Choose from a broad selection of workshops delivered by trust leaders, sector experts and CST partners including the National Institute of Teaching and Ambition Institute. Delegates can favourite workshops to create their own personal conference schedule via the Annual Conference app; details will be sent ahead of the conference by email.
Programme details are subject to change.
Where: Hall 1 – Main Auditorium
In this session, policy commentator and former DfE adviser Sam Freedman talks to Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE, CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust, about the power of education to bring communities together and the trust’s work to improve outcomes for disadvantaged young people in a plural society.
Explore articles written by Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE, CEO of the Mulberry Schools Trust.
Read Mulberry Schools Trust’s ‘Looking Through the Kaleidoscope’ – a publication written by Dr Vanessa.
Speakers: Sam Freedman, Dr Vanessa Ogden CBE
Where: Hall 7
The story of one Cornish school trust’s mission to integrate digital technology across all 34 of its schools, with a particular focus on transforming traditional teaching and learning practices, this session will explore the processes followed, the successes achieved, and the challenges faced on a digital journey started ten years too late in a world already turned upside down.
Speakers: Martin Higgs
Where: Hall 8a
Join Hilary Spencer, CEO of Ambition Institute, for a rich discussion with expert panellists on all things recruitment and retention with Jack Worth, Chris Paterson and Chris Armstrong-Stacey.
Speakers: Chris Armstrong-Stacey, Chris Paterson, Hilary Spencer, Jack Worth
Where: Hall 9
Deep economic and social changes have made the civic role of public institutions even more vital – not just to the places they are located in, but in leading a response to the renewal of our communities and of civic life – and the challenges require something different of public leaders; they require us to think in longer term horizons and to build school trusts as public institutions. Join our panel as we explore how we build public institutions as enduring organisations, civic in purpose.
Speakers: Lucy Heller, Sir Jon Coles, Professor Alex Hill, Matthew Taylor CBE
Where: Hall 10a
Following the rollout of the new suite of National Professional Qualifications, this session considers the next frontier of leadership development and how we might build upon strong foundations to ensure all school leaders can access the high quality and evidence informed professional development. This will be brought life through a case study featuring Lift Schools, where leaders are entitled to £100,000 for their own development over five years, with an aspiration for 100 hours of quality CPD every year.
Speakers: Alison Eynon, Katy Patten
Where: Hall 10b
Join us for an in-depth exploration of how we can work together to build the workforce needed to support our children with special educational needs. The session will explore success stories, provide insights into unique offerings, and look at how we can learn across settings. Our panel of leaders will discuss how we can support the development of the workforce, considering both special and mainstream education, to nurture and develop talent.
Speakers: Kamal Bodhanker, Susan Douglas CBE, Simon Knight, Cathie Paine, Tom Rees
Where: Hall 11a
Join Steve Rollett, Deputy CEO of CST, in conversation with Sir Ian Bauckham, Chief Regulator, as they discuss assessment and qualifications.
Speakers: Sir Ian Bauckham CBE, Steve Rollett
Where: Hall 11b
This workshop will explore the steps towards creating a comprehensive climate action plan and how E-Act approached their sustainability journey. Our panel will discuss the considerations involved in decarbonising your estate; selecting and delivering energy efficiency projects that align with trust goals and navigating the funding options to maximize environmental and financial benefits. The session, designed for trusts of five schools and above, will also delve into how to gain traction for sustainability efforts, embedding a culture that motivates staff, students, and other stakeholders to actively participate in and support the trust’s sustainability journey.
Speakers: Robert Gould, Alex Green, Matt Isherwood, Chris Wiseman
Where: Executive Room 1
A degree of alignment is necessary for growing trusts but what this looks like will be different from trust to trust. In this workshop, Arbor’s Phillippa De’Ath will be joined by Stephen Barrett-Kinsley, COO, Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust to discuss how they have used systems to build alignment across the trust and draw on the specific areas they have chosen to align, and why.
This session is ideal for leaders of small to medium-sized trusts who are looking to grow. You’ll leave this session equipped with both food for thought and practical takeaways on how to navigate alignment at your trust. This workshop will draw on the content of Arbor’s eBook, published in partnership with CST, Aligning systems, people and processes in your trust.
Where: Executive Room 2
Join IRIS Education and a panel of trust CFOs for a discussion on the importance of a strong financial operating model across a trust, and how it evolves with growth. Our panellists will dig into some specifics including approaches to budgeting and GAG pooling, procurement models and more, and will share initiatives where they have seen success as well as discussing the challenges growing trusts face.
Speakers: Matthew Douglas, Simon Freeman
Where: Executive Room 7
Join Iona Jackson, Director of Strategy at Edurio, and Chris Tomlinson, Chief Executive of The Co-Operative Academies Trust, as they discuss Edurio’s staff experience survey; findings from interviews with leaders of trusts that score most highly on positive workload; and share what schools and trusts have implemented, the impacts they are seeing, and pitfalls they have experienced along the way.
Speakers: Iona Jackson, Chris Tomlinson
Where: Executive Room 8
Addressing the ongoing recruitment and retention challenge needs a new approach to workforce growth that is not simply about pay. Teachers and school staff increasingly want their work to ‘work’ for them; they want better working conditions, and career and learning pathways that are rewarding.
In this session, our speakers will share examples from trusts that have implemented integrated people strategies that underpin organisational values, with workforce development at the core, and demonstrate how targeted approaches and dedicated time for CPD are helping build strong, purposeful, and rewarded workforce communities.
Where: Hall 1 – Main Auditorium
Join Steve Rollett, Deputy CEO of CST, in conversation with Sir Kevan Collins, Dawn Haywood, and Adrian Ball as they discuss school standards.
Speakers: Adrian Ball, Sir Kevan Collins, Dawn Haywood, Claire Heald, Steve Rollett
Where: Hall 7
This workshop will explore the Learning Futures programme at Arthur Terry Learning Partnership and how they create an equitable learning environment which empowers their learners.
Speakers: Richard Anderton
Where: Hall 8a
In this workshop, Roger Inman and Richard Freeth (Solicitors and SEND legal specialists at Stone King LLP) will review the progress and future of DfE SEND and AP reforms under the new government, including how SEND capacity will increase, how mainstream interventions will happen in practice, and what reforms to funding and EHCPs might mean.
Speakers: Richard Freeth, Roger Inman
Where: Hall 9
Each year CST’s National School Trust Survey – created in partnership with school survey experts Edurio – generates a unique insight into the priorities and challenges for school trust leaders. Join our panel as the delve into the results of the third annual survey and discuss what the findings might mean for the future of the sector.
Speakers: Sir David Carter, Ernest Jenavs, Navdeep Sanghara
Where: Hall 10b
Join our panel as they explore the findings from the pilot year of the National Institute of Teaching and Evidence Based Education’s new teacher-education dataset, including using school data at scale for the purpose of identifying teacher impacts and how this innovation will help support the development of teachers, the new paths this dataset presents for the sector, and how NIOT and EBE are building a collaboration that will ensure maximum data security.
Speakers: Professor Rob Coe, Dr Calum Davey, Shaun Dillon, Dr Ourania Ventista
Where: Hall 11a
Join Karen Bramwell OBE, CEO of Forward As One Church of England Multi Academy Trust, in conversation with Leora Cruddas CBE, Chief Executive of CST, Andy Wolfe, Executive Director of Education at the Church of England Education Office, and Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, as they unveil a joint paper setting out a vision for English schools based on a foundational question which we have in common: How do children and young people, and those who educate them in our schools, flourish?
Speakers: Paul Barber, Karen Bramwell OBE, Leora Cruddas CBE, Andy Wolfe
Where: Hall 11b
Join Tiffany Beck OBE, Head of Education at PLMR, for an interactive session exploring how to integrate communications into change management planning; the importance of good communication in mitigating risk; and how to ensure effective stakeholder management throughout any change management journey.
Speakers: Tiffany Beck OBE
Where: Executive Room 1
Join Penny Swain, Director at Supporting Education Group, and Antonia Spinks, CEO of Pioneer Educational Trust, as they discuss why – despite the headlines – our sector continues to attract large numbers of educated, motivated and engaged people, and how working environments can support and motivate the workforce.
Speakers: Antonia Spinks, Penny Swain
Where: Executive Room 2
Join experts from Pearson as they share insights from the trailblazers whose feedback and unique experiences are transforming what exams look like, plus where and how they can happen, from modified papers to onscreen exams and remote invigilation from home; and how we might identify more ways for all students to best show what they know and can do to answer the question: Where can the inclusion (r)evolution go next?
Speakers: Peter Davies, Dr Liyuan Liu, Les Hopper
Where: Executive Room 7
Join Ian Parry, Director of Education at Southport Learning Trust and Serdar Ferit, CEO of Lyfta, as they discuss the impact of the Southport tragedy and its aftermath on the local community; how we can better prepare students to become compassionate, critical thinkers in an age of misinformation from recent roundtable discussions with over 50 trust leaders; and how a sense of belonging plays a pivotal role in our lives.
Evelyn Forde MBE, former headteacher and past president of ASCL, will conclude the session by sharing how a sense of belonging played a pivotal role in her life and will leave attendees with a thought-provoking question to consider in their work as civic leaders.
Speakers: Serdar Ferit, Evelyn Forde MBE, Ian Parry
Where: Executive Room 8
Join our panel as they explore a range the impact of recent economic shocks, falling rolls, estates maintenance and declining reserves which have led to CEO’s identifying financial sustainability as their top priority for this year in CST’s National School Trust Survey. Our panel will discuss strategic and tactical approaches trusts can take, and how accounting officers and finance directors can deliver strong financial leadership to protect and enable high quality provision.
Speakers: Susan Fielden, Phil Herriot, Stephen Morales, Edward Vitalis
Where: Hall 1 – Main Auditorium
With the curriculum and assessment review’s call for evidence underway, Steve Rollett, Deputy Chief Executive of Confederation of School Trusts, chairs this discussion about what the review should consider. We’ll be joined by Professor Becky Francis CBE, Chair of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and expert voices from the sector including Nimish Lad, Head of Curriculum Development at Creative Education Trust; Cathie Paine, Chief Executive of REAch2 Academy Trust; Jonathan Mountstevens, Deputy Head of Beaumont School; and Jenny Thompson, Trust Leader at Dixons Academies Trust.
Speakers: Professor Becky Francis CBE, Nimish Lad, Jonathan Mountstevens, Cathie Paine, Steve Rollett, Jenny Thompson
Where: Hall 7
Join Alex Bedford, Curriculum Development Director at Unity Schools Partnership, to explore the integration of technology across the school curriculum, how it can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes, and tech-inclusive curriculum and assessment methods.
Speakers: Alex Bedford
Where: Hall 8a
Join Sir Dan Moynihan, Chief Executive of Harris Federation, and Natalie Perera, Chief Executive of the Education Policy Institute, as they discuss addressing issues including child poverty, family destitution, and serious youth violence; the role of the trust in challenging disadvantage and disrupting the status quo of inequality; and closing the disadvantage gap and reducing youth violence.
Speakers: Sir Dan Moynihan, Natalie Perera
Where: Hall 8b
Six years ago, Ambition Institute commissioned a research study, Building Trusts. In this session, Chris Kirk, one of the original research team, will be joined by Rowena Hackwood, CEO of Astrea Academy Trust, Tom Campbell, CEO of E-ACT, and Loic Menzies, leader of the 2018 Building Trusts research team and now Chief Research Officer, Centre for Education Systems, to discuss new findings based on discussions with trust leaders to understand what has remained constant, and how the changing landscape has impacted the role of trusts, and their operating model choices.
Speakers: Tom Campbell, Rowena Hackwood, Chris Kirk, Loic Menzies
Where: Hall 9
Join our panel for a discussion on the role of trusts as civic institutions, chaired by Ed Vainker OBE, trustee of CST and Chief Executive of the Reach Foundation (currently seconded to Ormiston Academies Trust as National Director of Transformation), with: Dawn Haywood, Chief Executive of Windsor Academy Trust; James Lauder, Trust Lead for Civic Responsibility at Dixons Academies Trust; and Moira Marder, Chief Executive of Ted Wragg Trust.
Speakers: Dawn Haywood, James Lauder, Moira Marder, Edward Vainker OBE
Where: Hall 10b
Join our panel for an interactive session exploring insights from the National Institute of Teaching’s School Trust CEO programme, including the evolving landscape of trust leadership; elements of continuity and change necessary for steering trusts towards success in the future; and how leaders can effectively collaborate to benefit both students and the broader educational system.
Speakers: Jennese Alozie, Julian Appleyard OBE, Kamal Bodhanker, Melanie Renowden
Where: Hall 11b
Join Mandy Coalter, Founder of Talent Architects, and Tamsin Frances, Executive Director of Operations and Innovations at Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust, as they discuss how trusts can ensure they are great places to work where people want to stay; building a people strategy that has real impact; the latest evidence and research, as well as practical tips; and experience from Ted Wragg Multi Academy Trust.
Speakers: Mandy Coalter, Tamsin Frances
Where: Executive Room 1
Join Mark Emmerson, Chief Executive of City of London Academies Trust, Katherine Walsh, Director of Inclusion at River Learning Trust, and Emily Patrick, Education Adviser at Renaissance, as they discuss how they are navigating an increase in SEND and mental health need and increased disadvantage, through a centralised approach to streamlining and scaling effective support which puts the needs of each learner at the centre, reduces teacher workload, and makes education more equitable in their trusts.
Speakers: Mark Emmerson, Emily Patrick, Katherine Walsh
Where: Executive Room 8
Join Paul Charman, Managing Director, and Andrew Hill, Head of Partnerships, as they share new research from FFT Education Datalab; explore how value-added progress measures can be used effectively to monitor trust effectiveness, school performance and benchmark education outcomes; the latest national trends; and how effectiveness can be monitored over the coming years.
Speakers: Paul Charman, Andrew Hill
Where: Hall 1 – Main Auditorium
Join Leora Cruddas CBE, Chief Executive of CST, in conversation with Geoff Barton, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education, and Sally Apps, Interim Deputy Chief Executive at Cabot Learning Federation.
Speakers: Sally Apps, Geoff Barton, Leora Cruddas CBE
Where: Hall 7
Join Richard Bright, Executive Advisor at New Bridge Multi Academy Trust, as he delves into the intricacies of supporting students with technology without overwhelming the educators at their side, and how the trust uses a 1:1 iPad programme to empower every learner, with a special focus on ensuring the very best opportunities for pupils with special educational needs.
Speakers: Richard Bright
Where: Hall 8b
This session, led by Robyn Ellis and Judith Kidd from Dixons Academies Trusts, provides space and time for you to digest and make plans alongside your team using a simple but impactful structure to help you work through the content and inspiration you have taken from the two days of conference, from incremental, immediate improvements to large-scale changes. We recommend this session is attended by teams who work together, but we will have a reflective option for colleagues who are in different organisations or prefer to take a moment to reflect alone.
Speakers: Robyn Ellis, Judith Kidd
Where: Hall 9
Join our panel as they explore common themes from CST’s external reviews of governance and discuss the ‘second’ phase of the trust sector; how governance practice keep pace; how we attract the next generation of volunteers who can navigate the fast-paced, complex world of today, envisage tomorrow and bring the diverse perspectives crucial to the future success of trusts; and how we might benefit from exercising ‘stewardship’ rather than ‘ownership’.
Speakers: Dawn Carman-Jones, Ellie Gadsby, Dr Lizzie Oliver, Samira Sadeghi, Rama Venchard MBE
Where: Hall 10b
Join a panel of leaders from the National Institute of Teaching as they share the findings from a new global survey ‘review of reviews’ relating to teacher education and the ‘gaps’ it has uncovered, and how the project can support trusts to engage in existing research and robust literature.
Speakers: Professor Sin Wang Chong, Dr Calum Davey, Dr Emily Oxley, Chris Paterson
Where: Hall 11a
Join Browne Jacobson for a legal and HR masterclass from Partners Emma Hughes and Polly O’Malley who will share the key ‘need to knows’ for executive leaders; draw on a number of specific aspects of legal and HR advice; insights on perennial issues and key challenges in strategic projects, such as large collaborations; and emerging topical issues to be picked closer to the conference.
Speakers: Emma Hughes, Polly O’Malley
Where: Hall 11b
Join John Murphy, former CEO of Oasis Community Learning, in conversation with Dr Sam Parrett CBE, Chief Executive, and Louise Wolsey, Chief Strategy Officer of the London & South East Education Group, to explore their work with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and the Social Value Portal which enables systematic planning and delivery of social and civic work – and provides an economic value on that work across their trust, FE college group, and Foundation.
Speakers: Mark Lanni, John Murphy, Dr Sam Parrett CBE, Louise Wolsey
Where: Executive Room 2
Join Kelly Potton, Advocate Director at Education Mutual, in conversation with Phil Beecher, Director of Finance at Active Learning Trust, and Russell Dalton, Consultant at CSMB, as they discuss how leaders can create thriving environments where staff can flourish; strategies to enhance school business leaders’ mental health and wellbeing; and how unlocking wellbeing can unleash operational efficiency and improved trust performance.
Speakers: Phil Beecher, Russell Dalton, Kelly Potton
Where: Executive Room 7
With the budgetary burden of energy costs at critical levels, it is vital that trusts have a fit for purpose energy strategy. The session will examine the unique requirements of trusts and discuss what considerations should be given by trusts of different sizes, maturity, and net zero progress. Join Chris Felgate (Ginger Energy) and James Miller (Ormiston Academies Trust) as they discuss the challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned, as well as answering your questions.
Speakers: Chris Felgate, James Miller
Where: Executive Room 8
Join Simon Hill, Managing Director of YPO, and Christian Turton, Edtech Lead at Chiltern Learning Trust, as they discuss building a strategic roadmap to navigate the complex edtech market; how to identify need, align technology with curriculum goals, and evaluate solutions based on functionality, scalability, and cost-effectiveness; and explore data security, student privacy, and teacher support through practical tips to make an informed decision.
Speakers: Ash Cartwright, Jason Gould, Simon Hill, Christian Turton,
