Over the past decade, the trend has been toward fewer but larger MATs with research from FFT Education Datalab suggesting that, barring significant policy changes from the government, all schools are likely to be part of a MAT by 2041. This aligns with the government’s move toward “strong” quality Trusts and what defines such Trusts.
But there is so much that goes into making a Trust successful so naturally, there is lots for leaders to consider: attendance and attainment rates, staff and curriculum development, operational efficiencies, among several other notable items. Getting it right is as much an art as it is a skill.
Many Trust leaders are already working on plans for the new academic year, and we have put together a short, definitely not exhaustive, list of things to help you prepare for this coming term:
- Attendance and culture: Longer term things like attendance and culture are among the harder things to crack in the journey of building a successful Trust, which makes it even more important that your planning and strategic approach delivers the most value. Carefully planned attendance campaigns, staff engagement programmes, and activities designed to foster a positive learning and working culture within your Trust could be the key to the success of your Trust in the coming year.
- Open and parents’ evenings and driving student recruitment: In many ways, attracting learners, parents and carers to schools in your trust is like a business trying to make sales. There is so much competing for their attention these days and what could set you apart is how effective you are at cutting through the noise to reach them. From visually engaging invitations and creative copy that attract the attention of your audiences to high-reach content marketing campaigns and emotive videography that highlights the best of what you have to offer, Engaging Education has more than 10 years of experience to help you nail your learner recruitment strategy. Get in touch with us today!
- Plan for learners with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and other disadvantaged learners: As the world better understands learning disabilities and the best ways to support disadvantaged and differently abled learners, parents are increasingly prioritising schools and Trusts with high quality SEND offerings. Developing a top-notch SEND approach could be what sets your Trust apart. For example, you can consider deploying high-quality support and resource development for learners and parents, interior signage that improves the learning environment and accessibility-first materials that supports learners’ journeys – all of which we can help you with, so get in touch today!
- Opportunities that align with important dates and periods: In planning for the new academic year, it could be worth considering what strategic objectives you can creatively align with important dates in the academic year. Is it more favourable to roll out a certain initiative during admissions season or midway through the academic year? What programs could help you improve educational outcomes during exam season? Is your communications strategy optimised to make the best of key dates during the academic year? Investigating these sorts of questions when you are planning for the new academic year could reveal unique insights that can help your Trust become more successful. We love to support our partners creatively to embed some of these opportunities through design, branding, content strategy, and high-quality communications materials.
- Plan for ways to engage parents, carers and your communities throughout the academic year: Keeping parents, staff, learners, communities and other stakeholders engaged with your plans and activities across your Trust could be a game-changer. It is an often-underrated strategy that helps improve growth opportunities, help replicate success across your Trust, improve educational outcomes, retain talent, and foster positive cultures and mindsets across the board. We recently shared a blog about why high-value strategic communications could be a gamechanger for MATs, which you can read here.
Success usually requires support, partnership and collaboration, concepts that are highly valued by us at EE. To learn more about how we can support your Trust to achieve its goals, get in touch with us at hello@engaginge.co.uk.