MAT development 101: the importance of mission, vision, and values

Will Jordan

Will Jordan

Co-founder

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Topic | Growth strategy
Will Jordan

Will Jordan

Co-founder

The Schools Whitepaper and new Schools Bill have begun to set out clearer steps for the future of the MAT sector – and we’re starting to see the huge potential scale of the industry’s growth. Indeed, 90% of trust leaders who took part in our MAT Growth Survey told us that they are planning to increase the number of schools in their trust over the next year.

But growth is not a strategy in itself – so, where should you start?

Many trusts will find strategising for scaling daunting, but it all begins with developing your trust’s mission, vision, and values.

Developed well, your mission, vision and values will provide clarity and direction for your organisation as well as helping you to find and attract the most suitable schools to bring on board. An unclear or convoluted vision or mission can lead to recurring conflicts. And a trust that lacks established values will have difficulty identifying priorities and recruiting the right schools to grow and flourish.

To help you get started with this process, we’ve developed a series of actionable guides to help trusts of all sizes to develop a meaningful and impactful set of MVVs, which is the core foundation that is required before embarking on your growth strategy. This series will cover the following:

  • Establishing your ‘why’
  • How to craft a strategic vision statement
  • How to write a mission statement that resonates
  • How to align your trust’s values with joining schools.

What does it mean to have a mission, vision and values?

To shed some light on the distinctions between mission and vision, we will be referring to ‘vision’ as your trust’s overarching goal — where you hope to see it in the future and how you’ll define its success. Your mission, on the other hand, refers to an overview of the steps planned to achieve that vision. It will likely be lengthier and more explanatory in nature when it comes to the writing stages. Your values will work to guide both statements.

The DfE defines a strong trust as one that provides:

  • A high quality and inclusive education
  • Sustainable school improvement
  • Excellent support for teachers and teaching
  • Strategic leadership and governance
  • Effective financial management.

Developing a comprehensive set of mission, vision, and values will be crucial to your efforts to become a strong trust. These guidelines will become your ‘north star’, guiding how you go about operating as a trust as well as providing a consistent backdrop to aid decision-making.

For an introduction into this topic, check out the recording of our Virtual MAT Development Event, at which our co-founder Will Jordan discussed the importance of mission, vision, and values in more depth.

To learn how MAT-focused budgeting, forecasting, and reporting could strengthen your trust, register for our upcoming webinar here.

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