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The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

School performance and accountability

Steve Taylor
17 March 2017

MATs: a 'try before you buy' approach

Executive head Steve Taylor explains why his multi-academy trust are taking struggling schools on loan for a year as part of a ‘try before you buy’ scheme. Robin Hood Multi-Academy Trust formed in September 2016 with a clear vision: to test the boundaries of education, take risks and follow what we...
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John Viner
9 March 2017

Voluntary but unvalued: the crisis in governor recruitment

When governors are so often blamed for poor inspection judgements, is it any wonder that schools struggle to get committed volunteers through the door? When preparing for a Section 48 inspection I have to read a number of documents, including the school’s most recent Ofsted report. Recently, I...
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Lisa Griffin
7 February 2017

Accountability: what do we mean and what does it look like?

The Headteachers Roundtable Summit saw more than 200 attendees come together to focus on key issues including assessment and accountability and recruitment and retention. The summit kicked off with chair of the Headteachers Roundtable core group Stephen Tierney talking about accountability. It was...
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Lisa Griffin
19 October 2016

‘A revolution is happening’: Tim Coulson on multi-academy trusts

At our recent MATs Summit, regional school commissioner Tim Coulson spoke to us about the role of the RSC and developing successful relationships with trusts. What do you think of the suggestion we heard earlier from Dame Dana Ross-Wawrzynski that MAT inspections should be based on an appraisal...
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Liz Worthen
18 October 2016

‘Because you care, you can pull it off’: Lord Blunkett at the MATs Summit 2016

Grammar schools, career pathways, dealing with controversy and creating change: David Blunkett reflects on the current landscape for leaders in education. One of the highlights of the Optimus Education MATs Summit was hearing Lord Blunkett in conversation with Laura McInerney , editor of Schools...
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Nickii Messer
11 October 2016

Driving change and getting staff on board

One of the most certain things in schools is that nothing remains certain for long! Ensure you are communicating change clearly and effectively. Change happens all the time, and business managers and leaders constantly have to manage not only the change, but the people who are (or think they will...
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Lisa Griffin
30 August 2016

Could you be a MAT CEO?

We spoke to multi-academy trust CEOs to find out their biggest challenges and advice they would give to new and aspiring CEOs. What key skills does a MAT CEO need? Vision developer Strategist Leadership developer Quality assurer Communicator for the MAT Ambassador for the MAT How important is it...
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Alex Masters
23 May 2016

Academy conversion: how SBMs can prepare

Could your school be considering converting to an academy? We offer expert advice on how school business managers can feel prepared. Despite the recent government U-turn on academisation, the prospect of academy conversion is still inevitable for many and SBMs are concerned about life without LA...
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Lisa Griffin
23 March 2016

MATs: can the system cope?

Academy conversion and multi-academy trust growth seems to be the future for our educational landscape. Lisa Griffin explores the challenges and priorities this brings for MATs. As the DfE released its first white paper since 2010, Educational excellence everywhere , Nicky Morgan announced ‘This...
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Sam Attwater
2 March 2016
★ UPDATED 03 July 2019

28 steps to achieving an outstanding early years Ofsted judgement

Sam Attwater outlines the key things your early years setting will need to do to achieve an outstanding Ofsted judgement. Alongside a new common inspection framework , Ofsted has published a revised early years inspection handbook (EIF) which sets out how Ofsted inspects registered early years...
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