Bosses of trusts wanting to expand are being told by regional directors to get mentoring from other experienced leaders as collaboration comes to the fore in the sector. Schools Week analysis of regional director board minutes shows numerous chief executives, chief finance officers and chairs of expanding chains have been advised to secure support since September. The sessions have helped chief executives assess their school improvement capacity and structure their central teams. Some have been put in touch with multi-academy trust chiefs by the Department for Education 鈥 while others were left to seek out mentors themselves. Supporting second generation CEOs One expert close to the advisory board process said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a judgement [on the leader]. Top of the trusts: Training the next generation of academy CEOs 鈥淲e鈥檙e onto the second- or third-generation CEOs with new people stepping in and their trusts are growing quite a lot, so it鈥檚 about supporting that so they don鈥檛 fail or struggle.鈥 Regional director advisory board minutes show mentoring support for leaders has been recommended 14 times since September. On four other occasions, it was included as a condition of approval for academy trust expansion bids. The trusts had, on average, nine schools. The southwest issued the advice the most (six times) since September, while no such recommendations were minuted during meetings in London and the East Midlands. 鈥楩rom running a school to a business鈥 Anthony Guise is set to launch a five-academy trust in September, having run a local authority-maintained school since 2019. He has discussed the 鈥減racticalities of setting up and securing compliance鈥 since being put in touch with Carol Dewhurst, of Bradford Diocesan Academy Trust. 鈥淚鈥檓 going from running a school to running a business essentially,鈥 he said. Northern Education Trust CEO Rob Tarn, who used to be on an advisory board, added that maintained school heads 鈥渟uddenly get exposed to things they鈥檝e never needed any knowledge of鈥 when they take on a multi-academy trust. 鈥淭hey have to have an external auditor, a risk register, produce monthly management accounts and follow the academies handbook. 鈥淧eople can come into CEO roles not even knowing what ‘scheme of delegation’ means, let alone what the best one is.鈥 It was during the talks that Guise learned he wouldn鈥檛 need to apply for capital funding, as his trust would have more than 3,000 pupils so would get it automatically.聽 Sarah Baker Dewhurst will also run the rule over Guise鈥檚 central services plans, too. The mentoring has also extended to his chair. 鈥淪he鈥檚 going to be observing one of their meetings to see how they鈥檙e run,鈥 he added. Dewhurst鈥檚 chief financial officer will also attend the interviews for the soon-to-be-formed trust鈥檚 CFO position to ensure candidates 鈥渉ave the technical nous required to fulfil the role鈥. Minutes show that the leaders of two new trusts in the southwest were advised they should be mentored for 12 months 鈥渢o provide [them with] positive and constructive support鈥. Advice on growth Andrew Minchin, of Beyond Schools Trust (BST) in Kent, contacted Jon Chaloner, GLF Schools鈥 former CEO, after being told in November to consult another multi-academy trust to 鈥渟upport the scale of change鈥. The DfE had approved plans for BST to expand from five schools to 10. The pair have since had three sessions, which have been paid for by the trust. Chaloner has looked at the trust鈥檚 school improvement capacity and functions, but will also advise on the 鈥渘ext stage of our five-year strategic plan, [which] we鈥檙e going to review and update鈥. Chaloner said one of the key focuses will be helping Minchin to prioritise. 鈥淪ometimes as CEO you prioritise the issue that is the noisiest at the time. But sometimes you need to step back, and talk it through.鈥 In the southwest, Salterns Academy Trust was advised to speak to an advisory board member 鈥渢o understand and learn from experience of overseeing an all-through鈥 trust. The recommendation was made as the regional director gave the multi-academy trust, which only consisted of two secondaries, the go-ahead to take on a school that teaches children aged between four and 16. 鈥楾alent pooling鈥 and central teams Meanwhile in December, Yorkshire and Humber advisory board members suggested mentoring 鈥渕ay be beneficial鈥 to TEAM Education Trust CEO Sarah Baker, as they considered plans for her to take on a special school in the region. At the time the chain, which has three east Midlands academies, was also developing two satellites linked to its special school, Stubbin Wood in Mansfield. Baker said the board wanted her to speak to CEOs with experience of 鈥渢aking on multiple projects at once鈥. She 鈥渓inked up with a CEO of a special trust in a different part of the country, so it was non-competitive鈥 and the boss of a medium-sized mainstream multi-academy trust. 鈥淸Talking about] onboarding the schools has been critical, [along with] scaling up and when you would be ready to take on the next school or satellite provision. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also been about the roles you might need in your central team, what you might centralise, and how you develop your staff to work across the trust, rather than going out to recruitment.鈥 As part of this, Baker has done work around 鈥渢alent pooling鈥, which focuses on 鈥渨here the next layer of leadership will come from鈥 within TEAM. Chief executives are also being talked through subjects such as integrated curriculum financial planning and executive team structures. 鈥楻eal appetite for collaboration鈥 These attempts by regional directors to nudge leaders towards mentoring are in addition to DfE鈥檚 attempts to develop the next generation of CEOs. The promised an academy trust chief executive training programme as part of the 鈥済olden thread of professional development鈥. The National Institute of Teaching鈥檚 government-backed scheme subsequently kicked off two months ago. Its 12-month course will involve mentoring from up to 25 CEOs. Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said it was 鈥渧ery good to see the spirit of professional generosity and collaboration now permeating our sector.鈥 Jon Chaloner There is 鈥渁 real appetite for collaboration among trust leaders鈥, she added. 鈥淲e are richer as a professional community when we work together.鈥澛 Chaloner added that societal shocks in recent years have led people to realise 鈥渋f we work together, we go further”. 鈥淐ompetition means that you can only win at the expense of someone else, whereas collaboration鈥檚 aim is to uplift each other. 鈥淭o have the next generation of CEOs working together, that can only be for the benefit of our children.鈥 A spokesperson for the Department for Education said trusts sharing best practice is a 鈥渉ugely important part of continuously improving the standards of education for children鈥.