Does your vision match your strategy for growth? It is an absolute necessity for MATs to think deeply about what their overarching vision, values and ethos are, how they implement these at the every-day school level, and how these will carry them forward as they expand to acquire new schools. Your vision gives you direction in the concrete steps you take forward, and through this session PAG will look at how your current vision is guiding your plans for growth. Your team will reflect back on whether your plans require modification in light of the refreshed outlook from the session. The output of this session will be a sharpened vision statement and a report on the local opportunities for growth in your area that align with your vision.

Audience: MAT and SAT Executive Teams, Trustees, Members, Executive Headteachers

Duration: 2 hours

Our sustainability work advises trusts on how to balance growth within a changing policy environment. While most of the attention of trusts is usually focused on growth, it is more challenging and, arguably, more important to ensure the sustainability of the strategy. Growing too quickly and without care usually can lead to wasteful spending and reduction of resources. The due diligence a MAT has to undertake should be carefully planned and executed. This will provide a secure foundation on which the trust’s senior leaders, including trustees can build, in order to identify and implement specific actions which will help the trust grow in a considered and measured manner. This is all the more important as DfE and the offices of the RSCs are increasingly concerned at the performance of trust who are perceived to have pursue reckless plans for growth. We can be further commissioned to write your Trust a Regional School Commissioner’s compliant Growth Plan.

PAG has developed an interactive tool where we explore a range of 20 critical factors about your trust situation, including current performance, financial strength and detailed intake profiling. We will invest time to understand the strengths and challenges you face and what bearing these have on your ability to realise your plans. Whether this be the path or more organic growth, acquiring new schools though the Free Schools Programme or via Local Authority run competitions. With these results in hand, trusts will also have a compelling rationale for scrutiny by trustees who may be concerned about the pace and direction of growth. The output of this session will be a technical understanding of how, where and how much you want to grow.

Audience: MAT and SAT Executive Teams, Strategy and/or Growth Committees, Executive Headteachers

Duration: 2-3 hours

In attracting schools to join your Trust, it is vital to understand how to approach different types of schools. We have devised a solid strategy that equips your Trust to communicate and relate in ways that help you meet your growth milestones. This interactive session lays out the necessary considerations to establish new provision, in light of the reasonable sphere of operations within which the RSC would expect the trust. The output of this session will be a deeper understanding of the schools in your area that are on the verge of conversion and the ways to attract them. We can be further commissioned to strategise your plan of action for incorporating them into your Trust.

Audience: MAT and SAT Executive Teams, Trustees, Executive teams, strategy and/or growth committees

Duration: 2-3 hours

In the politics of education, academy sponsors are prized in that they are in the vanguard of solving the problems in the system that have sometimes persisted for years. Historically, new sponsors appear to be offered schools that more established sponsors have turned down. The due diligence process alone can be a drain on resources, let alone the work of school improvement and this needs to be considered carefully. In this workshop, we will advise prospective sponsors on how to evidence capacity and capability to improve schools and attracting these specific academies. We will also make suggestions as to how the costs of appropriate due diligence can be offset. The output of this session will be a deeper understanding of the sponsor-led academies in your area and the ways to attract them. We can be further commissioned to strategise your plan of action on how to attract these into your Trust.

Audience: MAT and SAT Executive Teams, Trustees, Executive teams, strategy and/or growth committees

Duration: 2-3 hours