The MAT Growth Conference 2022

Events For Education

08:00 am
04 Oct, 2022
15Hatfields Conference Centre, London SE1 8DJ

The MAT Growth Conference 2022

Events For Education

08:00 am
04 Oct, 2022
15Hatfields Conference Centre, London SE1 8DJ

The MAT Growth Conference 2022

The government has set out a vision in the recent Schools Whitepaper that “all schools will be part of strong trusts by 2030”, or in the process of joining.

  • Over 17,500 schools are in line to be affected by the white paper proposals.
  • 42% of academies are still not part of a MAT/SAT.
  • 607 schools in academic year 21/22 joined a MAT of 10 or more schools.

The conference will aim to address challenges faced when driving growth and look at how mergers will become an important factor in the coming years

The MAT Growth Conference is in partnership with the Multi Academy Trust Association, which has been supporting trusts through this journey by delivering forums filled with guidance, networking, and best practice.

Join us at the School Estates Conference 2022. Your pass provides access to live and interactive workshops, panel discussions, networking, refreshments and much more…

Headline Sponsor

Strictly Education

Key Subjects

  • How to evolve your MAT as it goes from small to large?
  • Discuss the recent 2022 School’s Whitepaper and what this means for your trust.
  • The role of mergers; concerns, challenges, and opportunities.
  • What makes a ‘strong’ trust?
  • Areas to review in your annual governance cycle
  • Growth and operational efficiency
  • Ofsted MAT summary evaluations
  • Financial sustainability

Who will Attend

  • CEOs
  • Deputy CEOs
  • CFOs
  • COOs
  • Directors of Finance
  • Directors of Governance
  • Executive Headteachers
  • Directors of Learning
  • HR Directors
  • Finance Leads
  • School improvement leads
  • Trustees
  • Chairs

 

Speakers

Al Kingsley

Hampton Academies Trust

Chair

Andrew Riches

Inspiring Primaries Academy Trust

CEO

Antony Wambua

Applicaa Ltd

Product Director

Bradley Allan

IRIS

EdTech Consultant

Caroline Cusselle

Strictly Education

Head of HR Services

Clare Collins

NGA

Head of Consultancy

Jeff Marshall

J&G Marshall Ltd

MD

Lisa Blatchford

Viking Academy Trust

HR Director

Mandy Coalter

Talent Architects

Founder

Matthew Crawford

Embark Federation

CEO

Owen McColgan

The Howard Academy Trust

Chief Executive

Ross Bennett

Engaging Education

Commercial Director

Sam Henson (Chair of Panel)

NGA

Director of Policy and Information

Tom Kershaw

IRIS Education

Education Market Specialist

Sponsors & Partners

The programme

08:00

Registration, Networking & Breakfast

Registration, Networking & Breakfast

09:00

Chairs Opening Address

Chairs Opening Address

09:10

Governance 360 – the top 10 areas to review in your annual governance cycle.

Al Kingsley
Chair
Hampton Academies Trust

The key areas to review as part of your annual governance cycle, from board skills, to the scheme of delegation to evidencing effective challenge. Sharing a few top tips and experience from my roles as chair of Trust boards, schools and an RSC Advisory board member. 

09:30

"For all schools to be in strong multi-academy trusts"

Ross Bennett
Commercial Director
Engaging Education
Andrew Riches
CEO
Inspiring Primaries Academy Trust

How do you create the compelling narrative that ensures your MAT stands out and is recognised as a strong Trust, ready to grow?

09:50

Growing a trust through enhancing the Mat Dividend

Matthew Crawford
CEO
Embark Federation

Keynote Session

Matt will share how the trust has grown from 7-15 schools over the last 2 years through enhancing the Mat Dividend.

10:10

Top Tips to Improve Growth and Operational Efficiency in MATS

Antony Wambua
Product Director
Applicaa Ltd
Antony will launch Applicaa’s powerful CRM which includes powerful functionalities for Admissions, Enrolment and Bursary. Antony will deliver a product demonstration tailored specifically for Multi-Academy Trusts to show how Applicaa’s CRM will deliver operational efficiency, saving time and money.

10:30

Q&A Panel Debate

Q&A Panel Debate

10:45

Morning Break, Networking & Refreshments

Morning Break, Networking & Refreshments

11:15

Experiences of Ofsted MAT Summary Evaluations

Owen McColgan
Chief Executive
The Howard Academy Trust

This session will explore experiences of a Trust who have recently had an Ofsted MAT Summary Evaluation in July 2022.  We will explore the spotlight areas focussed on by the HMI team, overall format of the evaluation and sessions attended by Trust Leaders and Heads of School.

11:35

How to evolve the MAT organisation as it goes from small to large?

Mandy Coalter
Founder
Talent Architects
Caroline Cusselle
Head of HR Services
Strictly Education

‘How to evolve the MAT organisation as it goes from small to large’ Caroline and Mandy will be drawing on their experiences of working with many MAT leaders and Trusts of various sizes and stages of growth and also insights from recent research undertaken by Strictly Education’s parent company, Supporting Education Group.

We will focus on the key elements to consider on your growth journey including culture, capacity, leadership, due diligence and your offer to new member schools. Your staff are your greatest asset; recruiting and retaining Talent are critical to success and we will share some of the key people issues to consider as you grow.

The learning outcomes from the seminar will enable you to:

• Understand the importance of people vision, strategy and culture during growth
• See the benefits of building an effective HR operating model and infrastructure
• Understand the importance of great employee engagement and the impact it can make

11:55

Let’s cut to the chase… (Workshop Session)

Andrew Riches
CEO
Inspiring Primaries Academy Trust

Workshop Session

An opportunity to come together and discuss the questions that are on everybody’s mind, a workshop format in small focus groups.

  1. Are you a strong Trust?
  2. What makes a strong trust?
  3. How do you become a strong trust?

12:15

Q&A Panel

Q&A Panel

12:30

Networking & Refreshments Break

Networking & Refreshments Break

12:55

Lunch

Lunch

13:30

How can centralisation help you balance financial sustainability with trust growth?

Tom Kershaw
Education Market Specialist
IRIS Education
Bradley Allan
EdTech Consultant
IRIS

Budgets are being pushed to the limit. Energy bills are rising, salaries are going up and inflation is soaring. Additionally, pressure on trusts to grow is leaving many feeling overwhelmed.

Centralisation of platforms, data and resources can help. This session explores how a top-down, unified approach can optimise efficiency, save money and support growth.

13:55

But what if we can’t grow? (Workshop Session)

Lisa Blatchford
HR Director
Viking Academy Trust

What happens if smaller trusts want to grow but don’t have any room or opportunity for growth?

What are consequences of being in this position now the DfE have published their intention to have a fully trust led system of education by 2030?

How can MATs navigate such circumstances so they can retain their autonomy?

14:15

Growth: risk or opportunity? (Panel Discussion)

Jeff Marshall
MD
J&G Marshall Ltd
Clare Collins
Head of Consultancy
NGA
Sam Henson (Chair of Panel)
Director of Policy and Information
NGA

Clare Collins – Head of Consultancy

Sam Henson – Director of Policy and Information

14:55

Closing Address

Closing Address

15:00

Close of Day

Close of Day

Slides

Gallery

The MAT Growth Conference 2022 Photo Gallery

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Convenzis Healthcare Event testimonials

Testimonials

Thank you once again for allowing us to exhibit and present directly in the afternoon to the MATs attending. I know it was a lovely day but weather aside it felt wonderful to be back face to face and your conference was so friendly and inviting. I could see the hard work everyone was doing to make it so successful

Department For Education

“the whole event was really well organised and the choice of speakers and the range of topics were of excellent quality.
As a supplier, it was great to gain insight to understand the issues and concerns when considering growing or merging MATs, where the priorities are focused and the key learnings for those CEOs who have gone through the journey.
I would recommend attending a future Convenzis conference or event, as the quality was first class.”

Education Buying

The National MAT Conference was a great first show for us and produced a number of quality lead opportunities.

Quality of the attendees/delegates was great. The Convenzis team were professional and approachable throughout, and special thanks to Daniel for helping us swap stand positions to incorporate the SMART IFP.

Conversations with the MAT delegates who attended our stand on the day were positive and it was good to understand where they were currently in their Digital transformation journey post-pandemic.

A really positive great show. Our partner, Elementary Technology Ltd, also concurred that the quality of the delegates that attended were the right people and those key decision-makers.

Aver

“We were impressed by the excellent session line-up and quality of the audience. The team at Convenzis are friendly and were always on hand to help in the run-up. We’re looking forward to the MAT Growth & Merger Conference in October.”

The Key

“The MAT Growth & Merger Conference was a well organised, high-quality event that we thoroughly enjoyed being involved at. The team were professional and friendly, always available to help with our requests. The speakers and audience seniority was excellent, we look forward to continuing to be a part of Convenzis events in the future!”

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