Frank Norris MBE
Frank Norris MBE FCCT is a former senior HMI. He was CEO of Co-op Academies Trust until 2019, and has since been the education adviser to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and an Independent Chair of Blackpool Education Improvement Board. Here he considers the learning from the most recent Summary Evaluations of Multi Academy Trusts undertaken by Ofsted.
This time last year I was asked by Forum Strategy to review the five Summary Evaluations of Multi-Academy Trusts that had so far been published during the year. This work followed a previous Forum Strategy session, involving Ofsted themselves, back in 2021, (see: Forum Members’ Breakfast Briefing. 22 September 2021. Ofsted’s Summary Evaluations of Academy Trusts | Forum Strategy) on what the summary evaluation process was.
My subsequent and initial analysis of how the evaluations were progressing was interesting because, although I was aware of the evaluation process, I had not read any of the reports, so I approached the task with an open mind. It was clear that there was a heavy emphasis on the role and visibility of the CEO with ‘ambition’ and ‘high expectations’ being used to support their effectiveness. In addition, all trusts were commended for their focus on the curriculum and, although there were some ‘weaknesses’ identified, these were offset by significant strengths.
This year’s reports are different and contain a sharper, critical edge, which I welcome. The role of the CEO is still important, but it has been complemented by the central role of trustees, governors and other senior leaders. The curriculum still features strongly but there is an expectation that greater consistency will have already been achieved. The national concerns around attendance, suspensions and permanent exclusions (which didn’t figure at all previously) are front and centre in many of the recommendations, which might suggest a positive shift towards national context being more heavily referred to or considered.
Let’s unpick some of the details. There were 13 summary evaluations published between October 2022 and October 2023 and recently Ofsted announced that there would be no further evaluations published until April 2024. This may be because of the pressure they are experiencing in completing school inspections or that the recently appointed Chief Inspector wants to review the process. That said (and regardless of any future direction), these summary evaluations offer some great learning opportunities for trust leaders and I would highly recommend time is spent gleaning this learning to apply in your own contexts. Below I summarise some of the key themes that are emerging.
“The role of the CEO is still important, but it has been complemented by the central role of trustees, governors and other senior leaders.”