
Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions we will be postponing this conference until the 19th of October 2021.
The conference aims to bring together leadership teams from across academy trusts and provide essential guidance on effective and sustainable multi-academy trust governance.
It will examine key aspects of leading a trust – including policy, centralisation, finance, curriculum and growth – and offers attendees the opportunity to network with MATs from across England.
Whether you lead a MAT, are looking to expand, or are considering becoming part of a MAT – this conference will provide you with the knowledge, tools and guidance you need to ensure your MAT is successful for the future.
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Learning Objectives
Key conference topics
- Latest policy and regulatory developments
- The impact of Covid-19
- Best practice economies of scale
- Effectively navigating growth
- Optimising and maintaining financial health
- Centralisation: opportunities and challenges
- Driving best pupil outcomes through curriculum development
- Partnerships, collaboration and communication
Roundtable discussions (choice of one of the following)
- Implementing quality finance management systems
- Managing acquisitions
- Changing the narrative of MATs
- Infrastructure and growth
- Best practice collective procurement
- Data management: the essentials
- Strategy for staff retention in MATs
- The Governing Board: identifying current and future business needs
Agenda
- 08.45
- Registration and refreshments
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- 09.25
Chair’s welcome and opening remarks
-
Andrew BlenchEducation Consultant and Leadership and Management Coach
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- 09.30
Policy and regulatory update
-
Graham ShawConsultant, Wrigleys
- The impact of Covid-19
- Your legal responsibilities
- Recent policy announcements and priorities
- Ofsted’s recommendations for MAT inspections
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- 10.15
Trust level activities: getting the most out of your MAT structure
-
Stephen MoralesChief Executive, Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)
- Best practice economies of scale
- Central support and challenge
- Standardising back-office functions
- Sharing data and expertise
- 11.00
- Refreshments and networking
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- 11.30
Improving and maintaining good financial health
-
Brendan RoodtDirector, Brait Limited
- Centralising the finance function
- The use of Integrated Curriculum Financial Planning (ICFP)
- Techniques for boosting your income
- Accountability at school and MAT level
- Case Study: characteristics of successful MATs
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- 12.15
Sponsored session
-
Ernest JenavsCEO, Endurio
Exploring how schools have coped with Covid-19
- 12.35
- Lunch, exhibitions and networking
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- 13.35
Roundtable discussions led by industry experts (choice of one of the following)
- Implementing quality finance management systems
- Infrastructure and growth
- Best practice collective procurement
- Data management: the essentials
- Managing acquisitions
- Changing the narrative of MATs
- The Governing Board: identifying current and future business needs
- Strategy For Staff Retention in MATs – Led by Endurio
- 14.05
- Changeover
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- 14.15
Curriculum development: delivering the best possible outcomes for pupils
-
Matt BromleyEducation Advisor, Bromley Education
- Agreeing a Trust-wide curriculum vision to ensure quality and consistency
- Promoting school and subject autonomy
- Delivering a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum for all
- Using the curriculum as an assessment system
- 15.00
- Partner presentation by Literacy Counts
- 15.05
- Refreshments and networking
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- 15.35
Growth and development: priorities and building capacity
-
Andrew BlenchEducation Consultant and Leadership and Management Coach
- Managing growth: benefits of larger MAT V capacity for support
- Tracking improvement in individual schools
- Putting in place mechanisms to monitor performance at trust level
- Productive internal and external collaboration
- Effective communication with parents and the wider community
- 16.20
- Close of conference
Speakers
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Andrew Blench
Education Consultant and Leadership and Management Coach
Andrew Blench is the former School Business Manager for Dinnington High School in Rotherham. He has been an SBM since 2003 and in 2016 set up his consultancy company – School Business Partner. Andrew is currently a School Resource Management Advisor (SRMA) for the DfE, a Facilitator/Assessor/Coach for the L4 SBM Diploma with SBM Partnership and a Leadership and Management Coach. He has extensive experience in advising academies and LA Maintained Schools in the area of effective resource management, leadership and management and governance.
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Brendan Roodt
Director, Brait Limited
Since 2010 Brendan has undertaken virtually every type of legal matter that can affect Academies. He has created, transferred, closed down, grown and restructured MAT’s, PRU’s, SEN Academies, and Single Academy Trusts and resolved complex funding and strategy issues working with Academies and the DfE, EFA and LAs.
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Ernest Jenavs
CEO, Endurio
Ernest is the CEO of Edurio. He is a frequent public speaker in the UK and internationally on effective use of stakeholder feedback in schools and has published research on student feedback and assessment. Ernest leads Edurio’s policy guidance and has advised a number of education systems as well as participated in policy debates with the OECD and European Commission. Ernest holds a degree in Decision Science from the University of Manchester.
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Graham Shaw
Consultant, Wrigleys
Graham is one of the country’s foremost legal authorities in the education sector having advised in this field since 1999. He was also one of the first lawyers in the country to advise on the academies programme following its launch by the Labour government in 2002. Since then he has advised extensively on sponsored and school converter academies across all phases and types of provision including primary, secondary, all-through, special, alternative and hospital provision, Church academies, co-operative academies, schemes with PFI and/or BSF arrangements and Multi Academy Trusts (“MATs”). He has also advised extensively on academy transfers between MATs, the conversion of Single Academy Trusts (“SATs”) into MATs and the merger of SATs and MATs.
Graham’s experience also spans an extensive range of MATs including for any combination of primary, secondary, special, alternative and hospital provision, Church and non-Church academies where he has advised on their academy conversions and transfers and their operational and strategic requirements.
Graham also advises maintained schools and individual academies on their legal requirements and has advised on free schools, studio schools, schools PFI and university student accommodation, having also advised universities, further education and sixth form colleges and independent schools.
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Matt Bromley
Education Advisor, Bromley Education
Matt Bromley is an education writer and advisor with over twenty years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher and principal, FE college vice principal, and MAT director. He also works as a public speaker, trainer, and school improvement lead, and is a primary school governor.
Matt writes for various newspapers and magazines, sits on SecEd’s editorial board and co-hosts their podcast. He is the author of numerous best-selling books for teachers and his education blog has been voted one of the UK’s most influential.
He regularly speaks at national and international conferences and events, and provides education advice to charities, government agencies, training providers, colleges and multi-academy trusts. He works as a consultant and trainer with several companies and also provides a wide selection of direct-to-market consultancy and training services through his own company, Bromley Education, which he founded in 2012.
Matt has worked at senior levels in the public and private sectors and, prior to teaching, was a senior manager in the telecoms industry. He began his working life in newspaper journalism. He has an Honours degree in English Language and Literature, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and the National Professional Qualification for Headship, as well as several professional qualifications.
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Stephen Morales
Chief Executive, Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL)
Stephen has a 20-year career history in operations and finance, working at a senior level in the public and private sectors, both in the UK and abroad.
Stephen presided over the development and implementation of nationally recognised school business leadership professional standards and led the transition from the National Association of School Business Management to the Institute of School Business Leadership.
Stephen works closely with the Department for Education in areas of policy reform, and his commitment to research to aid our self-improving system includes ongoing engagement with international jurisdictions including Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.
Venue
Macdonald Burlington Hotel
Burlington Arcade, 126 New St, Birmingham B2 4JQOur Sponsors
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Literacy Counts’ consultants work nationally to improve outcomes for children in the teaching and leadership of English. Working across Early Years and Primary Schools, Literacy Counts’ consultants provide professional development to teachers on how to teach English, and to leaders on how to lead English.
We have a passion for language and literacy and for improving outcomes for children in reading and writing.
We advise, consult and provide interactive and engaging professional development opportunities. We provide professional development for clusters of schools, academies, academy trusts and teaching alliances. Our national advisers and reading and writing experts can offer support in a variety of ways and have worked nationally across regions to do so.

MAC has extensive experience of working with schools and academies providing property and construction consultancy advice. We have particular expertise in the Condition Improvement Fund with a 70% success rate, securing over £45m of funds in the last three rounds. We support estates due diligence during academy conversion though building condition surveys. Additionally, we work with MATs on the strategic distribution of School Condition Allocation across their estate and the ongoing management of these funds. We deliver complex projects in challenging environments within budget and time constraints while minimising risk. We also provide health and safety and compliance audit services and fire risk assessments through a dedicated department.

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Award-winning provider of fully customised educational products specialising in student planners, teacher planners, exercise books and yearbooks for primary, secondary and SEN schools in the UK and internationally. Our bespoke printed resources are designed in-house to reflect each schools' unique branding and working practices.

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Telephone Europe Ltd from the start has strived to succeed within the telecommunications sector with the ethos of putting our clients first. We are a rapidly expanding telecom solutions company providing expertise and services to over 1000 schools across the United Kingdom. A true one-stop shop for all telecoms including Business Telephone Systems, Calls & Line Rental Charges, Business Broadband, Hosted & Cloud Telephony, School Lockdown Solutions, Disaster Recovery, Multi-Site Solutions and Firewall Web Filtering. We offer a friendly approachable telecoms review to all potential clients with no obligations. Speak to an advisor for more information.
