Keystone's digest of Ofsted's five year strategy

Ofsted have released their 5-year strategy. We've read the report, so you don't have to. The report recognises that Covid has significantly disrupted both children's lives and their education. Covid has also impacted both pupil and staff physical and mental health while increasing safeguarding concerns. Their strategy promises to raise standards in...

Continue reading
  828 Hits

Protecting your IT provision

At the 2022 Bett show, the education secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced that all schools would have access to high-speed internet by 2025. He also promised an additional £150 million to help schools upgrade their Wi-Fi connections in 55 EIA (Education Investment Areas). Similarly, the schools white paper laid out the DfE's plan to create a "strong e...

Continue reading
  885 Hits

Behind the Education Headlines in March

 Schools White Paper The biggest school's headline in March was the release of the schools white paper. The paper was Nadhim Zahawi's first as education secretary. The paper laid out the key ambitions of the government: Every school should be part of a MAT by 2030 Up to 6 million "tutoring courses" by 2024 – with tutoring becoming a permanent ...

Continue reading
  907 Hits

Keystone's guide to naming your MAT

When Keystone was set up, we knew that we would primarily provide support to schools in a range of areas, such as HR, health and safety, auditing, and trust growth support. Over the past 12 months, we've been approached by a few school business professionals who are looking at setting up new MATs. Nominative determinism is the idea that people tend...

Continue reading
  1221 Hits

Digest of the schools white paper

The government released their white paper on schools, "Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child". The white paper is Nadhim Zahawi's first as education secretary. We've read the report and here are the key things that you need to know.   Multi Academy Trusts  Perhaps the most controversial aim laid out i...

Continue reading
  1000 Hits

How Keystone audits a trust

 What is an HR audit? An HR audit is an objective look at how your school or trust's HR department operates, including the policies and procedures in place. An audit can either be internal (with the trust's own HR team conducting it) or you can instruct an outside company to conduct it for you. Unless the audit has been triggered for a specifi...

Continue reading
  1038 Hits

Supporting Teacher Well-Being

Teachers are at the front line of both teaching and pastoral care for students, but what can you do as a school business professional to support them?   Teachers mental wellbeing has been poor According to NASWT's Teacher Wellbeing Survey, 91% of teachers say their job has negatively affected their mental health and 64% say that it has im...

Continue reading
  1005 Hits

Behind the Education Headlines in February

TikTok fight leads to surprise Ofsted visit Concerns over the safeguarding at Northampton International Academy have been raised after a TikTok video showed three students punching and hair pulling two other students. The academy has had many ups and downs with their safeguarding in recent months. The school was rated 'good' in their last full Ofst...

Continue reading
  1124 Hits

Summary of State of the Nation Report

The Social Mobility Commission has just released their State of the Nation 2021 report which details how social mobility has been impacted by the pandemic. Social mobility is the link between your income and your parents' income. There is a strong relationship between high inequality and low social mobility. If there are high levels of inequality i...

Continue reading
  1070 Hits

How to improve the dynamics in your meetings

Good meetings help get things done. They harness the skills and experience of those around the table to solve problems, ask intelligent questions and improve strategy to get things done. Bad meetings do not get things done. They waste people's time, exacerbate tension, entrench partisan behaviours and frequently cover the same ground repeatedly wit...

Continue reading
  1157 Hits

Imparting Schools' Values and Visions into Day to Day Life

All schools, whether they are trusts or maintained schools, have a set of values that they aim to follow. The DfE and the ESFA tend to focus on the quantitative side of schooling with an overwhelming emphasis on exam or assessment results. Although these are incredibly important and help set us up to succeed in the professional world, they aren't t...

Continue reading
  1036 Hits

The Benefits of Joining a MAT

Converting from an LA school to an academy in a MAT or joining a MAT as a standalone academy can have many benefits. Buying in bulk leads to greater economies in scales  Joining or starting a MAT can lead to economies of scale and greater efficiency. MATs can contain as many as 70 schools which makes them a considerable 'buying block' when pur...

Continue reading
  1074 Hits

Keystone's Guide to HR Retainers

The last 12 months have shone a spotlight onto how schools are run. An increase in staff absences, brought on by Covid, has brought HR to the forefront as schools struggle to manage staff-pupil ratios, maintain face to face teaching and support staff who are anxious about returning to the classroom after remote learning. If your trust HR team or sc...

Continue reading
  1071 Hits

Keystone's Year in Review

 2021 was a tough year for many and the Keystone staff had their share of struggles. Despite this, they went above and beyond to give our clients an exceptional service with measurable outcomes for pupils. Our vision is for every child to receive an outstanding education, underpinned by excellent school and trust management – and we like to th...

Continue reading
  1144 Hits

Acronyms in School Business Management

Keystone has recently taken on a new marketing executive who has come from outside of education. The first thing she said was, "It's amazing how many acronyms there are. It's like you're talking another language made entirely out of letters!" Schools strive to be as approachable as possible. We aim to use clear and simple language in letters and le...

Continue reading
  1166 Hits

Keystone Knowledge

Registered Office: Nightingale Way, Etwall, Derbyshire DE65 6RT

Keystone Knowledge is a Registered Company in England, no. 12092122

Privacy Policy