Getting known is essential for community engagement
Strategic oversight of stakeholder engagement across your trust is now 1 of the 3 main purposes of your board, as set out in the Academy Trust Handbook 2023 (paragraph 1.10).
The Department for Education (DfE)'s trust quality descriptions also set the expectation that, in a high-quality trust, the trust board will involve stakeholders to make sure its decisions are supported by "meaningful engagement".
You can only engage meaningfully with stakeholders if they're aware of your board and its role. You'll need to work to make this visible to, and understood by:
- Pupils and parents in all your schools
- All employees across your trust
- Everyone involved in governance across your trust
- The wider communities your schools are a part of
Strong engagement with your trust's employees sets a foundation for engaging with the whole trust community. See shool staff as a channel to parents and pupils as well