Being able to plan effectively is undoubtedly one of the most critical elements of a trust board’s function. Analysing the external environment and thinking about sustainability are a vital part of this, as the Academy Trust Governance Code lays out.

But what does this look like in practice? Regularly reviewing financial health and operational resilience will be important, alongside considering the implications of strategic changes and recognising responsibilities towards the community and wider society.

All of this is more important than ever during times of major strategic change. For the final instalment of our series on trustees, we spoke to leaders and trustees from Eko Trust and the Compass Partnership of Schools, as they look ahead to a possible merger (awaiting a final decision later this summer).

So, how are they navigating this complex process? And what can they share with others about how to plan ahead?

The big picture

For Philippa King, chair of trustees for Eko Trust, the starting point was the 2020-25 five-year plan, which outlined a core ambition to grow a more sustainable and mature organisation, aiming for increased capacity, expertise and improved value for money and service quality. Trustees were “deeply involved” in developing, approving and monitoring the strategy, she explains.

But growth is “one of the highest risks on our risk register that the trustees review termly”, continues Jill Cameron, lead for governance and operations at Eko Trust.

“We have two trustee strategic afternoons a year, and growth has always been one of the major topics for those,” she explains, with the board exploring questions such as: what does growth look like for us? What are the opportunities out there? What is the right move for us, strategically?

Over at Compass, trustees are “constantly evaluating our size to ensure maximum benefit for our schools and children”, says chief operating officer Kate Jarrett-Shorter, and there is also a dedicated trust development committee, which “actively fosters growth and opportunities for staff”.

Susan Skidmore, chair of the board of trustees at Compass, explains that as primary-only trusts, both Compass and Eko decided against expanding into the secondary sector and to instead focus on their shared strengths in supporting disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs and disabilities, to propose a merger that is not merely a “marriage of convenience”, but instead driven by “a very strong purpose that we both have”.

“We knew from the work that we’d done together that the relationships were there and that there was a shared vision,” agrees King. “There was a lot of synergy, and enough working knowledge of each other that it’s not just some kind of ‘speed dating’ arrangement.”

Looking ahead to what a merger could be like has meant focusing on a model where “strong school leaders are well supported to lead amazing schools”, says Philip Cranwell, deputy CEO and CFO at Eko. He explains that both trusts aim to keep their central teams lean, viewing leaders as part of a wider network driving school improvement across multiple institutions.

And trustees have been a fundamental part of the conversations navigating those high-level questions, explains Jarrett-Shorter, who highlights the essential nature of challenge in “ensuring the right decision for our organisation”, testing out ideas and “getting to a position where our trustees feel confident in the direction”.

The specifics

For Rebekah Iiyambo, CEO at Eko, while there is excitement that “as a larger trust, we could do things differently”, she emphasises that there is no desire to “design that before we merge”. Instead, she continues, the approach is to create a “very staged and stepped” plan towards their objectives, with the trust board “holding the executive to account” for delivering on their promises.

“We start and end each meeting looking at how well we’ve worked together as a team against our principles, including simplicity,” she continues. “We’re not trying to overcomplicate what could be a very complicated process. And one of the really important things about this is how we’re moving through this pre-merger stage. How are we listening? Are we really listening to what everybody is saying, and are we really up for hearing different perspectives?”

From leaders, she continues, there has been positive feedback about “working with an even larger pool of really strong practitioners” and the “networks that we will be able to create and enhance as a result of coming together”.

There is also positivity about the possibilities of enhancing professional development for support staff, she continues, noting that while both trusts already do well in this area, as a larger organisation, they will be able to devise and develop programmes that give support staff better career development and professional pathways to address the diverse needs of children in their schools.

And the existing shared HR function between the trusts means that a conceivably challenging element of the merger is “already very streamlined”, says Cameron.

“As part of that, the policies have been aligned over the past two years, so there are some minor differences, but we know what they are. That means that one potentially very complex aspect of the merger is already in place, so the board can be charged with looking at wider policies.”

John Camp, CEO of Compass, emphasises that, as they plan ahead, above all, the key stakeholders that the board will be bearing in mind are “parents and children and staff”, all of whom ultimately just want to know that their school will “continue to be a brilliant place”.

“It’s how we build trust and faith in the trust structure,” he says. “And for us, that’s what the trust does. It provides a degree of assurance around the continued provision of an amazing school at the heart of its community. It can feel hard for stakeholders to grasp exactly what [a new structure] means in terms of day-to-day operation, so they test its effectiveness in relation to the school they are directly involved in, and that’s key.

“Both trusts run brilliant schools, and that will continue. From our feedback so far, stakeholders understand that and have faith in that, and that’s the most important thing for them, and it’s the most important thing for us,” Camp adds.

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