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Silverback Strategic Solutions offers a suite of specialist training programmes designed specifically for Multi-Academy Trust executive leaders, operational teams, and governance.

All training is designed by Andrew Strachan, bringing experience not only as a MAT operations executive, but as a pedagogical expert, skilled CPD facilitator through his previous work as a National College Specialist Leader of Education and Microsoft Master Trainer. This multifaceted perspective enables sessions to bridge the often-overlooked gap between Trust operations and frontline teaching and learning, ensuring operational improvement is always considered in the context of educational impact.

Our programmes are delivered through facilitated, workshop-style sessions that support teams to develop shared understanding and alignment around:

  • Trust strategic priorities

  • Operational goals

  • Service delivery processes

  • Roles and responsibilities

  • Organisational capacity

Rather than focusing solely on content delivery, sessions are designed to promote collaboration across executive, governance, and operational cohorts, helping participants connect strategic intent with day-to-day delivery in a MAT environment.

Training can be delivered as:

  • Stand-alone CPD sessions

  • Combined programme packages

  • Or alongside wider strategic management consultancy work

Supporting Trusts to strengthen both the oversight and delivery of operations in a way that is purposeful, aligned, and focused on enabling teaching and learning

Bespoke Training can also be designed and delivered - book a discovery call below so we can explore your needs further.

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Our Flagship training programme.

Multi-Academy Trust Boards are routinely assured on finance, safeguarding, and educational outcomes.

But operational effectiveness — across estates, IT, procurement, project delivery, health & safety, digital infrastructure, and central team capacity — is rarely evaluated through a structured assurance model.

As Trusts grow, this creates a gap between:

  • Operational delivery

  • Governance visibility

  • And meaningful assurance

Silverback Strategic Solutions offers a one-day, face-to-face training programme designed to support executive leaders and trustees in developing a clear, proportionate approach to operational assurance.

MAT Operational Assurance Framework Programme

  • By the end of the day, participants will:

    • Understand what effective operational assurance looks like in a MAT context

    • Identify key operational risk domains beyond finance

    • Differentiate between compliance and operational effectiveness

    • Review a MAT Operational Assurance Framework

    • Define proportionate operational KPIs

    • Improve board reporting clarity

    • Understand how central services should be evaluated

    • Develop a draft Operational Assurance Dashboard

    • Agree next-step implementation actions

  • This programme is suitable for:

    • Chief Operating Officers

    • Chief Financial Officers

    • Chief Executive Officers

    • Audit & Risk Committees

    • Trustees with operational oversight

    • Governance Professionals

  • Participants will receive:

    • Operational Assurance Framework Template

    • KPI Indicator Bank

    • Sample Dashboard

    • Board Reporting Example

    • Implementation Checklist

    • Governance Question Bank

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A CPD Programme for MAT IT & Estates Leaders

Operational leaders across IT and Estates functions are increasingly required to demonstrate not only delivery — but effectiveness, efficiency, and capacity.

However, in many Trusts, operational reporting remains:

  • activity-led

  • reactive

  • inconsistent

  • or difficult to interpret at executive level

Silverback Strategic Solutions offers a focused CPD programme designed to support MAT operational leaders in using data to improve service delivery, prioritisation, and strategic reporting.

Data-Driven Operational Leadership

  • This programme is suitable for:

    • Trust IT Managers / Directors

    • Estates Managers / Directors

    • Network Managers

    • Digital Infrastructure Leads

    • Facilities Managers

    • Operational Leads with Trust-wide responsibilities

    It is particularly valuable for leaders:

    • managing growing service demand

    • supporting multiple schools

    • delivering capital or infrastructure programmes

    • seeking to improve executive reporting

    • preparing for Trust growth or restructure

  • By the end of the programme, participants will:

    • Understand how operational data can support service improvement

    • Identify meaningful performance indicators for IT or Estates services

    • Move from reactive task reporting to delivery-focused reporting

    • Improve prioritisation through demand visibility

    • Understand how to evidence capacity constraints

    • Translate operational workload into risk indicators

    • Improve reporting to COO / CFO / Executive Teams

    • Begin building a service performance dashboard

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Operational Impact on Teaching & Learning

Helping MAT Operational Teams Connect Delivery to Classroom Outcomes

Operational teams play a critical role in enabling teaching and learning across a Multi-Academy Trust — but are often several steps removed from the classroom environments they support.

As a result, operational delivery can become:

  • task-focused

  • compliance-driven

  • reactive

  • disconnected from educational impact

Silverback Strategic Solutions offers a CPD programme designed to support operational teams in understanding how their work directly enables classroom practice, curriculum delivery, and pupil outcomes.

Drawing on experience across both senior operational leadership and frontline teaching, this programme helps central services move beyond service provision, towards purposeful enablement of teaching and learning.

  • This programme is suitable for:

    • Trust IT Teams

    • Estates & Facilities Teams

    • Central Operations Staff

    • Business Support Services

    • Digital Infrastructure Teams

    • Operations Leaders

  • By the end of the session, participants will:

    • Understand how operational services impact classroom practice

    • Recognise the relationship between infrastructure and curriculum delivery

    • Develop a shared understanding of Trust priorities

    • Improve service decision-making in educational context

    • Understand how operational delays affect learning time

    • Identify opportunities to better enable frontline staff

    • Strengthen collaboration between schools and central services

    • Improve sense of purpose and team alignment

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