MAT’s and Growth Audits – would your MAT pass?
As we all get better at being an academy and as we understand more about runiing a MAT, there is a very great need to ensure that MAT’s have the capacity, infrastructure and the right people before taking any more schools into the Trust.
Soon, Growth Audits will become a requirement if a MAT wants to grow. As I see it, there are at least five areas a Growth Audit needs to look at before any decision can be taken about allowing other schools to join a MAT. My advice has always been ‘answer the questions an RSC may have before they even know it was a question’. This still rings true where Growth Audits are concerned. Do you know for a fact that your MAT ticks all the right boxes and has the capacity to convince an RSC to sign off on another school joining your MAT? The DfE, NSC and RSC’s are moving towards larger MAT’s and with that comes the need to have the five areas robust. It is a chicken and egg situation developing – you may need additional schools in the MAT before you can build the right infrastructure ( topslice across schools to fund say a CEO, CFO etc ) but you need the infrastructure right before being allowed to take those additional schools in! Who is best placed to conduct a Growth Audit in the first place?
There will be some MAT’s that say we don’t need one, we are already robust in everything. Good for you. However, there will be many MAT’s that haven’t even heard of or considered a Growth Audit who will now be thinking ‘can see the sense in that’. Contact us for more details if you are thinking of growing your MAT over the coming few years.