Nova Education Trust

Nova Education Trust is a cross-phase trust based in Nottinghamshire. It educates over 11,500 pupils across 18 schools, including 2 partner schools, is supported by over 1,400 staff, and runs one successful SCITT. Together, the trust shares the vision of “transformational schools” and works to codify the values they wish to model across the organisation.

Nottingham Free School

Nottingham Free School (NFS) is a high-performing and over-subscribed community secondary school serving 700 pupils with 80 staff, attracting an ethnically diverse population with high aspirations. It sits in the heart of Nottingham City, which was recently identified as a Priority Area, now receiving additional funding to address underachievement and attendance. NFS has consistently performed above national expectations for academic outcomes and for attendance. Over the past three years, the school has grown by over 20% in its Edurio survey results related to staff retention and leadership dynamics by changing the school leadership and culture.

Key contributors: Ashfaq Rahman (CEO), Alison Ingram (Director of Strategy & Engagement), Andy Seymour (Director of School Improvement), Jo Simpson (Headteacher of Nottingham Free School)

Leadership structures and styles

Leadership structure: trust-informed, school-driven

At Nova Education Trust, the trust provides the goals and overall vision, but individual school heads have the freedom over how to deliver and achieve the vision. There is a framework that schools are asked to operate in, but schools are given the autonomy to be able to meet the demands of that framework how they see fit, given what they know about their own individual schools.

Leadership style: collaborate and be brave to challenge

Collaboration is central to the trust’s work and takes various forms, from how leaders collaborate across the same management level to how leaders collaborate vertically within certain strands of responsibility, be it strategic, around behaviour, school improvement or trust culture, including school leaders and executives together.

Collaboration is further enhanced by the strength of the relationships, which acknowledges that challenging one another is essential for collective improvement. The idea of “constructive conflict” means building space for tough conversations to happen and trusting one another that what’s good for the children is at the core of this discussion.

Culture: shared vision, shared responsibility

There is a focus on working together to create a shared vision for the trust, and leaders at every level are included in the work as appropriate for their specific roles. By focusing on codifying and creating a common language among the leaders, the trust ensures that everyone understands the vision and feels empowered to turn it into action. Shared responsibility establishes the principle that everyone within the trust is a leader, responsible for advancing the Trust’s vision as well as their own school’s objectives. It ensures commitment by incorporating diverse perspectives and feedback throughout the process.

Network days for every role

One practice that helps to drive the culture of shared vision and responsibility at Nova Education Trust is Network days. Every half term, school headteachers and the executive team come together for Network days. Time is dedicated to working through the big strategic topics the trust is working on. For example, when trying to define what it means to have “transformational experiences” at the trust, time was spent on codifying what the pillars of transformational experiences mean, together. This resulted in school heads gaining a clearer understanding and feeling more confident about conveying the message back to their schools. There are also the social benefits of Network days: for the headteachers to get to know one another and to get to talk to other heads informally about the weight of responsibility of leading a school.

But Network days are not reserved only for headteachers. The trust has recently implemented subject-focused network days for subject-based leaders to come together and share best practice. Jo Simpson, Headteacher of Nottingham Free School, notes that “for a school like mine where some subjects are stand-alone… having that ability to share good practice and get into other schools, meeting all of the other subject leads from all of the other schools in the trust has been hugely beneficial for everybody.”

Challenges and solutions

Challenge: transforming the SLT

Jo Simpson, as the new headteacher at Nottingham Free School, stepped into the role inheriting a leadership team with a flat structure. The leadership team was large, and although everyone had some sort of leadership role, responsibilities were not clearly defined. Additionally, the culture of the flat-structured team was one of “too many cooks in the kitchen,” leading people to feel insecure. The insecurities created a more defensive culture among colleagues, not a supportive, proactive one.

Solution: clear roles and a culture reset

The first step was restructuring the team, so Jo appointed two deputies. To secure a cultural shift, Jo and her team sat down to devise 12 rules of what it means to be part of the leadership team and agreed to hold each other to account. Jo’s work on transforming the SLT at her school has resulted in a culture of genuine mutual support among its members. Staff have also noticed the difference and have seen a positive change in their leadership, which has resulted in major improvements in their survey results.

These are the rules Jo and her team have put together:

• We are authentic, transparent and credible in all that we do.

• We place the ‘why’ at the centre of all our decision-making and actions.

• We maintain high levels of professionalism in all interactions with all staff.

• We do not get drawn into any negative conversations with staff.

• We debate robustly as a team of ‘critical friends’ but always present a united front on all matters.

• We celebrate each other’s successes.

• We unfailingly ask each other for support when needed and share our doubts/fears or unhappiness.

• We consistently model the high standards we expect from all staff and secure day-to-day accountability with reminders of these expectations as and when needed.

• We consistently apply all behaviour expectations. All infringements of school rules are addressed, and sanctions issued on Bromcom.

• During our allocated walkabout duties, all classrooms are visited at least once. Where this is not possible, all classrooms on the behaviour support list are visited.

• We prioritise our responsibility to be a supportive presence in corridors during all transitions.

• Wherever possible, meetings are scheduled outside of our lessons/duties and walkabouts.

Practical advice to leaders

Explain the “why”

Andy Seymour, Director of School Improvement at Nova Education Trust, stresses that for leaders, it is always important to explain to team members and stakeholders why they are doing what they are doing. This includes talking to pupils about why you’re collecting feedback from them, what it will help you achieve as a leader, and how it will impact their learning and experience at school. Andy urges that this approach will ultimately allow for better data collection and more buy-in from the community.

A place for everyone

Ash Rahman, the CEO, says that focusing on trust culture and facilitating a sense of belonging for everyone is critical. Building the “Transformational” culture that the trust aspires to is everyone’s responsibility. This is not left to chance and is a key pillar of leadership training and coaching for all leaders across the trust. To know how things are going on the ground and to feel the culture, Ash visits schools regularly, meeting with pupils and staff to hear about their day-to-day experiences. These visits are conducted in an open and transparent manner and allow him to catch any trends or themes that are coming up across schools as something to bring up at a higher level. But behind it stands the wish to make the trust a place where people want to spend their time and send their children. Looking at key measures, like the Edurio survey questions that ask staff members if they would send their children to this school, helps to track progress.