A Fit-Check Framework for Joining a Trust

Maintained schools can feel pressured towards academisation, while worrying about losing identity, autonomy, and local decision-making.  This session is a practical fit-check for schools considering joining a trust.  Using a real onboarding case study, Lorna breaks down what to ask, what to validate, and the red flags a polished presentation will not show you.  The aim is informed decision-making, with eyes wide open, not recruitment.

In this session we explore

• The real concerns in primary and secondary communities, identity, autonomy, and being “done to”

• The questions that reveal how a trust operates day to day, not what it promises on a slide deck

• What to validate before you commit, who to speak to, what to ask, and what evidence to request

• How to assess financial transparency, central services, and what “support” actually means in practice

• What good looks like in governance, decision rights, school improvement, estates, and operational responsiveness

Take home points

• A clear set of fit-check questions for school leaders and business teams

• Practical red flags to watch for, beyond the glossy pitch

• A simple validation plan, conversations to have, documents to request, and site visits that matter

• A way to protect school identity while joining something bigger, without becoming a passenger

This session is for

SBMs and school business teams in maintained schools, headteachers and governors weighing conversion, and trust leaders involved in onboarding or supporting schools through transition.

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