1. Regional Schools Commissioner East Midlands and Humber
Jennifer Bexon-Smith
The changing educational landscape

2. The White Paper ‘ Educational Excellence Everywhere’.
Supported autonomy to drive up standards for all
Puts the best leaders at the heart of the school system, with the support to thrive
Trust for the most effective education leaders
A system that responds to performance;
Extending the reach of the most successful
Acting promptly to reduce influence of those who aren’t delivering for our children

3. System Leadership at the Heart
Teaching Schools
NLE’s, LLE’s
Multi-Academy Trusts
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
Governance
Sponsors

4. 8 Regions 8 RSC’s 8 HTB’s
Give the best leaders greater influence over the direction of the academies system.
Regional decisions, centrally supported – create an efficient system of delivery informed by regional knowledge, supported centrally by existing teams.

5. Key Responsibilities of RSC September 2015
Tackling educational underperformance and poor governance in open academies
Approving new academy provision
Approving applications from new sponsors to operate in the region
Taking action against poor performing sponsors
Formal decision on who is the most appropriate sponsor and the levels of funding, with advise from HTB members.
Approving significant changes to open academies and free schools
Responsible for developing plans for their contribution to the manifesto commitment for 500 new Free Schools

6. Implications of Education and Adoption Act - intervention in maintained schools
Extended powers commenced 18 April 16
Ofsted inadequate – will be issued with a Directive Academy Order and be required to become a sponsored academy
Falls under the coasting schools definition
powers will not commence until later in the year
coasting definition takes effect, once 2016 performance data is published and the coasting levels are set in January 2017
Schools eligible for causing concern warning notice: Education standards including below floor, breakdown in governance and management, safety of staff and pupils

7. Implications of Education and Adoption Act- intervention in academies
Inadequate Academies
Extended powers commenced 18 April 2016
Any academy judged inadequate by Ofsted
From 18 April 2016 power to terminate the funding agreement
For any academy that had been judged inadequate before 18 April (before the commencement of the powers of the Education and Adoption Act), the RSC will be also able to terminate the funding agreement, at the RSCs’ discretion.
The RSC will decide whether the trust has the capacity to bring about improvement or whether termination is appropriate. RSCs will have the discretion to decide whether rebrokerage is the best option.
Coasting Academies
RSCs will have the discretion to decide whether a coasting school is demonstrating sufficient capacity to improve, taking into account any action the trust intends to take to remedy matters and/or any representations the trust makes.
RSCs will have the power to serve a termination warning notice to a coasting academy requiring the trust to take specified action to improve the school by a specified date.
Where an academy fails to comply with the termination warning notice, then the funding agreement for that academy may be terminated. This will allow RSCs to move a coasting academy to a new trust. 

8. Full academisation
What will this look like?

9. The Jigsaw Teaching Schools Single Academies Church Schools
Maintained Schools
Multi-Academy Trust

10. Sheffield LA Data Data source: Briefing tables June 2016 Converter
Sponsored
Free Schools (including 16-19)
UTCs
Studio Schools
Total number mainstream academies (incl. FS, SS and UTCs)
LA Maintained Schools
Total number of state funded mainstream schools
East Midlands & the Humber
571
227 12 4
818
1704
2,522
Sheffield LA 35 28 1 65 97
162
Data source: Briefing tables June 2016

11. Multi-Academy Trusts Continuous Improvement Student performance
Expert leadership and governance
Career development and succession planning
Financial Procurement – economies of scale
Brand recognition/ customer confidence

12. Fully Academised System
MAT
MAT
MAT
MAT
MAT

13. Size and growth Average size of MATs – 10-12 Pupil numbers = 1500
Longer term expectation average size 30

14. MAT Growth Programme Checkpoint 1 : Starter – Established
Checkpoint 2 : Established – National
Checkpoint 3 : National - System Leader

15. Draft Checkpoint Model
People and leadership:
Ensuring suitable financial and business expertise for school-based MATs (FD in place?) and suitable school improvement expertise.
Governance:
Governance structure with clear lines of accountability and responsibility, replicated in practice as detailed in a scheme of delegation. School and trust leadership clearly understanding their role.
Checkpoint 2
People and Leadership:
Does the trust have a ‘hero head’ that it is overly reliant on? Has the executive Headteacher made the transition to the MAT-CEO role?
Staff recruitment and development
Finance:
Economies of scale, efficient procurement and capital funding
Governance: Is it a scalable model? Role of Chair of trustees, right skills mix
Checkpoint 3
Staff recruitment and development, succession planning, trust vision and ‘reputation management’
Functioning of regional hubs and central provision
Corporate governance and financial management
School improvement: Sustained school improvement following ‘quick wins’

16. Sponsors where are they?
Local Authority
Total
Barnsley 10
Derby 7
Derbyshire
Doncaster 9
East Riding of Yorkshire 3
Kingston upon Hull
Leicester 5
Leicestershire 12
Lincolnshire 23
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire 4
Nottingham 16
Nottinghamshire 20
Rotherham
Rutland 6
Sheffield
York
111

17. Continuing support for MAT’s
Aspire Programme
New MAT’s programme
Growing Trusts
MAT forum
Regional Toolkit

18. New programmes planned for Autumn
Primary Roadshows
SAT’s to MAT’s
The Nuts & Bolts of becoming a Sponsor – hot house 24 hour event

19. Moving forward Current positon of school/academy – A leader
A contributor
Requiring support
As a MAT are we
securing the best
possible outcomes for
Our pupils?

20. Contact details
Further reading EMH Regional Toolkit: