This year’s Being the CEO Alumni Lecture took place on Wednesday 16 September, ahead of the National #TrustLeaders CEO Conference.
The lecture was given by Mark Wilson, CEO of Wellspring Academy Trust; a trust of 33 schools across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, including mainstream Secondary and Primary, Special, and Alternative Provision schools.
The focus of Mark’s lecture was “Scaling a trust that remains firmly at the heart of its community”, and Mark explained that the ‘why’ for Wellspring has evolved from being very much about serving a hyperlocal geographical community to building a different vision of community based on values and beliefs rather than geography.
Mark explained that Wellspring has always been explicit to put its schools and their relationships in their communities first and foremost; as this is more important to engender a sense of belonging. He explained that the relationship the trust has with its schools enables it to define community as being about each of its schools’ communities.
Considering the current context for trusts, Mark put forward three reframing observations for trust CEOS:
- Money – Mark commented that money is always an obsession for schools; but that we should concentrate more of our time on what we have rather than what we don’t and instead think carefully about how we can maximise what we have. He said that some communities look at our schools as being where most of the money sits and this is emphasised at each of the trust’s conferences, where leaders are challenged to reflect on the fact they are collectively responsible for spending £100 million of taxpayers’ money every year.
- Infrastructure – Mark commented that school buildings are community assets, and this requires us to both care for them and improve them as custodians over a long period of time. While Wellspring itself is responsible for several hectares of public realm, Trusts collectively have around 500 million square metres of land in the country that they are responsible for; Wellspring asked itself what more it could do to curate this land in the best way. As such, Wellspring schools each have detailed masterplans on how they are going to make best use of their school land.
- Time – Mark commented that as leaders we tend to see ourselves as time-poor; but in order to leave a legacy we must have in our minds as CEOs a view to building bold plans for the future. He said that committing to a long-term investment plan helps to reframe the trust’s financial and other resources. Mark also explained how the trust’s schools plant and grow fruit and vegetables to use in school meals as well as donating to community larders. One school acts as a plant nursery for all schools across the trust. Mark also commented on the 33 large-scale art projects undertaken across the trust.
Mark spoke about the trust’s ‘Wellspring 2030’ plan, which has a focus on equality. He explained that the trust uses its resources to support staff to develop qualifications from level 2 up to level 7. Mark commented that “to raise our children up we must raise our families up”; and one of the ways the trust support its families is to create hybrid roles so that people from local communities can work in a way that is sustainable for their families. The trust creates opportunities for its student alumni via apprenticeships and other access to jobs and it has also opened community cafes that have enabled students with SEND to gain real world employment experience. Mark also explained the history of the ‘MindSpace’ programme that ran for several years in Barnsley – a mental health initiative available to all secondary schools in Barnsley through the Wellspring Academy Trust.
Mark concluded that 16 years on from the 2010 White Paper than began the academies and trusts agenda, we now as leaders have the opportunity to strengthen the trust landscape together through partnerships and to rethink our role in society at large. He commented on the public benefit requirement of charities, which applies to trusts, and that Wellspring has chosen to interpret this requirement in the broadest possible sense.
Forum Strategy’s case study on MindSpace and Wellspring Academy Trust can be found in the first edition of our #TrustLeaders Magazine from December 2019
