A CEO of a multi-academy trust has “a significant impact on children’s education, their outcomes and lives”, says Melanie Renowden, chief executive of the National Institute of Teaching (NIOT).

They are also “community and civic leaders who are responsible for large businesses and large numbers of staff”. As such, “their knowledge, skills, confidence and competence are of great import”, she adds.

Furthermore, it’s a role that is set to become even more important, given the government’s commitment to all schools being part of “strong trusts”, as set out in the recently published White Paper.

This means the sector must make sure that “the people who are tasked with the responsibility of leading those trusts are equipped to do that as effectively as they can”, Renowden tells Tes.

Yet, while CEOs are well aware of how important it is for their teams to receive CPD, “at that CEO level there can a little discomfort about prioritising their own development because there is a risk it seems self-indulgent”, she explains.

What’s more, because the trust CEO is a relatively new role, “the availability of evidence about what effective practice looks like is still very thin”.

That’s why in 2023 the NIOT launched its School Trust CEO Programme, commissioned and funded by the Department for Education.

Through this, two cohorts of 73 current or aspiring CEOs took part in a course intended to improve their strategic judgement, leadership confidence and ability to work with boards, executive teams and system partners.

CPD for trust leaders

The results of the pilot programme have now been published as a research report that shares the key findings, providing a blueprint for how trust CEOs should engage with professional learning in the years to come.

Of the report’s 10 recommendations (see below), one of the most interesting - and perhaps surprising - findings is to take what we know about learning for children and apply it to CEOs, says Renowden.

When planning a lesson, a teacher “sequences the learning really deliberately, so that we build in a conceptual understanding and then put that into practice”.

It might be easy to assume that, given the level at which a CEO works, this isn’t needed for them.

But actually this approach should be replicated for CEOs, too, Renowden explains. Once a concept has been introduced during a training session, a CEO should then go to “observe that practice in context” before “putting what they’ve learned in practice in their own trust”.

She adds that another key element of the programme was the experience of immersion - whereby leaders were in the room to see how another trust operates in practice, rather than just listening to a presentation about a theoretical scenario.

This allowed the CEOs to see how certain situations play out “in the boardroom, in executive leadership meetings, in headteacher conferences”, Renowden says.

“They would go to the board meeting, for example, and then they would talk to the CEO about what just happened, the thinking behind it, the preparation before, and what happened following the meeting, to unpack what was being observed and the theory that sat behind it.”

Building networks

This regular, in-person work also allowed peer networks to develop among the participants, she adds. The sector is “asking these leaders to be really bold, strategic leaders; of course, of their trusts but also at a community level. We’re asking them to be part of continuing to improve and positively drive forward the school system”.

“Those things are difficult,” says Renowden. “They require courage and are more easily done in a supportive community where you can test ideas with peers who are operating in the same conditions”.

After the success of the first two cohorts, the NIOT is now looking to run another iteration of the programme to help a new cohort of CEOs learn these lessons. “Our ambition is to keep offering it annually,” Renowden says.

However, the report’s publication makes it clear that the NIOT’s aim is to share these lessons so the entire sector can benefit from these insights - with Renowden saying that perhaps the most important audience for the report is not just CEOs but also trustees.

“Trust boards should be reading this and thinking about what the implications are for the support and development they offer their CEOs,” she says.

The evolution of the MAT system

This is especially important because as the MAT system evolves, the landscape is likely to be increasingly dominated by trust mergers, as what is deemed a “strong trust” more often means one with enough academies to be financially viable.

“As the system moves through that next stage of evolution, including reshaping, perhaps more focus on leadership in place and geographic density - those things are not going to happen by accident,” Renowden says.

“They’re going to require really confident, competent leadership of change. That requires trustees to step up and make sure that’s there.”

Renowden suggests the experience of the CEO programme shows that the willingness is there - not just from the participants themselves but also from the trusts willing to offer up meetings for observation and the leaders willing to coach others.

“There is real recognition that bringing on the next generation of trust leaders is the responsibility of those people who are already in system.”