Shane Ierston

CEO, The Great Schools Trust

Shane Ierston was a successful academy principal for nine years before taking up his post as CEO at the Great Schools Trust. In 2012, he became the founding Principal of King’s Leadership Academy Warrington, which was later judged outstanding under his leadership. King’s Warrington was the first academy in the trust and performs in the top four percent of state schools nationally for progress. Shane’s career spans 26 years across a range of settings, his portfolio includes school transformation and cross trust improvement work for the DfE. Shane is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and served as an Inspector at Ofsted for six years.

Debate

1 Breakout sessions: Series two

What will teaching and learning look like in 2036?

In this second our three conference debate sessions, TES Editor Jon Severs will explore the next decade of teaching and learning with a panel of trust leaders and education thinkers. How will our classrooms look a decade from now? What do we need to do to get there, and ensure it succeeds for all our children?

1 Workshop series three

Leveraging the levy: the strategic role of teaching apprenticeships

This session will explore how trusts can make strategic use of the apprenticeship levy to upskill teaching assistants and support staff into qualified teacher roles, while minimising costs. The levy is widely underutilised, often due to misconceptions about its relevance and complexity. This workshop will address myths surrounding the levy, share best practice, and offer a clear, operationally focused overview of how trusts can leverage the levy to create great career pathways. Attendees will hear directly from trust leaders who have used the levy to access the first TA to teacher pathway, without the need for a traditional degree. Join us to explore how integrated teaching apprenticeships can transform your workforce and talent development strategies.