MATs

As more primary schools join multi-academy trusts, this model of school organisation is becoming increasingly common. For headteachers looking to join a MAT, we have advice on making the right choice. While if you're a head playing an important role in an existing trust, we have examples of how groups of academies are working together to improve education for all pupils in their care.

• 

  Sharing best practice – Offering SEND pupils specialised support

  School Partnerships

  • Ashley Eastwood describes how the Learning Harmony Trust is rolling out its SEND approaches nationwide...

• Building a successful Trust 

  Governance

  • Carol Dewhurst shares the lessons learned in an evolving MAT, as it celebrates its tenth anniversary
• 

  MATs - The Challenges of Expansion

  MATs

  • Barry Smith reports on survey findings that highlight what to consider when growing your organisation
• 

  Budget management - how to ensure recruitment doesn’t impact progress

  Recruitment

  • COO Alison Powell explains the cost-effective solution that ensured full business continuity while the Severn Academies Educational Trust appointed a new CFO
• 

  Leadership - my life as a MAT CEO

  SLT

  • A one-day diary from alarm to lights out
• 

  “We’re quick to judge education outsiders”

  Parental Engagement

  • How the army taught David Morris the skills to lead a multi-academy trust

• How peer reviews can transform headteachers’ ideas

  Governance

  • Bringing together senior leaders from different schools to share and assess teaching practice offers an effective route to self-improvement for all involved, says Dr Kate Chhatwal

• Identifying the good and the bad of leadership partnerships

  Governance

  • Balancing the remits of execs and their heads of school requires care but this is a model that can yield real benefits, says Anthony David

• Making visible improvements

  School Partnerships

  • Deborah Saunders outlines how An Daras Trust put in place a new programme to help pupils understand how they learn

• How to create an effective curriculum

  Teaching Practice

  • Darren Woollard outlines how a collaborative approach led to reviews of how and what pupils are taught