Phillippa De'Ath, Chief Revenue Officer, Arbor
Centralisation versus autonomy
The debate between autonomy and centralisation has divided the trust space for many years. For some, the two terms have become mutually exclusive. Centralisation has come to mean total top-down control and schools with no individual identity. And the autonomous approach has become synonymous with no central direction and a complete lack of cohesion.
Is there a middle ground?
In recent times, the definition of ‘centralisation’ has become far more malleable, and positive. Trust leaders are recognising that varying levels of alignment work for their organisations. In fact, by using this lens of "alignment” or "harmonisation”, it becomes easier to see that a centralised trust isn’t the same as having autonomy-less schools. Instead, it is a way of thinking about joining up people, processes and systems, so that trusts can work as one harmonious organisation, not many schools. This is all the more important given the pressures on trusts to continue to grow, drive school improvement, and create greater efficiencies.
How do you start to bring together people, processes and systems?
Knowing that harmonisation might look different from trust to trust, many trust leaders are asking the same questions. When is the best time to get started? Where do you begin - with systems, people, or processes? And, most importantly, how do you do it well?
Leaders from Danes, Marches, Watergrove and DCAT share their views
There are no one-size-fits all answers to these questions, so we sat down with four trust leaders to get their different perspectives. We’ve put their insights, as well as commentary from the Confederation of School Trusts, into our brand-new ebook: Aligning systems, people and processes in your trust: How, when and why to get started. Download your free copy here.
In the book, our contributors share:
- How your data strategy should play a critical role in the alignment of your schools
- How to create harmonisation during periods of growth
- Why standardising processes from day will help bring value to your schools
- How aligning student information will give your trust new insight
We hope this book shines a light on the different approaches trusts are taking to alignment, equipping you with both food for thought and practical takeaways on how to navigate alignment at your trust, whatever that might look like for you.
Download the book for free here
Find out more about Arbor’s partnership with CST here
Discover more of Arbor’s content here.
The CST Blog welcomes perspectives from a diverse range of guest contributors. The opinions expressed in blogs are the views of the author(s), and should not be read as CST guidance or CST’s position.
