How Cabot Learning Federation Builds a Culture of Listening

About Cabot Learning Federation (CLF)

Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) is a well-established multi-academy trust operating across five counties in the South West of England. With 35 schools and 18,000 pupils aged 2 to 19, CLF delivers education across primary, secondary, alternative provision, and specialist settings.

Sally Apps is the Deputy CEO of Cabot Learning Federation. She holds responsibility for the education of the 18,000 students in the trust, working with 3,000 staff. As part of her leadership of the Education team, she holds strategic responsibility for stakeholder voice.

A culture of listening

At Cabot Learning Federation (CLF), listening to stakeholders is a priority, and it creates a culture where staff, pupils, and parents feel heard. The Trust’s approach to stakeholder voice goes beyond sending out surveys. CLF’s work ensures those voices influence decision-making, shape school culture, and empower communities.

CLF’s goal is to embed authentic voice work at every leadership level. The Trust equips leaders with multiple methods for engaging with their teams, ensuring that staff and pupils are not just consulted but actively included in shaping their schools.

This spotlight shares key practices and lessons from Cabot Learning Federation’s journey to becoming a truly listening organisation.

Model Listening as a Leadership Responsibility

At Cabot Learning Federation (CLF), listening is an essential leadership practice. Leaders are encouraged to build relationships through direct engagement with staff.

Direct engagement helps leaders shape their school’s culture and close the feedback loop. To build trust around the process of giving and receiving feedback, CLF ensures that leaders follow up with clear communication about their next steps.

Give Leaders a Range of Options to Collect Voice

Cabot Learning Federation learned that survey fatigue can set in if staff are over-polled without seeing tangible outcomes. “We used to run short surveys every six to twelve weeks,” Sally recalled. “But we observed that engagement decreased over time. People didn’t see the value in constantly filling out forms, so we had to rethink our approach.”

After taking a step back and reflecting on what they wanted from feedback, now, rather than prescribing one feedback method, CLF gives leaders various tools to suit their school context.

Each headteacher is then responsible for curating a summative reflection on their staff’s feedback three times a year. Sally collects and analyses the headteachers’ reflections to monitor bigger trends across the Trust.

Different ways to collect staff voice include:

• Process discussions – Staff discuss how they want their voices to be heard and what engagement methods work best for them
• Staff working-relationship discussions – Staff groups explore what meaningful dialogue looks like for their school and how they want to communicate with leadership
• Talking points led by leaders – The headteacher introduces a key topic to discuss in a staff meeting (e.g., “X is happening, what do you think?”) and listens to staff perspectives
• Talking points suggested by staff – Staff contribute discussion topics ahead of a staff meeting followed by a “You said, we did” process led by the headteacher to show how their feedback is acted upon
• Surveys – Leaders use structured questions to gather insights from staff
• 1:1 conversations – Leaders meet directly with their staff to ask, “What is it like to be you, here, now? What do you need?” Depending on the priorities and context of the school, this can be easier for smaller settings, but by making it a priority, a headteacher of a large school can also set this goal for the year.

By allowing leaders to choose their approach while ensuring regular, structured reflection, CLF fosters deeper engagement. “We’re not telling leaders how to listen,” Sally explained. “We’re telling them that listening is an absolute expectation.”

Analyse Qualitative Data for Patterns While Balancing the Fear of ‘No Numbers’

With summative feedback coming from 35 schools, analysing qualitative data could be daunting. To address this challenge, Sally uses AI tools to summarise and identify trends within qualitative reports submitted by school leaders.

Moving away from relying solely on quantitative survey data had its challenges – CLF faced the fear of having no numbers to fall back on.

By balancing qualitative insights with structured analysis with the help of AI, this approach helps leaders make sense of complex, diverse feedback they have received. The AI summaries of themes are also a way to share the findings of the Trust’s voice work with the board and other groups.

Foster a Culture of Trust and Inclusion, Especially for Marginalised Voices

CLF actively works to create safe spaces for historically marginalised voices – including underrepresented staff and those in non-teaching roles.

“Communities that are often marginalised may be less likely to engage in feedback processes,” Sally said. “We had to learn that we couldn’t just land surveys in people’s inboxes and expect them to respond. We needed to create safe spaces and actively seek out those voices.”

Leaders at CLF are encouraged to think critically about how they engage different groups, including staff who may be less visible or hesitant to share their perspectives. This includes proactive outreach, relational practices, and ensuring that everyone – regardless of their role – feels valued and heard.

Creating an environment where people feel safe to share honest feedback is fundamental to CLF’s approach. This requires intentional efforts to build trust and ensure that traditionally marginalised voices are not overlooked.

Dedicate Time to Share and Learn as Leaders

A cornerstone of CLF’s approach is the regular forum times, where senior leaders and headteachers come together to share insights from their stakeholder engagement activities. These sessions, which occur every two weeks, provide a structured space for collaborative problem-solving and reflective discussion.

“Forum times are where we connect as a leadership team,” Sally explained. “Each head brings insights from their school, and we discuss trends, share solutions, and learn from one another. It’s not just about reporting back – it’s about creating a space for dialogue and mutual learning.”

These sessions often lead to practical solutions and innovative ideas. “One head might mention a simple fix for an IT issue, and another will think, ‘That’s exactly what I need to try at my school,’” Sally shared. “Those conversations spark creativity and build a sense of collective responsibility.”

By providing a regular platform for leaders to share their experiences, forum times reinforce the importance of listening as a leadership responsibility and foster a collaborative culture across the Trust.

Make Listening a Habit

At CLF, the ultimate goal is to embed listening as a fundamental leadership habit rather than treating it as an occasional task. Leaders are encouraged to build listening into their daily routines, whether through formal meetings, casual conversations, or structured engagement activities.

“We’re moving towards a future where we won’t have a separate voice strategy – it will just be how we work,” Sally explained. “Listening will be embedded in everything we do, from how we plan staff meetings to how we engage with parents and students.”

By making listening a daily habit, CLF is laying the foundation for long-term, sustainable engagement that benefits staff, pupils, and the entire school community. “When someone asks a staff member whether their voice matters, I want them to say, ‘Yes, I’m regularly asked for my views, and those views are acted upon,‘” Sally said.

Embed Pupil Voice: Empowering Young People to Speak and Lead

CLF’s voice strategy isn’t just about collecting feedback – it’s also about empowering pupils to find their voices.

This commitment is reflected in pupil parliaments, pupil-led panels for recruitment, and structured discussions on school improvement. 

However, just like with staff, CLF avoids prescribing a single way of gathering pupil voice. “We require that schools collect pupil voice, but we don’t tell them how to do it,” Sally said. “Each school decides what works best for them, ensuring authenticity and real engagement.”

By embedding both feedback collection and leadership development, CLF prepares pupils not just to contribute in school but to become orators and changemakers in their communities.

Conclusion: Leadership That Supports the People Closest to the Child

At CLF, the real power lies not in the central trust but in those working directly with staff and pupils. “My role is influential but mine is not the most critical part of the work,” Sally reflected. “Ultimately, the person closest to the child needs to make that child believe they can change the world. That’s my job – to empower that person.”

Active dialogues about school improvement are ultimately about work improvement – improving the place where people work to improve their sense of belonging and agency as adults to have a greater impact on children. 

“I think it means that we’re more likely to retain our staff, and retained, well-trained staff will help our children succeed,” Sally shared. 

By embedding a culture of listening, CLF empowers those closest to pupils and staff to lead, learn and drive meaningful change.