We are recruiting for a Professional Communities Manager to lead the development, content curation, and operational delivery of CST’s 11 Professional Communities. Applications close at midday on Tuesday 30 September. Find out more: https://twp.ai/9PVaJL

I was pleased to attend the Centre for Social Justice's report launch on Monday, which offered insights and solutions to the attendance challenges many schools face. In his remarks, Sir Kevan Collins was right to describe it as two problems: acute and chronic. 1/7

Congratulations to all young people collecting L2 results today, and to the staff, families and communities who have nurtured them.

Congratulations from all of us at CST to all young people receiving L3 qualifications today, and the staff who helped them get there. For these young people, today marks a chapter closing but also the start of the next part of their stories. Good luck to them all.

Interesting idea this from Sam

Our 11th case study has landed today on the School Improvement Hub, courtesy of E-ACT. Thank you to all the trusts that have supported this work in 2024/25, from the case studies to the blogs, conferences and podcasts.

Piece from me in @tesmagazine.bsky.social arguing why November Ofsted rollout is a bad idea but suggesting some things they’d need to do to make the best of the bad idea, using this scene from Argo www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Punchy piece from @steverollett.bsky.social on Ofsted www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Ofsted seems to be pressing ahead with its ‘best bad idea’ for inspection, so it needs to do these 7 things to at least transition schools properly to the new ways of working, argues @steverollett.bsky.social

I’m at CST’s Data and Insights conference listening to Michael Bhaskar talking about the future of AI. Fascinating. He argues the value of education and good schools will go up in an era of AI, not down.

Thank you to all the teachers and support staff working in schools: past, present and future. I’m privileged to be a trustee at the Teaching Awards Trust and it’s been wonderful to see all the coverage of Thank a Teacher Day today.

MORE great content on trust-led school improvement: 1. New blog from Humber Education Trust community.cstuk.org.uk/topics/38104... 2. Our final community meeting of the year tomorrow (Thurs) 3:30-4:30pm, profiling excellent work in 3 trusts. And more coming soon...

Loads more great content on school improvement coming, incl. case studies & blogs showcasing great work. It's all anchored by CST's conceptual model for school improvement. The latest blog is by Matt Middlemore at Kernow Learning and is free to CST members : community.cstuk.org.uk/topics/38104...

Highlight this week was watching incredible ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ with @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social , @andywolfe.bsky.social, Nigel Genders, @juliemcchulloch.bsky.social, Tiff Harris, @jtoop.bsky.social, @garethconyard.bsky.social, @jasonelsom.bsky.social and others. Funny, mesmerizing and moving ❤️

Love that Ruben Dias & City seem upset with Saints’ style of play. How did these billionaire-driven clubs imagine football would change as they siphoned off all the talent, creating huge inequities, over the years? I don’t love the style either but it’s inevitable. Football karma?

Here we go Saints. Expect the unexpected…

Grateful to @johndickenssw.bsky.social for letting me share this perspective on trust finances. It’s an area full of myth and misconception so I hope this piece is helpful in shining a light. schoolsweek.co.uk/narrow-conve...

Super piece from @steverollett.bsky.social on calls for a narrative shift on academy funding models Follows several Schools Week pieces delving into how different trusts operate schoolsweek.co.uk/narrow-conve...

“We’re looking for 4 MATs to take part in bespoke, collaborative projects in the 2025 – 26 academic year. These partnerships will centre on supporting trusts to implement practical, scalable changes in primary science and/​or secondary literacy.” educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/working...

The DfE’s definition of 'stuck schools' is ‘flawed’ and risks deterring academy trusts from taking on schools in need of improvement, warns @cstvoice.bsky.social

Writing for @tesmagazine.bsky.social today @steverollett.bsky.social, the deputy CEO of the @cstvoice.bsky.social outlines concerns it has around the proposed grading, toolkits and the number of evaluation areas Ofsted is proposing to inspect schools on. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

‘The proposed inspection framework has emerged from the policy machine more bloated and complex than it needs to be’: @steverollett.bsky.social explains the changes to Ofsted plans that trust leaders want to see

"the [Ofsted] framework risks becoming more, not less, complex and burdensome" Much to applaud in this @tesmagazine.bsky.social piece by @steverollett.bsky.social. The consultation presents an opportunity to avoid some serious missteps - I hope Ofsted are listening. www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Ofsted's framework, currently out for consultation, is bloated and too complicated, but there are things that can be done to improve it. In my piece for @tesmagazine.bsky.social today I describe 5 tangible improvements Ofsted should make. www.tes.com/magazine/ana... 1/4

In our first session this morning, CST’s Deputy Chief Executive @steverollett.bsky.social will join us for his keynote: Keynote: Call for evidence synthesis – what have we found out? #SchoolImprovement

The government wants to promote collaboration in education – the good news is that trusts are already doing it, sharing knowledge and expertise to drive school improvement, writes @steverollett.bsky.social

Love listening to @profkime.bsky.social. Delighted to have him leading a workshop today on using the development cycle to drive implementation.

The inimitable Tom Campbell talking about the potential power of the wisdom of crowds in trust-led school improvement 👏

A theme of the day - collaboration - being explored here by Emma at Black Pear Trust

We’re in Birmingham today with over 300 trust leaders, sharing learning and practice about how to improve schools. This is sector-led collaboration in action. As I write about in this piece for @tesmagazine.bsky.social today www.tes.com/magazine/ana...

Great listening to Rowena talk about organisational learning from school improvement initiatives.

Nicole and Nimish from Creative Education Trust talking powerfully about co-constructing aligned practices across the trust 👏 😀

Great to be here at CST school improvement 2025. @steverollett.bsky.social gave an insightful opening. Now listening to @unleashingme.bsky.social on teacher progression

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🗨️"By adopting a structured yet flexible framework, leveraging the collective expertise of our staff, and fostering a culture of reflection and professional honesty, we ensure that our schools continue to thrive." - Michael Rowland, Focus-Trust.

Here for the Hobbit references @steverollett.bsky.social 🙌🏼 Great blog and wholeheartedly agree that a measured approach (evident in the interim report) is the way forward.

Good piece from @steverollett.bsky.social, casting @beckyfrancis.bsky.social and her Curriculum and Assessment Review team as the Fellowship of the Ring.

Beautifully written by @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social (as you’d expect). Powerfully evocative of that moment.

What have Hobbits got to do with the Curriculum and Assessment Review's interim report? Not a lot, but that doesn't stop me trying to bring the two together in this new blog anyway:

“We need leaders who have the power to illuminate darkness through the capacity to serve a wider public good...Sir Mufti Hamid Patel is one of these leaders and we at CST are incredibly proud to work with him.” Read the full statement from CST: cstuk.org.uk/news-pu...

‘From good to great: Smart choices in school system reform’: my piece for @schoolsweek.bsky.social on the importance of prioritization and focus in system reform at a time of constrained resources. schoolsweek.co.uk/from-good-to...

(1) In our new school improvement blog series on the community platform, Jonathan Keay, Deputy CEO/Director of Education at Creative Learning Partnership Trust, describes what school improvement looks like in his trust.

Hundreds of primary children on a school trip walking past bubbling with excitement. All high vis vests and holding hands. Teachers and support staff making it safe, corralling the operation with quiet authority. Almost got swept away in the current. Glorious.

If you can help us on our mission to deliver for all children, or if you know someone else who could, please do take a look at this and share it 😀 🙏 🙌🏻

**NEW BLOG POST** School Improvement | Strategic Communication With a downloadable crib sheet for senior leadership teams: t.co/Lb6nI08AqK

The latest in our blog series on school improvement is out, by Michael Rowland, Education Director (Deputy CEO) at Focus-Trust. "By adopting a structured yet flexible framework, leveraging the collective expertise of our staff...we ensure that our schools continue to thrive." : buff.ly/Kblomrg

Nothing like a tidy up of your Zotero to feel a sense of accomplishment. Books on the correct shelves! 😀

I can't wait for this conference! @steverollett.bsky.social Always a very special event in the @cstvoice.bsky.social calendar!

Wish media would stop legitimizing at it as a Trump-Zelensky personal spat. This is a planned decision to change longstanding US foreign policy, thinly veiled in reality TV vibes of an argument. Seeing serious int relations issues in such trivial terms is part of post-truth world we must resist.

Glad to have stepped away from twitter of late. Mind boggles at how this is playing out via the algorithm. And I’m not sure I buy the argument staying there maintains a frontier against all this. Was starting to feel like being there meant becoming implicated in the perpetuation of the machine.