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Steady hands, bold futures: What the Academies Conference 2026 asked of us

30/01/26

Yesterday (29 January), at the Schools North East Academies Conference 2026, the phrase that echoed through every session, conversation and corridor was simple but demanding: Steady hands are not enough. We also need bold futures.

With over 500 schools — including 75% of all academies in the region — represented at the conference, these vital conversations will now ripple across the North East, strengthening our education community and driving collective change.

In a region shaped by deep and long-standing inequality, stability alone risks preserving the status quo. But ambition without foundations will only widen the gaps we are trying to close. The challenge for the North East is not to choose between the two, but to hold both at the same time.

This year’s conference theme, Steady Hands, Bold Futures: Collaboration, Community and the Challenge of Inequality, was not a slogan. It was a call to action. It asked trust and school leaders to think differently about what leadership is for, and what reform must look like if it is to make a real difference.

Judging reform by what it changes, not what it promises

With the long-awaited schools white paper still to arrive, the conference was not about reacting to a document that does not yet exist. Instead, it was about agreeing the principles by which any future reform should be judged.

Across the day, one theme kept returning: education policy too often creates movement, noise and novelty, but not durable change. What matters is not how busy reform looks, but whether it reshapes the conditions that shape opportunity.

From the opening speech by Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, five clear tests emerged for any serious reform:

• Is it a connected system, or just another patch?
• Does it treat education as a national resource, not a cost to manage?
• Is it built to last beyond political cycles?
• Does it strengthen professional expertise rather than add compliance?
• Does it take place and community seriously?
  

These questions became the lens through which the rest of the day could be viewed.

From national mission to regional reality

The national context was brought into sharp focus by our first keynote of the day from Katherine Cowell, Regional Director for the Department for Education, and Tim Coulson, Director General for the Regions Group. 

Reflecting on 18 months of the Opportunity Mission in the North East, they spoke about what has begun to shift, where challenges remain, and what priorities must shape the next phase.

Their keynote reinforced a central truth for the region: comparison without context will never lead to fairness. The starting points for children and communities are not equal, and policy that assumes they are will always fall short.

The system beneath the headlines

If bold futures require strong foundations, then leaders must also understand the structures that hold the system up.

That reality was explored in depth by Tom Shears and Tim Care of Ward Hadaway, who examined the legal, governance and employment implications of academy trust subsidiaries — highlighting how financial separation, risk management, TUPE and accountability all shape the resilience of organisations.

At the same time, Erica Wolstenholme, National Coordinator for Whole School SEND, set out the shifting SEND landscape, asking leaders to step back from day-to-day pressures and consider how inclusion expectations are evolving, and how trusts can position themselves with confidence.

Ben Hardy, Policy Manager at Schools North East, then connected the regional and national picture, cutting through Westminster noise to explain what recent reforms mean for the North East, and how our unique network can continue to act as The Voice, The Glue and The Bridge between schools and decision-makers.

Together, these sessions reminded us that systems do not fail children by accident. They do so when design, accountability and support structures are misaligned.

Accountability, curriculum and disadvantage

In the second half of the morning, three keynotes returned directly to the conference’s central theme: community, collaboration and the challenge of inequality.

A panel chaired by John Roberts (Tes) brought together trust and school leaders who have already experienced the new Ofsted framework: Chris Mitchinson (South Hylton Primary Academy) and Kate Reid (Polam Hall School) and supported by a national perspective from Andy Jordan (ASCL) and a trust perspective from Colin Lofthouse (SMART).

Their honest reflections offered a rare, practical insight into what inspection looks like under the new model, and how accountability is beginning to shift in reality, not just on paper.

Professor Stephen Gorard then challenged one of the most persistent assumptions in education. Using new linked data on household income and attainment, he demonstrated that poverty — particularly in workless households — is the strongest driver of lower outcomes. Ethnicity, he argued, is not the primary factor. 

In his session, Stephen emphasised that meaningful change requires politicians and policymakers to have the courage to make the decisions needed to drive real reform, which was a message that perfectly reflected the conference theme, Bold Futures.

Dr Vanessa Ogden, CEO of Mulberry Academy Trust, explored the recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment Review and what they may mean for leaders — from subject provision and qualifications to accountability and progression pathways.

Raising awareness to drive meaningful change

After lunch, we moved into a powerful series of back-to-back breakout sessions that truly brought this year’s theme, Bold Futures, to life. From AI and finance to policy, partnerships and organisational culture, each session shared practical insight and bold ideas for the future of the sector.

Highlights from the afternoon included AI in Action with North Tyneside Learning Trust; Smarter Spending, Better Systems from Consilium Academies; and a focused look at building effective trust-wide attendance strategies. We also heard from Sam Freedman of the Institute for Government on why policymaking is so complex, alongside his session on horizon scanning for trust finance and operations.

Further sessions explored the human and collaborative side of leadership, including Harnessing the Spark from Spark Education Trust, Ganging Up on the Problem with Tees Valley Education, and Now We Are Merged from Cheviot Learning Trust. The day also highlighted the importance of place and partnership, with Children North East sharing how community collaboration can help tackle inequality.

Across all sessions, common themes emerged: the power of raising awareness to drive meaningful change, the value of asset-based community approaches, and the importance of aligning strategies across education, health and local communities to create lasting impact.

A shared responsibility we must embrace

Overall, the day did not offer easy answers, but it offered something more valuable: clarity. If the North East is to build bold futures, then reform must be principled, durable and rooted in place. It must invest in people, strengthen communities, and change the conditions that shape children’s lives — not just measure the outcomes.

As leaders, we cannot settle for systems that look busy but change little. We must ask for more and be prepared to build it together.

Because steady hands matter. But without bold futures, stability becomes stagnation.

Huge thanks to all delegates, speakers, and sponsors for helping us make history yesterday. And a special thanks to our main event sponsors, Ward Hadaway.