Confederation of School Trusts

Join Value Match CEO David Shields for his session at our Finance and Operations Conference, 6 February 2025. In his session, David will present how #schooltrusts can achieve value for money through by adopting sustainable, ethical, and responsible procurement practices. The workshop will provide practical insights on how trusts can balance cost-effectiveness with positive outcomes for their schools and the environment. CST members can book their tickets now: https://lnkd.in/e9jvns88 Please note that booking is currently open for CST members. We will be opening bookings to non-members soon so check back on our website for updates.

Introducing our three newest recognised suppliers, Schools' Choice, Energy Efficient Solutions Group and Entrust Education. Schools' Choice provides support in finance, HR, governance, safeguarding, and children's services to help schools run efficiently. They offer strategic advice and outsourced solutions, saving trusts time and resources. Through their partnership with Sage Intacct, Inc., they provide advanced financial tools to support growth. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eQYKMsfh Energy Efficient Solutions Group specialises in solutions like LED lighting, solar PV and EV charging to help schools cut costs and reduce carbon emissions. Their tailored DfE compliant services include free surveys, expert design, funding options and seamless installations backed by extended warranties and maintenance. EES Group are proudly carbon neutral since 2019 and B Corp certified, and are committed to sustainability and innovation. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eDewFKYs Entrust Education offers a wide range of services to support schools and trusts, including HR advisory, payroll, education improvement, SEND and inclusion. They currently partner with more than 6,000 schools and trusts across the UK. Their goal is to help trusts achieve their objectives and stay focused on what matters most: education. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eMmKTfKt

How do you take a strategic approach to risk assurance in your #schooltrust? Join colleagues from RSM for our CST masterclass Risk assurance for school trusts. Over three sessions, this masterclass will delve into the key concepts and core principles of risk management. It will offer practical insights that will empower your trust to adopt a risk-based approach to decision-making, whilst ensuring that risks are effectively mitigated. With expert guidance from our three seminar leaders, these sessions will guide you through strategic risk management and help you gain confidence that your risk controls are functioning as required. 🗨️ “It has been excellent overall covering an area of governance that I felt I need to learn much more about. I would strongly recommend this masterclass to other trustees.” – previous participant. This masterclass begins on Thursday 6 February 2025, 10:00-11:30. Find out more and book now: https://lnkd.in/eC5a6Qbq

Our Early year professional community meetings have a practical focus on helping every child to learn and thrive in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Next week Dr Julian Grenier CBE, Senior Content and Engagement Manager for Early Years, Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) will encourage reflection on some of the key lessons learnt in the early education sector so far. The meeting will examine how the new government’s position on early years can be maximised and what this might look like for children. Additionally, the current challenges faced by teachers and school leaders in the early years will be explored. Julian will share some of the EEF’s research evidence and resources in early years with the community. He will also shed light on the difficulties finding high quality research evidence and the issues that arise trying to put this into action. 📅 Tuesday 3 December 🕚 11:00-12:00 The Early years professional community is an inclusive benefit of CST membership. It is a dedicated space to discuss the intent, implementation, and impact of the EYFS for your #schooltrust. Join the community: https://lnkd.in/gyh_MhtE

Why does trust governance matter? Join our Governance and trustee professional community to understand why expert governance is a critical factor in building strong trusts, and how it can be implemented in yours ⬇️ The governance and trustee professional community is a knowledge building network which engages through virtual and in-person networking opportunities, provides access to sector support and guidance and offers a supportive environment to explore the challenges of practice. This academic year, the community theme is next-gen governance, aiming to raise the standard of governance in trusts whilst continually reflecting on how we can do better and staying true to the principles in the Academy Trust Governance Code. Our community theme will be explored in more detail at the community meeting on Thursday 12 December, 15:30-16:30. CST’s own Samira Sadeghi, community chair, will be joined by consultant Dawn Carman-Jones to examine how governance can evolve to better serve schools and communities. If you were unable to attend our workshop at #CSTConf24, this is a session not to miss. Read the newly published next-gen governance paper here: https://lnkd.in/enw49g5m Join the community: https://lnkd.in/eJSJyU4E CST members can also now book their tickets to our Governance and Trustee Conference on Thursday 5 June 2025 in Birmingham. Thanks to our community supporters who you will have a chance to meet at conference: Stone King LLP, Governors for Schools, GovernorHub, Edurio and Trust Governance Professionals Ltd. Book your tickets now: https://lnkd.in/ewiP5HzX

In our latest CST blog, Ricky Brown, Sync’s Apple Professional Learning Specialist, explores how technology enhances education by improving accessibility, equity, teaching strategies, and preparing students for digital futures. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqjCiisr

Announcing two of our keynote speakers for our Finance and Operations Conference: Sam Freedman and Tom Goldman. Sam, Senior Fellow, Institute for Government, will be joining us to examine the public spending review and what it means for school trusts. The future of the trust funding landscape will be explored by Tom, Deputy Policy Director of the Funding Policy Unit at the Department for Education in his keynote address. Join us on Thursday 6 February 2025, as we discover our theme of building excellence. Explore the conference on our website: https://lnkd.in/e9jvns88 Please note that booking is currently open for CST members. We will be opening bookings to non-members soon, so check back on our website for updates. #CSTFinOps

Out now – the new #CSTConf24 special episode of Trust: The CST Podcast, produced by PLMR 🎙️ PLMR’s Head of Education Tiffany Beck OBE explores CST’s Annual Conference Theme #Building, on the ground in Birmingham earlier this month. In this episode Tiffany speaks to: ⭐ Sir Mo Farah and his PE teacher ⭐His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Ofsted Sir Martyn Oliver ⭐Lord Adebowale, Chair of the NHS Confederation ⭐John Edwards, Director General for the Regions Group at the Department for Education ⭐ Dr Gordon Carver, UK Managing Director of Etio ⭐ Leora Cruddas CBE, Chief Executive of CST. The episode also shares the highlights from the Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson’s speech. Listen on Spotify (https://lnkd.in/gZV2uiDV), Apple (https://lnkd.in/e5duZvVA), and on our website (https://lnkd.in/e_SJhzUk).

How do we effectively protect our safeguarding staff? Join Raminder Aujla, Director of Safeguarding, The White Rose Academies Trust, and Erin Docherty, National Mental Health Lead, Oasis Community Learning for their workshop at #CSTSafeguarding Conference 2025. In their session, Protecting your safeguarding staff: A trust-led approach to maintaining health, safety and well-being, Raminder and Erin will share their experience of developing protective frameworks for safeguarding staff. They will also explore effective strategies for recognising and supporting safeguarding professionals in crisis. We are looking forward to hearing their insights from this session at our conference on Thursday 16 January, as we discuss our theme of leading child protection through change. Explore our full conference programme and book your tickets now: https://lnkd.in/eCeK_Z64

The Pearson National Teaching Awards celebration is almost here! Join us in celebrating the vital role that educators play and the impact of great teaching on our children by watching BBC’s The One Show at 19:00 from Monday 25 November to Friday 29 November, for the reveal of this year’s Gold Winners. Each night you will see the surprise announcements live and in the classroom. Entries for the 2025 The Pearson National Teaching Awards are now open too. Whether you’re a part of an early years setting, school or an FE college, participate for free and get the chance to be celebrated on a national platform in 2025. Submit your entries today: https://bit.ly/4ewh8Ho #TeachingAwards #TeachingHeroes