1. National Schools Commissioner Roadshows
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

2. Welcome and Introduction
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

3. Welcome and Introduction
Twitter handle for today and all the roadshows is #NSCRoadshow
Aims today & why I wanted to do the 9 Roadshows
To set out my vision and plan for how I want to deliver the NSC and RSC core priorities
To support and develop a dialogue with leaders across the system in whatever school they work in
To help schools, trusts and TSA understand where they fit in the system and the contribution we need them to make

4. The Challenges to meet if we want to be World Class
Shift the dialogue from Structures to Standards and Structures
Progress and Attainment that equalises starting points in life
Local, Regional, National and Global Citizens of the future
Learning starts & accelerates when compulsory education ends
Science, Technology, Languages, Humanities and the Arts underpin a knowledge based society

5. What does the NSC do? Hold the RSC team to account
Oversight of the Intervention Strategy with the weakest Academy performers in the system
Half termly Performance Forum to see which interventions at RSC and Trust level work and why
Oversight of the 12 largest National Sponsor groups
Influence policy making in the DFE as the NSC is in effect leading Operational Delivery
Promote the development of leadership and governance and MAT structure
Connect and create network opportunities to bring the system closer together

6. Core Aims of the RSC Role
Monitoring the performance and intervening to secure improvement in underperforming academies
Taking decisions on the creation of new academies
Ensuring that the sponsor market meets local need by authorising new sponsors and challenging those that exist to perform even better
Promoting and supporting new models of System leadership

7. The role of the Headteacher Board
To hold the RSC to account & advise on decisions made in the region
4 Elected Outstanding Heads and 4 co-opted or appointed
Meets every 2 weeks
All HTB members will attend the first HTB national conference this summer
The Role in support of the RSC is to;
Approve Academy Conversions
Approve new sponsors
Approve new MATS
Challenge the RSC that interventions are effective & appropriate
Add capacity to RSC office

8. Sir David Carter June & July 2016 National Schools Commissioner
Where are we now?
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

9. The System in Capacity Terms
Total Number of Academies in the system as of the end of May
5719 in total with 19% of Primary and 66% of Secondary
304 Free Schools
40 Studio Schools
39 UTC
Total Number of Sponsors is 853
128 in WM and SESL and 58 in the North
Total Number of MATS is 973
Total Number of Teaching Schools is 735
LWY has 121 and SESL has 112
Total Number of NLE is 1114
Total Number of NLG is 439

10. The System in Capacity Terms
Focus on Multi Academy Trusts
We know there are 973 across the 8 RSC regions
Size and Scale
681 have between 1 and 3 schools (69.9%)
185 have between 4 and 6 schools (19%)
74 have between 7 and 12 schools (7.6%)
20 have between 13 and 25 schools (2%)
13 have more than 25 schools (1.3%)

11. Planning a Growth Model
What is a reasonable expectation of the rate of growth of existing MATS assuming they want to do this?

12. Planning a Growth Model
There are 14,660 Schools that are not Academies
What if every one of the current 973 MATS increased by 10 schools between now and 2022?
9,730 schools could join existing MATS
That would leave 4,930 to create or join new MATS
Assuming this is 5 schools per new MAT with an aim of educating children the demand is around 980 new MATS across 8 regions
122 over 6 years in each region
20 per year from

13. Sir David Carter June & July 2016 National Schools Commissioner
Where do we want to be?
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

14. What does a School Led system look like in 2022?
What kind of education system should we be aiming to create? (1)
Every school is a giver and receiver of support
More schools & MATS contribute to the concept of peer review
The 1800 MATS/Sponsors work together and share resources and talent between each other
Governance will be world class and we can name it and describe it

15. What does a School Led system look like in 2022?
What kind of education system should we be aiming to create? (2)
Every school is part of a formal collaboration that develops “next” practice and research potential
Stand Alone Academies are thriving and sustainable but working with a number of MATS even if they are not part of one
The performance gap is the smallest it has ever been
Teachers, leaders and support staff have a 10 year career plan that is realistic and deliverable

16. A World Class education system will understand progression points
Progression 1-ENTRY to SCHOOL
Progression 2-RECEPTION to Y1
Progression 3-Y2 into Y3
Progression 4-YEAR 6 into YEAR 7
Progression 5-TOWARDS GCSE
Progression 6-ENTRY POST 16
Progression 7-HE and WORK
Each School in a MAT/TSA leads on at least one transition point for example

17. How are we going to get there?
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

18. The Two Core Priorities that we need to Deliver between 2016 and 2022
Growing the capacity of the System with Care
Improving the system strategically
Raising the performance of Academies
Expanding our Existing MATS
If there are qualities of System leadership there must also be intelligences that underpin them
IMPACT-knowing what to do and when to do it-Highly intelligence impact leaders recognise the impact that they have to have on others to change practice and refocus direction
EMOTIONAL-knowing how to take people with you-understanding the feelings and emotions of those experiencing the change
HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO BOTH
Embedding the MAT as the best structure for improvement
Approving and Developing new MATS

19. The Characteristics of Successful MATS
to download the whole document
I published it again this morning

20. When multi-academy trusts work at their best……
Building a Community around moral purpose and high aspiration
The authority of the lead educationalist
Collective responsibility for the results of all children
“If one fails we all fail”
Strategic governance allied to educational focus at LGB
Recruitment and retention
Career progression for staff
retain the best staff in the trust if not in the same school
Efficient Management of Resources
Trust appointments on behalf of the schools
Where possible the “all through” 0 to 19 MAT makes sense of the learning progression of children
Carlos Dominguez spoke about the need to define the value of collaboration and we have to do the same with MATS.
Free style

21. How will Governance in England become world class?
Governance Capability starts with Personal Qualities and Attributes
The 7 principles of public life (Nolan) is a good place to start
Knowledge and Skills
Achieving Outcomes for children
People and Relationships
Holding people and systems to account
Setting Direction
Effective use of resources
Compliance and outstanding management practices
Carlos Dominguez spoke about the need to define the value of collaboration and we have to do the same with MATS.
Free style

22. The Performance Challenge
Sir David Carter
June 2016
National Schools Commissioner

23. The system leader and the school improvement space
Phase 1 - De-clutter
The school is broken
No underpinning of the future
Real truth comes after project starts
Phase 2 - Repair
Control from chaos
Reactive decision making
Make the school feel like a normal school
Phase 3 - Improve
Leadership becomes more proactive
Strategies start to embed
Outcomes never as bad again
Phase 4 - Sustain
Maslow “self actualisation”
Confident, innovative and risk taking delivery
School Improvement is seqeuntial
Do the four phases
Can the same leadership team do all four stages or can you identify the right leaders for the journey that you are on
In a single school setting you have to hope that you have that team-in a MAT the trust will have people who you know can adapt and become specialists on this journey

24. The Leaders we need on this journey
Phase 1 - De-clutter
Calm and Reassuring Leadership
Ability to focus on urgent priorities
Give team members the right jobs
Highly visible
Phase 2 – Repair
Lock down the early improvements
Build a medium term plan
Still visible but more QA
Phase 3 – Improve
Monitoring and Tracking is the key
Management shifting to leadership
Benefiting from collaboration
Phase 4 – Sustain
Securing excellence
Looking to lead collaboration
3-5 year planning
School Improvement is seqeuntial
Do the four phases
Can the same leadership team do all four stages or can you identify the right leaders for the journey that you are on
In a single school setting you have to hope that you have that team-in a MAT the trust will have people who you know can adapt and become specialists on this journey

25. What the best MATS and Schools appear to do to sustain improvement
Keep things very simple
Focus relentlessly on making teaching as good as it can be
Personalised and bespoke development
Ensure the best practice is aligned to and alongside the less strong practice
Ensure consistency of what the leaders believe to be the best way to improve a core standard
Scrutiny is high quality & improves practice-not just used to show what is already known

26. Core NSC Priority
As NSC I want to play my part in Improving the weakest 100 Academies in the system
The 100 academies I am most worried about will work with the NSC
I will hold the RSC to account for improving them
3 Questions we should be able to answer now!
Which Interventions at school and system level are the most effective?
Which model of system leadership is most effective to improve standards fast?
How do the best schools sustain their improvement?

27. The Performance Challenge
Table Discussion

28. Performance Challenge Driving Questions
Please focus on only ONE of these individually, in pairs or on the whole table
Q1-If you were responsible for improving a school in deep trouble, what would be the 5 key areas of your due diligence?
Q2-What is the relationship between middle & senior leadership in rapid school improvement
Q3-How would you structure your report to your board to demonstrate impact on the school you were working with?

29. Sir David Carter June & July 2016 National Schools Commissioner
The Growth Challenge
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

30. Why do we need a Strategy?
We will need to grow our existing sponsors and MATS
We will need to approve new sponsors and MATS
Lessons learned from rapid growth without the correct infrastructure
Give RSC the confidence to approve MATS to grow by more than one school at a time
Gather the evidence of what the most effective MATS do

31. The MAT Growth Journey Starter Trusts Established Trusts
1-5 schools
Up to students
Within single LA and Region
Established Trusts
5-15 schools
Up to 5000 students
More than one LA and likely to be single region
Regional Trusts
15-30 schools
Approx students
Likely to be in more than one region
System Trusts
30+ schools
12K students and beyond
Working across the system in 3 or more RSC regions

32. The Growth Readiness Audit
The audit will enable the trust, the RSC, & the NSC to assess the capacity and the capability of any MAT to grow significantly in the next five years
The growth thresholds are the most obvious points for the audit to be conducted
Who does the audit?
For Starter Trusts the RSC and HTB as they do now
For Established and System Trusts I am keen to use MATS have who have experienced the growth “spurt” being considered
For System Trusts we will probably engage credible change consultants working alongside CEO and Board members of trusts

33. The 5 components in the Audit
Standards and Track Record of improving schools
Performance of the academies over time
Response of the trust to under-performance
People and Leadership
Internal Capacity to create regional hubs (Exec Heads or Regional Directors)
Finance and HR capacity
School to school support
Governance
Board capacity and strength
Accountability model
Regional Governance models
Financial Sustainability
Financial Health & Medium-Long term planning
Risk Management
Mitigation strategy
Monitoring
Depth of Risk awareness across the trust

34. Sir David Carter June & July 2016 National Schools Commissioner
System Leadership
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

35. What is System Leadership?
There are lots of views and descriptions but this one works for me…
“System Leadership take place when leaders working together plan and deliver a strategy that improves educational outcomes for children across a number of schools, some of whom the leaders never get to meet.”

36. System Leadership challenges us in different ways
Leading a phase or subject across several schools
Leading improvement beyond a single school and being accountable for it
Transmitting effective practice and abandoning that which does not work
Change Management
Potential to progress from NQT to Principal within the same MAT as talent gets developed

37. The system-led collaborative culture
Definition of collaboration
Collaboration is working with others to do a task and to achieve shared goals.
Fundamental part of human interaction
The Arts
Sport
Charity
Private and Public Sector
Conditions that support collaboration
Authority to make decisions
Competition and Collaboration
Clarity of vision
A well-executed plan
A governance model that holds people to account
Buy-in
Giving and Receiving
We attempt to define collaboration in different ways-we can make it as complicated or simple as we like-I think my version gets close to the beautiful simplicity of what it is to collaborate with other human beings.
As a child I experienced it on the sports field
As a child I experienced it in orchestras and bands
As an adult it has been my privilage to experience it for most of my adult life as a teacher, headteacher, CEO and schools commissioner
CONDITIONS-free style

38. The qualities of the most successful system leaders
Diagnosis of what is needed
Can lead with credibility in the school improvement space
Can see the MAT as an educational hub for excellence
Ability to take action and execute the plan & evaluate it
Understands how to hold people to account and welcomes being held to account
Can tell the difference between context and an excuse
Has a mindset that puts children’s needs ahead of adults’ expectations
System Leadership is different to single school leadership
A system in educational terms is often used to describe leadership across more than one school but it is more than that.
System Leaders promote
COMMUNITY CONFIDENCE
COMMUNITY COHESION
I think if I reflect on the work of the system leaders I have worked with in this role I feel confident that these qualities are present in many of them

39. The twin leadership intelligences for successful collaboration
IMPACT INTELLIGENCE
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
IMPACT ON OTHERS
SELF AWARENESS
If there are qualities of System leadership there must also be intelligences that underpin them
IMPACT-knowing what to do and when to do it-Highly intelligence impact leaders recognise the impact that they have to have on others to change practice and refocus direction
EMOTIONAL-knowing how to take people with you-understanding the feelings and emotions of those experiencing the change
HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO BOTH
IMPACT ON OTHERS
SELF AWARENESS

40. The mind-set that underpins future Leadership thinking
Scanning the Horizon and looking ahead.
Preparing and Anticipating change
Collaborate with people who are different to you
Too many collaborations reinforce similarities not the differences
Be bold enough to abandon the past
Dare to be different and stand out from the crowd

41. Summary and Conclusions
Sir David Carter
June & July 2016
National Schools Commissioner

42. Ten Questions to Consider in Term 6 2015-16
Is our MAT delivering on the promise we made OR are we strong enough to lead a MAT or become a sponsor in our own right?
Who should we consult with and talk to in order to inform our decision making about further expansion OR the setting up of a new organisational model?
What do parents like about the way we educate their children and how do we engage them in an even more meaningful way?
What are we good at that we could share with other schools with credibility?
Do we care enough that a school in our neighbourhood is in difficulty?

43. Ten Questions to Consider in Term 6 2015-16
What does our current performance tell us about the areas of our provision that needs to be better? How do we receive as well as give support?
What are the current relationships and partnerships we value that we do not want to lose?
What are the future challenges that we can anticipate that will test us over the next five years?
How strong is our current governance model? Should we commission an external review or use a tool to self-audit?
Have we engaged with our RSC to let them know about our thinking?