EVENTS

National #TrustLeaders Symposium 2025

One year in: navigating the change as trusts and as a sector

5th June 2025, Trent Vineyard Conference Centre, Nottingham

The education landscape is shifting. The academy trust landscape is shifting. Our leadership and our organisations must adapt and evolve in response. Trust leaders’ role in change is at a premium.

How do trust leaders make sense of the change one year in? How do we read the landscape and learn from others in a way that allows us to prioritise strategically and invest precious resources with care and impact – to the benefit of all our pupils and communities? There will be much that will be clearer in June 2025. But what will still remain uncertain? And what will that mean for our leadership?

The 2025 symposium will help trust leaders clarify and reflect together on these big, strategic questions – carefully led and guided by Michael Pain, Chair, and Alice Gregson, CEO of Forum Strategy; with expert facilitation from Jane Creasy. There will be ample opportunities for cross-network learning.

A year of change and reform in government is set to bring huge developments around the school improvement landscape; trust regulation; accountability; curriculum and workforce reforms. Alongside this, trusts and trust leaders are navigating some huge societal challenges and opportunities – the evolution of technology and its impact on social development and learning; demographic shifts; the impact of poverty; and the growing need for greater community cohesion.

79% of those who attended last year’s national #TrustLeaders symposium rated it as ‘excellent’. 100% rated it as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Take a look back at the 2024 National #TrustLeaders Symposium, here

The symposium will:

  • Provide attending Forum members with material to reflect with their teams on some key dynamics and shifts ahead of the event;
  • Provide clarity on the changes that have taken place over twelve months, what is still uncertain; and what is likely to happen next;
  • Enable trust leaders to reflect on their role – including what is in their control, and what isn’t – and how to generate a culture of psychological safety through significant change;
  • Support leaders to identify their strategic priorities and ‘big moves’ ;
  • Share examples of interesting practice and signpost to helpful resources;
  • Encourage cross-trust learning and sharing of experience, as leaders adapt to change and reform.

About the contributors:

Michael Pain

Michael Pain

Michael Pain

Michael Pain is the founder of Forum Strategy and an entrepreneur, overseeing the development of successful businesses and a national network of well over one hundred Chief Executives. He is a long-standing strategic adviser to CEOs and Chairs, a ‘sought after’ coach to executives, and author of the acclaimed book: ‘Being The CEO‘. In 2021, Michael’s Being The CEO framework was endorsed and published as the template job description for academy trust CEOs by the National Governance Association. Michael was Called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 2007. He is also a co-owner of Satis Education, a sector-leading executive recruitment organisation, and currently chairs the organisation’s Advisory Group.

Michael Pain

Alice Gregson

Alice Gregson

Alice Gregson is the CEO of Forum Strategy. She is a regular contributor to sector-wide thinking, has led a range of CEO system leadership programmes. and authored a number of pioneering thinkpieces including on issues such 'system leadership in the academy trust sector' and 'thriving trusts'. Alice began her career leading workforce planning projects in Adult Social Care, before joining the National College for School Leadership - working on the national headteacher succession planning programme. Her cross-sector work included developing 50 Civil Service leaders in the Fast Stream Programme and police leadership development, attraction and recruitment at the College of Policing. As a certified project and programme manager, Alice has run large scale operations across multiple sectors and delivered multi-million pound programmes of work of varying focus and scope including large technology transformation and culture change initiatives.

Book your place

Over the next six months we will begin to share reading and resources to spark thinking and help you prepare for making the most of this event; some of which will encourage discussion with your trustees and executive teams – as well as staff and pupils too.

Attendance at the event is open and inclusive to all active members of our CEO, COO and Education Executives networks as of 5th June 2025. There is no extra charge for individual members to attend, and you can book onto the event below.

Please note, you must be an active member of Forum Strategy’s CEO, COO or Education Executives networks to attend the symposium. Please register and complete the following order form to activate your ticket. You will receive an email confirming your ticket.

Satis Education pre-event dinner

Satis Education are also hosting a pre-event dinner in Nottingham – separate from this conference – on the evening of 4th June 2025, with Sam Freedman and Baroness Estelle Morris reflecting on the first twelve months of the Labour Government. To book your place at this event, please send an email including your name, position and trust name to mark@satiseducation.co.uk. We understand places are very limited.

National #TrustLeaders Symposium 2024

You can view details and highlights, as well as exclusive member content, from the 2024 Symposium – Thriving Trusts: For you, by you by – by clicking the link below