Lead sponsor
Programme
Wednesday
-
Extended package
Stay Wednesday and Thursday nights at The Belfry.
Join the evening drinks reception with canapes.
Join the evening drinks reception with canapes.
Thursday
-
Registration
-
Coffee and networking in exhibition space
-
Chair’s introduction and welcome
-
Leading in a new era for trusts and our school system
-
From reform to reality: building the capacity to deliver
The ambition behind recent school reforms is widely supported, yet a critical question remains: who will deliver them, and how? Workforce capacity is under increasing strain, so how can you implement change at pace while maintaining quality and consistency? Explore how you can build trusted, strategic partnerships that provide the insight, confidence and capability needed to make reform a reality.
• Understand why workforce capacity is now the defining risk in successful reform delivery.
• Identify and access credible, high-quality advice in a crowded and uncertain landscape.
• Move from firefighting to sustainable improvement with trusted partnerships.
• Understand why workforce capacity is now the defining risk in successful reform delivery.
• Identify and access credible, high-quality advice in a crowded and uncertain landscape.
• Move from firefighting to sustainable improvement with trusted partnerships.
-
Q&A using Slido
-
Reflect and collaborate
-
Morning refreshments, networking and exhibition
-
Workshop choices one
1A Future ready finance: building a resilient and efficient MAT finance model
Take away examples of how you can develop a new finance model in order to survive and thrive. Explore how the sector can evolve the finance function as it begins to mature and consolidate over the next several years of modest funding settlements.
Who is this for?
CFOs, COOs, Finance or Operations Directors
Who is this for?
CFOs, COOs, Finance or Operations Directors
1B Lessons from leadership
Who is this for?
CEOs and leaders at all levels
CEOs and leaders at all levels
1C Making system leadership real; a model of sustainable change
Understanding place can lead to genuine transformation and change. Explore two practical examples (Gainsborough and Skegness) of how system leadership in the local community is changing the aspirations of young people, parents and carers, to build a more cohesive, economically viable and sustainable future. Take away a practical model of small steps that can make a huge difference – without costing the earth or adding to staff workload.
Who is this for?
CEOs, COOs
Who is this for?
CEOs, COOs
1D Enhance your people strategy
-
Lunch, networking and exhibition
-
Beyond the data: a strategic approach to student progression
How can trusts use destination and progression insights to strengthen personal development and improve outcomes for learners? UCAS will explore how data and insight can inform a whole-organisation approach to raising aspirations, enhancing destinations education and guidance, and preparing students for their next steps. Attendees will explore practical approaches to strategic leadership, curriculum alignment and programme design that embed progression planning across schools and colleges, creating coherent pathways that support student success.
-
Trust finances: the national picture
-
MAT inspections: what can you expect?
-
Q&A using Slido
-
Reflect and collaborate
-
Afternoon refreshments, networking and exhibition
-
Workshop choices two
2A AI in practice: what worked, what didn’t, and what we learned as a trust
The reality of AI adoption is often more complex than expected. Explore approaches that improved trust-wide teaching, learning and operational efficiency, alongside what did not deliver as intended across both curriculum and workforce. Examine the role of digital culture in enabling sustainable change and leave with a clear understanding of the lessons learned, as well as the practical, cultural and strategic considerations involved in adopting AI.
2B Ascending the waterfall: school improvement
In March 2023, Smith’s Wood Academy was judged by Ofsted to be inadequate in all areas. The Principal had been in post for a week. Hear how it had become the most improved secondary school in England under Ofsted’s new inspection framework by the time the school was reinspected in January 2026.
2C Why future proofing fails: MAT innovation in a complex, uncertain world
Move beyond the ‘hub and spoke’ leadership model—where innovation dies when the leader departs—towards a networked approach that distributes energy and agency across the entire trust. Ensure you have a sustainable, systemic approach to growth and school improvement.
Who is this for?
CEOs, Trustees, and Executive Leaders
Who is this for?
CEOs, Trustees, and Executive Leaders
2D Stability through growth: mergers and finance
From preparing a business case to the regional board to the integration period, hear how two culturally distinct trusts organised and executed a trust merger. The discussion will include the problems faced, what intentional planning is needed, what milestones are necessary, and how to magnify each trust’s strengths.
Who is this for?
CEOs, Deputy CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Directors of Education, Governance, CPOs
Who is this for?
CEOs, Deputy CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Directors of Education, Governance, CPOs
-
Performing under pressure
Sir Steve Redgrave is the most successful male rower in Olympic history. He was a gold medalist at five consecutive Olympic Games, nine times World Rowing Champion, three times Commonwealth Games gold medalist and recipient of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
-
Informal time for networking and relaxation
-
Drinks reception
-
Gala dinner
Friday
-
Registration and networking with coffee
-
Educational trends
-
Now or never: embedding leadership at every level of education
-
Morning refreshments, networking and exhibition
-
Practical MAT-to-MAT collaboration
-
Raffle winners announced
-
Lunch and close of MATs Summit