Going Beyond Expectations in MATS

1. Sir David Carter Executive Director of System Leadership Ambition School Leadership and Institute for Teaching Going Beyond Expectations in MATS

2. Why MATS are the best model of collaboration in the system • What a MAT should be… • The MAT is the organization that leads improvement in the schools that are partners in learning • Every teacher, leader, support staff is a MAT employee, improving standards for EVERY child in all of the schools • The MAT teacher workforce is the “Faculty of Education” in the trust • What a MAT is not… • An administrative body that runs schools • A loose partnership where everyone does their own thing • A safe haven for schools who do not want to change their practice • An organization that has favourite schools who are more important than others

3. The MAT Dividend and delivering better outcomes for all children • The MAT Dividend is the aggregate impact of the formal collaboration that the trust leads across the academies who make up the whole. The sum of the parts in effect • “Are the children in your trust getting a better education as a result of the MAT than they were when they were part of their previous organisational structure?” • What makes up the MAT Dividend? • Being the employer of choice • Being the trust and schools of choice • Being the trust that unlocks potential more quickly • Being the trust at the heart of its community • Collaboration as the Oxygen of Improvement

4. When does Collaboration work best? • When there is a clear set of agreed goals about the intended outcome of the collaboration-PURPOSE • When there is recognition that giving and receiving is expected of all partners-MUTUALITY • When there is an understanding that practice might need to change even if it is not a performance issue (yet)-CHANGE • When there is a clear timescale for the collaboration to deliver its objectives-PACE • That there is an opportunity cost in terms of finance, resources and time-PRIORITISATION

5. The Three Contributions to Collaboration • Leading-The school provides the leadership for a new collaborative experience that others sign up to • Participating-The school takes part in the Collaboration but does not lead it-adds capacity through activity and commits to doing what is needed • Endorsing-The school neither leads not participates but talks positively about it and encourages others to engage but takes part later in more appropriate collaborations Collaboration

6. What thinking underpins the way that leaders delivers improvement in their school(s)? • Secure Sustainable improvement TAKES TIME • Leaders need to hold their nerve and deliver the right strategy even if the results take time to catch up • MATS and Schools need to see themselves as capacity givers and capacity takers over a period of time • Schools improve sequentially and in stages • School Improvement is the product of high quality leadership so understanding the stage of the improvement journey is important for getting the right leaders in place • Every school you will ever lead Requires Improvement irrespective of the OFSTED grade you have! • STRATEGY+CAPACITY + PACE = Improvement

7. How do MATS Improve schools? • They have a clearly defined set of values and beliefs that are evident across the trust • There is a clear school improvement plan that everyone supports and understands • There is recognition that schools are on different stages and trajectories in their improvement journey. • Some schools arecapacity givers ORcapacity takersand sometimes both • The MAT is a good employer and develops staff professionally as well as taking care of their well being • Governance of School Improvement is a strength at every level

8. G B F C E H D H E D C G A B F A Performance Trajectory Strongest Performers Top 15% Rapid improvers SUSTAIN Rapid Decliners Slow Decliners Nat Ave Steady and Secure IMPROVE Steady Improvers Coasting Improver Decliners REPAIR Weakest System Performers Floor STABILISE Time

9. The Improvement Pyramid from the Child’s perspective I Work Independently and make learning decisions for myself

10. Six things that most MATS get right • They define and articulate the values and beliefs of the organisation • They build the culture of the MAT being a single organisationwith Academies as part of their campus • The workforce is the “Faculty of Education” and are deployed where the leaders believe they can have the greatest impact. • There is a clear MAT wide school improvement plan that meets the needs of every school wherever they are on their journey • The trust has a strategy for capturing the most effective practice and transmitting it to classrooms across the MAT • The Board of the MAT is the guardian of the vision and values and holds people to account for improving standards

11. This is the key question that every MAT in the country has to be able to answer if a parent asks it • “Is the school that my child attends better off being a member of your multi academy trust and are they getting a better education than they would have done had their school remained with the local authority, diocese or part of another MAT?”

12. What are the benefits for teachers of being part of a multiple school partnership or trust? • You are part of a wider network of professional teachers so you have the chance to influence the education of children beyond your own classroom • Every teacher is a partnership teacher and the opportunities to develop career and professional expertise are significant • You learn from and are influenced by the best practitioners with whom you work & you can share quickly what is special about your school beyond “it’s a nice place to work!” • You have the professional challenge of co-constructing curriculum, pedagogy and assessment whilst enhancing your love of your subject, and being exposed to the best thinking the partnership can bring to the discussion • Each classroom is part of a trust wide faculty campus of expertise. This is especially helpful for teachers in subjects where they are part of a small team • Workload reduction should be a consequence of this shared approach. Many hours are spent designing the lesson and this repetition across schools is the driver of the 50 hour+ week

13. The Developmental Pyramid from the Teacher’s Perspective Leading Learning across my Organisation

14. Why do we need this? 6 challenges and opportunities • We have to do more to recruit great teachers who want to make a difference • We have to do more to retain the talent we already have • We have to see teacher development outside of performance management • Teaching is instinctive and some are natural teachers but everyone needs time to practice their pedagogical expertise • We need to paint the picture before a career in teaching starts about how a career can be developed and supported. • We need a talent management strategy for every teacher in the system

15. What types of experiences should a MAT be giving teachers in order to develop their wider practice? • @Carter6D -I suggested some experiences all teachers should have • MATs because of their scale and scope are better placed than a single school to create these opportunities • Be Coached • Be a Coach • Be a mentor to a new teacher • Take an assembly • Lead a CPD experience • Visit 10 different schools • Become a governor in a school other than your own • Publish a blog • Lead a research project • Persuade someone to become a teacher • Participate in and create new enrichment opportunities for children

16. Finally and to Close… • In my time as National Schools Commissioner I saw four main features that the best trusts have in common • Lead by leaders with values and moral purpose but with an intensity to make things better fast • A Board that understands accountability but also provides the backbone of the improvement strategy • No excuse ever “trumps” the need to make a difference • The curriculum that is stimulating, well planned, well taught, & well resourced • We have to talk the language of collaboration more than ever • Be inspired to go even further and do more • Work within but beyond your trust • Banish postcodes as a predictor of future educational failure • Give every child the chance to succeed • Build professional career pathways that provide long term career development and be the employer of choice in your community