure, have strength in governance and have recruited a new and exciting team of executive leaders.
So, if we do decide to grow, what should determine that? It’s a question other multi-academy trust leaders may well be asking themselves. The reality is, though, when I looked to the system for examples of growth strategies, I didn’t find much out there to guide us.
As such, it means the system, led by CEOs, will probably have to find its own way through - just like the past 15 years of MAT growth.
The key issues for expanding multi-academy trusts
To do this well, I believe there are six key issues we must keep in mind as we embark on this next period of growth, so that it delivers on the promise that it offers:
1. Growth should focus on our existing academies
Each academy should be at its published-number-to-admit (PAN) limit or be working locally to meet demand.
This is not straightforward as we have some challenges as a trust with some academies being in areas with lower birth rates, lower rates of immigration and city neighbourhoods where families can no longer afford to live.
We are also victims of the system where a supply line of free schools has been approved in areas where they were just never needed. Intentionally or not, this is wholly unhelpful to a system that has just about found the self-confidence to collaborate.
2. Diversification of provision
Our pupils are increasingly presenting with greater needs and challenges. A proliferation in special educational needs and disabilities and mental health issues, and the compound effect of poverty, mean our academies need to develop more effective local provision.
We have expanded our SEND offer in a number of academies, working in partnership with local authorities to build SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) hubs.
We have employed education psychologists to support more effective assessment and identification of needs, and we continue to seek opportunities to grow our specialist provision and expertise. This is a key priority when we think about growth.
3. Growth in system leadership capacity
As a large trust, we have good capacity to support school improvement - something that we must be able to scale up with any growth.
For example, we have national directors in primary, secondary, SEND, safeguarding and attendance; collaborative communities of leaders in our academies working together; teachers and support staff engaged in research; and a broad offer of professional development.
This means we have the capacity to support other schools and to offer exciting opportunities for professionals to grow. I strongly believe that it is incumbent on trusts to supply talent to the system and develop teachers, leaders and staff in professional services.
4. Supporting the development of good academies
We already provide support to a growing number of schools outside the immediate family of the trust. Some of this support is around education and school improvement; some is around operational services.
Trusts should not necessarily require schools to sign over to trust governance completely, but can work to support good schools continuing to thrive in their own right. Free schools in areas where we have good capacity are also an option here.
We want to be working with more actors in the system for the reciprocal benefit of learning from best practice and working with different communities.
5. Growth from the sponsorship of schools in difficulty
This has traditionally been the main vehicle for trust growth and, increasingly, academies are being rebrokered to other trusts where there is a clear benefit for the academy.
This can be for a whole host of reasons but key for the future is for trusts to work together in a mature way to focus on maximising strengths where they exist, and to accept where another trust may be better placed to support an academy.
We must all be grown up enough to know where we are effective and where others might be better placed to support.
6. Trust mergers - and the rationale behind them
Given the drive for strong trusts with the resilience to weather challenges, whether they be financial, operational or educational, it has become increasingly common for smaller trusts to seek shelter within the environment of a larger trust.
This gives them immediate access to a whole host of benefits: economies of scale, buying power, access to a collaborative network, services potentially no longer provided by the local authority, SEND support, recruitment, leadership development and more.
In the current climate, especially, some trusts will no doubt see growth as the solution to cost pressures or a way to strengthen the empire.
But growth should be more than that - it should be seen as a chance to celebrate diversity, to bring young people together from across the country, to advocate for families whether they be in Bristol or Manchester, to become active contributors in our regions.
Most importantly, trusts should recognise that they are not in a race with anyone to grow. The guiding star should always be ensuring that the pupils we are responsible are receiving the best education possible.
That’s certainly a growth strategy worth pursuing.
Tom Campbell is interim chief executive at E-ACT
