VIEWS
From a black hole of data to estates excellence Education Today hears from SAM LUKER, Chief Operating Officer of Trinitas Academy Trust
For trust leaders, successful estates management is no longer just about maintenance; it is about securing the visibility and assurance required to manage risk, prioritise investment and maintain compliance confidence across every school in the trust. As COO of a multi-academy trust, I am no stranger to the complexities of multi-site oversight. Managing seven schools requires total visibility, a proactive safety culture, and an intuitive system that site teams can use effectively and consistently.
Although there is support available from Department for Education (DfE) frameworks such as the Academy Trust Handbook and Good Estate Management for Schools, the day-to-day responsibility for managing risk ultimately remains with individual trusts. And at the heart of that challenge sits data.
In a multi-site organisation, information can quickly become disjointed. Different schools may hold data in different formats, track compliance in different ways, and operate with varying levels of resource and expertise. Individually, these approaches can work. But at trust level, they can make it difficult to build a consistent, real-time picture of the entire estate. As leaders, the question we need to answer is a simple one: do we have a complete understanding of the condition and compliance of our estate? Fragmented systems create this ‘black hole’ of data, meaning visibility is often incomplete or unreliable. The biggest risk is the unknown – not knowing if a statutory check has been missed until it’s too late. Issues such as RAAC have highlighted just how important that visibility
is. Responding effectively requires trusts to identify risks across multiple sites quickly, assess their impact and act with confidence. This can only be achieved by creating a single, consistent view of compliance across all sites and using data to prioritise maintenance and investment. This simplifies processes by reducing duplication and giving leadership teams greater confidence in the decisions they are making. We have now achieved a ‘single source of truth’ for our estates data with the implementation of the iAM Compliant platform. Shifting from a reactive stance to a proactive one.
The estates data of all seven schools can be viewed from one dashboard and reporting to Principals, Governors, and Trustees is made simple with health scorecards and compliance overview reports.
This clarity is particularly valuable during audits. Having everything available immediately has reduced the stress of external inspection. If the HSE were to arrive tomorrow to check our asbestos management procedures we would be confident in our compliance readiness.
Saving several hours each week by eliminating manual reporting and follow-up emails is a significant benefit. The asset lifecycle data collated on the platform also lays the foundations for our sustainability strategy. It is not possible to effectively manage energy efficiency without a clear, data-driven understanding of the estate’s current condition.
Ultimately, effective estate management comes down to confidence that risks are understood and controlled. Confidence for staff and pupils that their environments are safe and well maintained. And confidence for the government and the public that resources are being used wisely. As the sector continues to evolve, developing that clear, consistent view of the estate will be fundamental to both effective governance and educational excellence.
Why do some schools embed technology so well? JODIE LOPEZ, a former teacher known widely as EdTech Ninja, explains.
Having visited hundreds of schools over the years as a teacher and trainer, I have noticed a clear pattern between those where technology genuinely enhances teaching and learning, and those where it struggles to gain traction. Budget and resources matter, but they are rarely the deciding factor. The schools that succeed tend to share one thing: clarity of purpose. Schools with a clear long-term vision for technology usually see stronger outcomes over time. They know what they want technology to achieve, how it supports teaching and learning, and how different tools fit together within the wider ecosystem of the school.
Without that strategic foundation, schools can become trapped in cycles of
reacting to the latest device, app or platform. The focus shifts towards making an individual piece of technology work, rather than understanding why it was chosen in the first place. When I have arrived at schools to train teams on new tools, the difference in school culture around technology rollout is apparent instantly. If you find demotivated staff who are used to failure and unwilling to engage with training, it is always disheartening. A well-considered strategy also allows schools to plan for one of the most overlooked elements of technology integration: staff development. The schools making the greatest progress invest in professional development rather than relying on one-off training sessions. They understand that confidence grows through practice, experimentation and
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ongoing support. Teachers do not want to feel uncertain in front of a class, so when confidence is low, staff naturally retreat to familiar approaches. Technology then becomes underused, and is removed before the cycle begins again with a new platform or initiative.
By contrast, confident staff are far more likely to innovate. They begin to use technology naturally within their teaching rather than seeing it as an additional task. They also make better decisions about future technology choices because they understand how tools connect to pedagogy, curriculum goals and pupil needs.
The most successful schools deliberately create time for staff to learn. They use staff meetings, INSET days and collaborative
planning opportunities to move beyond the basics and develop meaningful classroom practice.
In every school where technology is embedded effectively, there is someone championing the vision, and someone in leadership enabling it to happen. In my own experience, I was supported by a headteacher who did not consider herself especially confident with technology, but who recognised its potential and trusted me to lead change. I have seen the same tools thrive in one school and fail completely in another. The technology itself is rarely the determining factor. Success depends far more on the people using it, the strategy guiding it, and the time invested in making it work.
July/August 2026
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