The role of a member of a school trust is one of the least well understood positions in a trust. This document sets out the key qualities of a member and their relationship with other aspects of trust governance.

The scheme of delegation is a vital document within a trust. It is a document that is, and should be, bespoke to every trust in order to describe how the trust board has decided to delegate responsibilities within the organisation. These checklists have been devised to help trusts develop a clear and comprehensive scheme of delegation.

The proposition of governing a school trust is fundamentally different from governing a maintained school. While there may be comparable challenges in maintained schools, problem-identification and solutions are often specific to trust governance and need a different approach.

School trusts are complex and agile organisations. The proposition of governance should therefore be a live conversation and boards should monitor and improve their performance continually. This updated toolkit outlines our 20-element assurance framework including guiding questions to consider and descriptors of what strong and weak assurance would look like in a trust at board level.
Updated September 2024.

An overview of the outcomes of Ofsted's Big Listen consultation exercise

At the request of members, we are providing some checklists and templates relating to suspensions and exclusions. These should be reviewed and customised to reflect your individual circumstances

The Department for Education has announced a new process for approving significant changes at open academies. Updated 26 April 2024.

CST members can access a range of model policies covering staffing and school operations provided by CST Platinum Partner Stone King, along with additional guidance papers on how to create and review policies.

This survey explored the roles and responsibilities of the trust safeguarding team, the support that trusts provide at a school and trust level, and the factors
influencing the retention and career progression of safeguarding professionals. It also invited trust safeguarding leaders to share their priorities for the year ahead.

Ofsted has announced a number of changes to its inspection approach. This briefing note produced in association with Stone King LLP is intended to support trusts in relation to inspections where there are concerns about wellbeing of staff in the school, and/or where the behaviour of a lead inspector is causing concern.