About QSG
How did the Queen Street Group originate?
In June 2015, a group of 10 Trust leaders met to discuss how more-effective peer support might be developed between Multi Academy Trusts which share similar values, so that the capacity and effectiveness of each Trust might be enhanced. The discussion group broadened until around 20 Trust CEOs were meeting once each term during 2016–17 and 2017–18. At this stage there remained no formal membership, with those initially involved contacting peers they felt would be interested in joining the discussion and adding further viewpoints.
In 2018, it was decided to establish the Queen Street Group as a not-for-profit company with a charitable purpose, “to advance education for the public benefit”.
There were several advantages to this:
- The voluntary group of Trusts already in place, like-minded in their ethical commitments, became more firmly established;
- Creating a formal entity of this kind was ‘light touch’, cost-effective and added clear value, while also representing a formal commitment on the part of each participating trust to share insight and develop expertise on a regular basis.
Establishing QSG in this way: enables clarity of vision; encourages organisational development, both collectively and within each Trust; underscores a common adherence to ethical standards and high-quality pupil education; and stimulates thinking ahead as to how school improvement more generally might develop.
The Queen Street Group was duly incorporated in November 2018 with 17 founding member Trusts and an elected Board. We are now 35 Trusts.
Queen Street Group member Trusts and their CEOs
| Academy Transformation Trust | Nick Weller |
| Aldridge Education Trust | Jane Fletcher |
| Arthur Terry Learning Partnership | Richard Gill |
| Astrea Academy Trust | Rowena Hackwood |
| Beckfoot Trust | Shirley Watson |
| Big Education | Liz Robinson |
| Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust | Brendan Tapping |
| Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust | Stuart McGhee |
| Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust | Carol Dewhurst |
| Bright Futures Educational Trust | John Stephens |
| Cabot Learning Federation | Steve Taylor |
| Chiltern Learning Trust | Adrian Rogers |
| Community Academies Trust | Philip Hamilton |
| Creative Education Trust | Marc Jordan |
| Dixons Academies | Luke Sparkes |
| Ebor Academy Trust | Gail Brown |
| Education South West | Matthew Shanks |
| The First Federation Trust | Paul Walker |
| Inito Learning Trust | Liz West |
| Inspiring Futures Through Learning | Sarah Bennett |
| Ivy Learning Trust | Matthew Kleiner-Mann |
| L.E.A.D Academy Trust | Diana Owen |
| Learning in Harmony | Gary Wilkie |
| Maritime Academy Trust | Nick Osborne |
| Mulberry Schools Trust | Vanessa Ogden |
| North East Learning Trust | Lesley Powell |
| Northern Education Trust | Robert Tarn |
| Oasis Community Learning | John Barneby |
| Olive Academies Trust | Mark Vickers |
| Ormiston Academies Trust | Tom Rees |
| Reach2 Academy Trust | Cathie Paine |
| South Farnham Educational Trust | Sir Andrew Carter |
| Star Academies Trust | Mufti Hamid Patel |
| Summit Learning Trust | Vince Green |
| Ted Wragg Trust | Moira Marder |
| The Brooke Weston Trust | Andrew Campbell |
| The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust | Hugh Greenway |
| The Two Counties Trust | Wesley Davies |
| The White Horse Federation | Dan Nicholls |
| Truro and Penwith Trust | Jennifer Blunden |
| Unity Schools Partnership | Dr Tim Coulson |
| University of Chichester Academy Trust | Jennese Alozie |
| Ventrus Limited | Gary Chown |
| Woodland Academy Trust | Nav Sanghara |
What does the Queen Street Group stand for?
The Queen Street Group’s object, purposes and principles
Key Areas of Focus
2024 —2025
- Trust leadership succession
Support women into leadership and promote the next generation of diverse and successful leaders. - Promote inclusive education
Work to transform life chances of all children through exceptional provision in SEND and Alternative Provision. - The role of Trusts in their communities
Promote belonging and connection between schools and their communities.
Continuation of work from 2023-2024
Advocate for the effective and proportionate inspection and regulation of Trusts.
In addition OSG is asking for advice from its Expert Groups, in particular:
- Education
Early Years and Foundation Schooling
To provide advice to CEOs on how to best close gaps and ensure the best start for all children by improving quality of EYFS in Trusts. - HR
Retention and Recruitment
To provide advice to CEOs on Trust leadership approaches that maximise the retention and recruitment of the best staff. - Edtech
AI
To provide advice to CEOs on how AI can Best enhance the work of Trusts.
How do we go about meeting our object of advancing education for the public benefit?
QSG is a dynamic and rapidly evolving organisation. Our activities are detailed in the Annual reports published on this website and include:
CEOs’ meetings on a regular basis.
These provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, sharing of problems, and discussions about how to improve practice in Trusts and across the system. Guests are invited in order to share their thinking and engage in discussion.
Expert Groups
These currently comprise Education, Finance, HR, Estates, Ed Tech, and Executive Assistant areas of expertise. The groups consist of and are chaired by senior expert leaders in these fields from each of the Trusts, who together with two CEO members share ideas, assist one another with solving problems and develop ideas for improving practice.
Policy Groups
As a group of thoughtful practitioners, QSG is well-placed to develop thinking that is grounded in practice. Our Policy Groups are formed as needed to focus on particular areas, currently :
- Supporting smaller MATs – Establishing a programme to support the development of smaller MATs by drawing on the collective experience of QSG.
- Women into MAT leadership – Addressing the practical and perceptual barriers to women moving into leadership roles in education and encouraging authenticity in leadership, both male and female.
- MATs as leaders in their communities – Developing practical ways in which MATs can work with multi-agencies in their local communities to enhance wider provision for children.
We want to use the thinking that emerges from these activities to improve continuously the quality of education for pupils in our schools, and more widely across the system. We do this through our meetings with policy makers, officials and other system stakeholders, through our engagement with other educational bodies and through publication of think-pieces and blogs.