Academy conversions are on the rise and trusts are getting bigger. The average MAT now has more than eight schools on its books, up from six in 2019. So as more leaders consider growth, what do we know about how to do this well? Schools Week spoke to leaders who have helped right the ship after their trusts got growth wrong to find out what they learned as they set sights on expanding again. Pause and take a breath John Murphy, Trust鈥檚 former CEO, told an event earlier this month he was 鈥渋rresponsible enough to take on 29 schools in special measures鈥 between 2014 and 2016. Rebecca Boomer-Clark, AET鈥檚 chief executive, said there were 鈥減lenty of high-profile examples of MATs that simply grew too fast鈥 at the start of the academy movement. Rebecca Boomer Clark There were several other 鈥渘ear misses鈥, she added, with trusts having 鈥渟tretched their organisational capacity and bandwidth to the limit, and sometimes took several years to return to a steady state鈥. In 2013, AET was placed on a pause list by government, meaning it could not grow for four years. 鈥淚t would be irresponsible for us not to heed the lessons of the past,鈥 she added. In 2018, Murphy paused Oasis鈥檚 growth after realising 鈥渨e can鈥檛 keep on doing [it]. We had lots of successes…we managed to get schools out of special measures, managed to raise results in a number of schools. But it was chaotic 鈥 because we weren鈥檛 systemising what we were doing.鈥 He pointed to how youngsters across Oasis鈥檚 schools would have a 鈥渁 totally different education鈥 to each other, despite being part of 鈥渢he same organisation鈥. A batch inspection of 10 of the trust鈥檚 academies in 2015 had concluded a 鈥渓egacy of weak challenge and insufficiently systematic or rigorous improvement work鈥 had 鈥渞esulted in slow or little improvement for nearly half鈥 of them. Beware isolation In 2016, then Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw published a scathing letter after several such 鈥渇ocused inspections鈥, naming and shaming trusts for 鈥渟erious weaknesses that were contributing to poor progress and outcomes for too many pupils鈥. Paul Tarn was appointed to lead one of them, the School Partnership Trust Academies (SPTA), the month before. 鈥淭hey had schools in special measures, lots of RI schools and the finance was absolutely broken,鈥 Tarn recalled. 鈥淭he trust also had a projected 拢8.6 million in-year deficit in 2016鈥17. It was a complete and utter mess.鈥 East Midlands and the Humber regional schools commissioner Jennifer Bexon-Smith decided to strip the trust, since renamed Delta Academies Trust, of three 鈥渋solated鈥 schools in Nottinghamshire. A lesson was to not take on the odd school that is 鈥済eographically isolated鈥 from others. Doing so would be 鈥渟illy鈥 as they 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 be able to share resources 鈥 it would just be a vanity project鈥. The Department for Education pledged two years ago to focus more on giving chains clusters of schools. Tarn has now set his sights on launching a 鈥渟outhern group鈥, having taken on a pair of schools in Nottingham and Lincolnshire. But 鈥渨e think we might have a couple of others interested. We鈥檙e looking for groups or clusters. If it鈥檚 one school, [we look at] if it鈥檚 large enough to put a cluster around it.鈥 Growing in hubs Tom Campbell, chief executive of E-ACT, which was also named in Wilshaw鈥檚 letter, said the 鈥渃lustering model 鈥 adds resilience and infrastructure鈥. After being banned from expanding back in 2014, the trust is now expected to have 10 more schools on its book by the end of this year. 鈥淚f you go back to the beginning, you鈥檇 go 鈥榳hy would you have schools in the northwest, southwest, London?鈥欌 he said. But he added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e now been there so long that we鈥檙e embedded there and building around that.鈥 In these areas, the trust has tried to add secondary provision where there is none and primaries in parts of the country where these are lacking. Campbell has looked to take on special schools 鈥渨here we鈥檝e got high needs in terms of SEND鈥. It ensures his trust maintains 鈥渙perational capacity鈥 as 鈥渁ll of that is already there鈥, while enhancing his ability to maintain school improvement. However, he fears other CEOs with an eye on growth may not be considering these aspects. ‘Consider impact on operational capacity’ 鈥淚f you look at advisory board minutes, you鈥檒l see examples of small trusts with two or three schools suddenly becoming seven or eight overnight,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e thinking, 鈥楬ave they considered the impact on operational capacity, what their tools are around school improvement?鈥欌 Among those joining E-ACT is a school that acts as a feeder to the trust鈥檚 only secondary in Daventry, west Northamptonshire. Campbell said the addition means 鈥渨e [now] provide most of the education for the town鈥. It is also due to subsume The Venturers Trust, an eight-school chain in Bristol, over the summer. Campbell runs six schools in the area, also used as a base for central team members. 鈥淚t鈥檚 thought through 鈥 it鈥檚 not scattergun,鈥 Campbell continued. 鈥淲e wanted to work where we were already working because we have the operational infrastructure there 鈥 it meant that any growth could focus on school improvement.鈥 Making trusts 鈥榓 family鈥 Wilshaw鈥檚 letter suggested that some trusts were not providing 鈥渞obust oversight, challenge and support to ensure that pupils in all their academies receive a good quality of education鈥. Both Tarn and Murphy said some of their issues stemmed from schools not working and teaching in a similar manner. John Murphy When Tarn took over SPTA he found teachers across his academies had not been able to collaborate 鈥渙n high-quality resources and share the workload鈥. Instead, they were working in 鈥渟mall silos鈥. In history, there were 鈥渁bout 16 different specifications鈥. To solve this, he introduced shared curriculum plans. Subject specialists were then appointed to work across the academies. 鈥淭oday we have common assessments, gap analysis that helps children, resources that go with that and we deploy staff where we see things aren鈥檛 going well. It doesn鈥檛 mean everybody鈥檚 doing the right thing 鈥 it means you鈥檝e got a common spine that runs through the trust.鈥 At the point, Murphy brought his expansion to a halt, he realised his trust was not acting as 鈥渙ne family鈥 I had 52 schools doing 48 different curriculums.鈥 To aid this, his team devised an 鈥淥asis curriculum鈥. ‘Learn how to unlock capacity’ Statements of intent were drawn up and shared along with 鈥渟chemes of work in lesson plans鈥. Every academy was given 鈥渁n individual plan that was then differentiated according to that school鈥檚 stage and journey鈥. 鈥淲hat I was doing was going through a process of having individual academies with shared aims, shared processes and creating that sense of organisational synergy,鈥 Murphy added. Campbell noted that across his clusters of schools, in the likes of Birmingham and Bristol, he now has 鈥渉undreds鈥 of maths teachers. This means the trust has 鈥渢o learn how to unlock that capacity, connect the best teachers, share the best practice, or accelerate school improvement鈥. Delta shares 鈥渁ll鈥 its 鈥渄ata with everyone in the trust鈥, allowing heads to compare notes on performance. Regular network meetings are held with leaders and the trust鈥檚 core team. 鈥淲hen you put systems in place and everybody pulls in the same direction, rather than against each other,鈥 Tarn added, 鈥渋t鈥檚 likely you鈥檒l make rapid progress.鈥 Sharing lessons learned Righting the ships has put these trusts in an ideal position to share wider lessons with others. Through its Project H, AET is sharing the work because it wants to 鈥渃elebrate our successes鈥, but also 鈥渂elieve in the power of learning from setbacks and embracing failure鈥. Campbell added it is 鈥渋ncumbent on larger trusts to make their resources available for others鈥. E-ACT has started to run 鈥渋deas conferences 鈥渨here we invite staff from outside the trust to benefit from our training, events, speakers. 鈥淲e did growth in system leadership capacity, so before we took on more schools we said 鈥榓re there trusts or other projects we can support?鈥 鈥淲e鈥檙e not hiding that capacity 鈥 we鈥檙e going 鈥榳e鈥檝e got some great stuff. It鈥檚 working in our schools 鈥 would it work in yours?鈥欌