Earlier this year, following a meeting with the Secretary of State, Leora Cruddas (CEO Confederation of Schools Trust) authored an article for TES, where she articulated that the school system in England is on a transformative journey from good to great.

She noted that there was much to celebrate. The majority of our schools deliver a high standard of education, and they perform well in international assessments.

This success is rooted in three decades of evidence-based practices – curriculum development, teacher training, accountability measures, structural reforms and innovation.

However, what she did highlight was that our school system does not serve all children equally:

    • The achievement gap between economically disadvantaged pupils and their peers has widened.

    • The system falls short in adequately supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

    • Many of our children do not feel a sense of belonging in our schools.

To elevate our school system to greatness, Leora was clear that we must ensure every child can achieve and thrive.

This requires placing those for whom the system currently fails at the heart of national reforms and emphasise our own school improvement work at UST. We must continue to focus on improving outcomes for disadvantaged children and those with SEND.

A truly great school and school system is one where state education outcomes reflect excellence, inclusion, and equity:

Excellence: Our unwavering commitment to the highest academic standards, enabling young people to compete globally and uphold the legacy of our education system as a benchmark of quality.

Inclusion: The removal of barriers to learning, extending beyond educational policy to encompass social policy. We must consider the broader social support that nurtures children within their communities and into adulthood.

Equity: Tailoring our approach to meet the diverse needs of schools and children. This means being flexible and responsive to the unique contexts of our communities, making targeted investments to ensure equitable outcomes.

Leora, on behalf of CST colleagues, further promotes that building a resilient education system is crucial. This entails integrating all schools into robust and sustainable groups within a single legal entity, governed by strong strategic oversight.

We hope this will support growth as many colleagues who are either in single academy trusts or maintained schools (with no partnership) may ultimately find the challenges of operations and finance, as well as access to school improvement, too much on their own.