This first edition of CST's communication toolkit contains a collection of templates and reference material to support communications work in school trusts.

This template is intended to help you produce a short guide to your trust’s governing arrangements to help new members, trustees, and local committee members. It can also be useful for other stakeholders, including parents. During Ofsted visits inspectors may find it helpful as a quick way understand your arrangements, as these vary between trusts.

As part of ensuring a positive, reflective board culture, trust boards are encouraged to undertake regular self-evaluation, both as a corporate entity and as individual trustees. This chair of trustees 360° review tool can act as a key part of the trust board’s regular self-review activity.

The Academy Trust Handbook introduces new requirements on internal scrutiny from September 2025. This briefing note, produced in conjunction with CST platinum partner RSM outlines the key considerations for trusts.

Member briefing on 5 February 2025 looking at Ofsted consultation on a new inspection framework and DfE consultations on a revised accountability framework.

This draft guidance sets out a potential model for peer review of safeguarding within a trust's schools.

This guidance is intended to support trust boards with an evidence-based process to set executive pay, including for chief executives and other senior roles.

This discussion paper sets out why and how trust governance can evolve to focus more on forward strategy than compliance, engaging a broader range of voices and better serving our communities.

Succession planning is critical for trust boards to ensure stability, continuity, and effective governance over time. By identifying and preparing future leaders, boards can maintain their strategic direction, preserve organisational knowledge, and avoid disruptions during leadership transitions.

Risk management is the process by which risks are identified, their severity assessed and cost-effective actions are taken to address, or mitigate, them to bring them down to acceptable levels. This guidance provides a risk template for trusts as a starting point for a bespoke approach.