RSC South East and South London

Menu of Support
This document is intended to help Academy and MAT leaders to explore options for additional
support and advice. The RSC is not promoting any particular provider, nor is this intended to be a fully
comprehensive list. Please send any feedback or suggestions to RSC.SESL@education.gov.uk.

Leadership
Expanding your academy trust:
resources for MATs provides a selection of sources of
support for schools looking to grow their academy trust,
and sits alongside the MAT Good Practice Guidance.
Schools financial health and efficiency
provides a variety of documents to help schools
improve their financial management, including guidance
on school workforce planning. Other useful tools are the
School Efficiency Metric Tool and the School Financial
Benchmarking Tool.
SESL peer mentoring is a free service that allows
experienced MAT CEOs to support newer MATs. For
further details contact RSC.SESL@education.gov.uk.
Teaching & Leadership Innovation Fund has
funding available for professional development
programmes for teachers and school leaders.
Ambition School Leadership runs a series of leadership
development programmes for leaders at all levels.
Getting Ahead London is a Mayor of London
programme that supports senior leaders in becoming
future headteachers.
NAHT Aspire Programme is a partnership
programme for school leaders to share strengths and
solve challenges together.
Trust-Ed: MAT Team Leadership Programme is a
programme for newly formed or existing MATs of 515
schools with a focus on working well at scale.

Governance
Gov.uk governance page contains links to all DfE docu- Inspiring Governance helps boards to
mentation on governance, including the governance recruit skilled volunteers quickly and easily. It also works
handbook and competency framework. with The National Governance Association to support
new appointees.
SESL MAT self assessment toolkit is a useful way to
assess the structure and direction of your trust. To The Key provides information and online solutions to the
request it, please email RSC.SESL@education.gov.uk education sector with a focus on enabling governors and
school leaders to save time, work smarter and deliver
Academy Ambassadors provide a free service better results.
matching professionals with MATs looking to strengthen
their boards. The National Governance Association provides a
checklist outlining 20 questions all MAT board members
The Governance Institute provides guidance, knowledge should be able to answer and a handbook for new
and training to help academy school leaders to meet legal governors and trustees.
and highest standards of governance.

School Improvement
The SESL Map of MATs and Sponsors will allow you
to identify nearby academies and trusts.
The Strategic School Improvement Fund is a grant to
support maintained schools and academies. Our
Teaching School Council regional lead is
JKnock@phiacademy.org.uk.
Teacher Subject Specialism Training courses are
free courses in maths, physics and MFL for non-
specialist and returning teachers.
Challenge Partners is an education charity offering a
range of programmes to tackle specific issues. Their
Challenge the Gap school-to-school improvement
programme is aimed at breaking the link between
disadvantage and attainment.
The London Leadership Strategy is a
not-for-profit organisation run by serving headteachers. It
is a national network offering school-to-school support
and a variety of development programmes.
The National College for teaching and
leadership is an executive agency of the DfE aiming to
improve academic standards by recruiting a workforce
to meet the systems needs.
Success for all works with schools to embed
co-operative learning as a school improvement strategy.
Teaching schools and system leaders is a complete
list of Teaching Schools, NLEs, and NLGs who provide
bespoke school improvement support. You can search by
locality to find system leaders in your area.
 Social mobility
The EEF provides free resources to help improve
outcomes for young people, particularly those who are
disadvantaged. The Families of Schools Database
facilitates collaboration between similar schools.
Supporting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils
provides research and practical guidance from the
NFER.
Teaching & Research
Chain Effects 2017 by The Sutton Trust looks at
outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in academies.
Education Datalab develops quantitative
analysis on policy and practice.
Further Support
Combined Cadet Force (CCF) units develop life skills
and self-confidence in young people.
The Education Business Partnership runs
programmes to develop skills and raise
aspirations amongst young people.
First Give works with secondary schools to help young
people support local communities.
Maths Hubs promote the sharing of good practice
across localised regions.
The Sutton Trust aims to improve social
mobility through evidence-based programmes, research
and policy advocacy.
The EEF Teaching & Learning Toolkit is an
accessible summary of educational research on
teaching 5-16 year olds.
Teacher Retention and Turnover Research is a
paper published by the National Foundation for
Educational Research in June 2017.
Place2Be is a charity providing emotional and thera-
peutic services in schools.
Salus Group provides resources on issues such as e-
bullying and work-based learning.
SSAT is a network of schools, helping
teachers to empower students to success.
Teach First works with graduates entering the teaching
profession.
Should you need to get in touch with a member of the
team, please use the below email addresses:
Dominic Herrington (Regional Schools Commissioner):
SESL.RSC@education.gov.uk
Jonathan Duff (Deputy Director: South London, Kent &
Medway):
Jonathan.DUFF@education.gov.uk
Maria Dawes (Deputy Director: South East):
Maria.DAWES@education.gov.uk
For financial queries, please complete the ESFA
Enquiry form.