Operations and HR Professional Community

The CST Operations and HR Professional Community is a new and unique development network for those specialising in operations and HR in school trusts.

Our professional communities provide support and development opportunities, through a blend of expert input on key practice challenges, facilitated discussion, and networking.

The community offers a safe and supportive environment in which to develop your understanding of some of the key challenges related to operations and HR, to access expertise from across the sector and beyond, and to build a professional network.

By joining, you will open up opportunities to engage through:

Half-termly virtual community meetings
Networking with colleagues across our sector
Access to CST briefings and guidance.

As a member of the community, you will also gain exclusive access to our virtual platform. This is a peer learning platform that connects you with a community of information, resources and support, that you can access anytime and anywhere. On the platform you'll find an ever-growing collection of resources, containing information about key knowledge areas needed in our profession, as well as a space to connect, learn and interact with your peers from across the country.

Membership of the community is included for employees of member trusts as a benefit of CST membership. Join using the button below with your MyCST membership details.

Join our Operations and HR Professional Community

Session overview

Session One:
Wednesday 13th September 2023, 10:00 - 11:00 (Virtual)

In this meeting we will provide an update on the exciting new plans CST have been working on over the Summer and launch our new Professional Community platform.

Session two: Developing Impactful People Strategy for Retention During Challenging Times
Speakers: Mandy Coalter, Founder Talent Architects
Tuesday 28th November 2023, 15:30 - 16:30 (Virtual)

In this session, Mandy Coalter, Founder Talent Architects, will look at the current retention challenges which are facing the sector, evidence as to why people stay in schools and the importance that leadership, culture, and climate play in retaining great people. Mandy will then give our community some practical areas to focus on to help enhance retention within in our schools and Trusts.

Session Three: Internal Scrutiny for your Trust - Maximising the benefits of internal scrutiny to manage your risks and trust objectives.
Speaker: Alex Hire, Associate Director at RSM
Tuesday 19th March 2024, 15:30 - 16:30 (Virtual)

The Academy Trust Handbook stipulates the requirements for trusts to submit an annual internal scrutiny report each year, providing a holistic picture on the internal control environment. We will explore the following in this session:

The linkage of internal scrutiny to your risk register and objectives;
What could be included in your audit programme and three year audit strategy; and
The role of the Audit and Risk Committee.

We will provide examples of auditable areas (outside of the financial remit) to demonstrate how such audits are considered through the audit cycle and the impact they have on the operations of a Trust.

This session will be led by Alex Hire, Associate Director and Shauna Mallinson, Director from RSM. Both Alex and Shauna are experienced in the delivery of internal audit, risk management and governance.