TRAINING & CONSULTANCY
Strategy Consultancy
We provide strategy consultancy in a number of areas exclusively for Trusts where the CEO, COO or Education Executive is currently a member of Forum Strategy, including the following:
Visioning and Strategy Development Days
Forum Strategy delivers this one day professional development event for trustees and executives in order to help them step back; to reflect on the big picture current context – drawing on key social, economic, educational, political and demographic trends; and to enable them to revisit and refine their vision and to refine strategy as the context evolves.
As well as providing a rich overview of insights and key trends, Forum Strategy enables trustees and executives to work together to reflect on their own growth and development within that context – and to undertake a number of activities in order to inform strategy in response. We also provide an overview of key education and trust sector developments; drawing on analysis of successes and failures across the system – as well as identifying examples of new and innovative practices that contribute to sustained organisational success.
These days provide a rich mix of high quality professional development; practical activities that inform strategy; and a written summary of the event.
For more information on how to access a visioning and strategy development day for your trust board and executives, please email admin@forumstrategy.org
“David and Charlie are incredibly impressive professionals who delivered a superb day. They challenged our thinking / paradigms and offered case studies, questions, and thought pieces as well as facilitating group dialogues. Most importantly, though, did so through a shared moral purpose and compass of commitment to children and young people.”
“Thank you Forum Strategy for supporting us through today, I am so excited about what comes next. The feedback on the event has been fantastic… I think we will look back on this as a significant turning point for the Trust.”
Thriving Trusts; take your trust strategy even further
Are you looking for the time and space for you and your team to stop and reflect in-depth on your trust’s sustainable growth and development? Do you wish to do so guided by an experienced, credible and supportive former trust leader, with reference to a thoughtful framework and body of thinking? Do you wish to generate clearer direction and next steps – in an inclusive way across your team – in order to take your trust even further forward towards its ambitions?
As part of this consultancy offer, Forum Strategy Associate, David Horn will work with the trust CEO, Chair and executive team in turn and collectively – over a period of three days (or more if required) – to reflect on the trust’s vision, and to identify and achieve strategic prioritisation and development sparked by guided and thoughtful self-evaluation. The approach – based on Forum Strategy’s Thriving Trusts framework – is developmental and highly supportive at all stages, engaging a wide range of colleagues in strategic thinking, dialogue and planning to achieve alignment and a shared sense of next steps. Ahead of the sessions a small number of reading materials will be provided to support thinking and discussion, including Forum Strategy’s brand new ‘thriving trusts’ self-evaluation framework. A final report will also be produced, which can then inform a broader facilitated development session if required.
If you are interested in engaging with David and using the thriving trust framework to support, inform and take forward strategic thinking and planning , please do email us at admin@forumstrategy.org. Please note that availability is very limited and we recommend booking as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Employer of Choice Strategy
Forum Strategy supports Trusts to develop their employer of choice strategy; drawing on our research and analysis of evolving employee expectations and approaches undertaken by successful organisations across private, public and third sectors, and our analysis of new and innovative practices within the trust sector.
As part of this process we undertake consultation and training with trustees and senior executives on employer of choices issues; review current practices and approaches within the organisation; and make a full set of recommendations – including providing a draft employer vision statement – for the board and executive team to take forward. We present all our findings and strategic recommendations to the board.
To engage us in helping you to develop your employer of choice strategy, please email: admin@forumstrategy.org
“Delighted with the work you have done for us on being an employer of choice. So impressive and really aligned with our thinking and practices. It has also helped us to focus more clearly on what we need to do next.”
Academy Trust SEND Reviews
Forum Strategy offers the opportunity for Trusts to undertake a review of their offer for children with special educational needs and disabilities, facilitated by Natalie Packer, author of ‘The Perfect SENCO’. The aims of the review are to support the trust to develop an understanding of the key strengths, areas for development and next steps around SEND provision and outcomes; and to provide a developmental opportunity that promotes on-going discussion and reflection over time in a supportive manner. The review makes use of the Whole School SEND (WSS) MAT Review framework and focuses on evaluating 5 key areas:
- Leadership
- Identification
- Tracking and monitoring
- Intervention
- Provision
The process is based on a peer-review approach. The nature of the review process can be flexible, according to the needs of the trust, but often includes the following:
- Discussions with the CEO and other members of the executive team
- Review of any available paperwork / policies / documentation
- Discussions with Principals / Headteachers
- Discussions with SENCOs
- Analysis of any available SEN identification and/or outcomes data
- If Analysis of evidence from any individual academy SEND Reviews that have taken place (this can be from the trust’s own reviews or can be carried out as part of the MAT review)
- Written report highlighting key strengths, areas for development and next steps agreed
To find out more about accessing this offer, please email admin@forumstrategy.org
The SEND reviews have been highly valuable for us at this key stage of our development journey of SEND provision across our trust family of schools. Natalie is a great professional to work with. Not only is Natalie highly knowledgeable and experienced, but she also conducts the reviews in a very thorough, professional manner and with great integrity. All our Headteachers and SENDCos really enjoyed working with her and found the process to be incredibly beneficial. Natalie’s findings have helped to identify our current strengths (and we had far more than we initially thought!) and our areas for improvement, and this is shaping the development of our SEND Hub provision which will benefit all our schools, and most crucially benefit all our young people and their families. Feedback from all our schools has been entirely positive, as was feedback from parents/carers who also valued the time to talk to a nationally recognised expert about their children’s needs, and their own needs. We cannot recommend Natalie highly enough to other schools and trusts.
Trust-wide Attendance Strategy
Good attendance at school is the single most important factor in ensuring that children and young people have the maximum life chances. Attendance is strongly linked to educational achievement. It is clear that many trusts and schools are continuing to face entrenched challenges around low levels of attendance since the pandemic. This new context requires new ways of thinking and planning, as well as reference to best practices and analysis, as well as understanding of some of the underlying issues and barriers facing pupils and their families.
This strategy consultancy service is delivered with leading attendance and school improvement expert, Michael Gooch. The consultancy provides an opportunity to step back, with expert support, and for policies and approaches to be reviewed, for feedback to be provided, and for recommendations to be made and strategic planning to be set in train. It includes a range of options which we can explore in consultation with you.
We are already experiencing interest for this support this year given the needs and challenges faced by trusts and schools. Please email admin@forumstrategy.org
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy Development Sessions
Forum Strategy delivers this half day session for Trust Boards and executive teams to guide the shaping of a Trust wide strategy to drive equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation. Drawing on the expertise of our partner organisations, the latest research and intelligence on EDI issues (including but not limited to our national report on diversity amongst CEOs) and sharing good practice from within the education sector and beyond, we provide the opportunity for open and honest dialogue and support Trusts to set some realistic, measurable objectives that align with their overall vision and strategy. We broadly explore the following (but tailor content depending upon where the Trust is currently up to with the work):
- Legal obligations and considerations (including the Equality Act 2010 and it’s implications at Trust level)
- Strategic aspects (how the work will enable the delivery of wider objectives for the Trust)
- Uncover challenges and guide honest, open and respectful discussions
- Setting of objectives that meet strategic aims and are realistic, measurable and time specific
- Resources and skills/knowledge analysis (exploring gaps that may need to be addressed)
For more information on how to access an EDI strategy development session for your trust board and executives, please email admin@forumstrategy.org
“The experience was extremely beneficial and insightful. It has provided the foundation for the next phase of our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy and the deployment of our newly appointed Directors of Inclusion and Wellbeing.”
Summary evaluations of academy trusts – update and reflective discussion sessions for boards & exec teams
Based on our recent work analysing the key developments around Ofsted’s academy trust summary evaluation model, together with recent emerging evaluation reports, our associate Frank Norris MBE is running update and discussion sessions for trust boards and executive leaders to both inform and help them reflect on the implications. Frank is the former CEO of the Co-op Academies Trust, a former HMI, and a leading commentator on trust and school sector issues.
These sessions include:
- An overview of the oversight of trusts
- The role and scope of Ofsted’s academy trust summary evaluations
- Key insights and learning from reports published so far, and the implications for trusts and trust leaders
- A carefully facilitated opportunity to reflect on the implications for your trust and its ongoing development and improvement
The sessions can be delivered face to face, or online, and run for up to two hours in duration. There is also some pre-reading including key articles on this topic from over the last few years. These sessions are designed to inform and involve both board members and trust senior leadership teams.
To commission a session with Frank either this term or next term, please contact us at admin@forumstrategy.org and we can provide a quote and potential dates; Please note that these sessions are not related to or endorsed by the work of Ofsted and are entirely independent from them. These sessions also do not constitute an inspection or evaluation of any kind, and are based on analysis of documents in the public domain.
In addition to the above, if your Trust has a particular strategy consultancy need that is not covered here, please do contact us and we may be able to help or link you to relevant organisations.
* Please note this provision is subject to availability and is not included in the price of membership, but subject to separate pricing. This specific consultancy offer is not available to non-members.