Trust Hub

Overview

Trust Hub is a dashboard on a multi-academy trust's own website, for the trust's central team. Open it on a Monday morning and it shows, in a few seconds, how the trust's school websites are doing, which schools need someone, and exactly what is missing where.

It has four tabs (Overview, Compliance, Schools and Settings), a fifth, Publish, once Realsmart has switched it on for your trust, and a printable board report. Everything in it comes from the trust's own schools' websites, which check themselves every night.

The trust's own website is shown alongside its schools, but it is never counted as one of them or added into any score or total. It does appear in Needs your attention, marked Trust, because what it is missing is the central team's own to fix.

Who sees it

The Trust Hub menu sits just under Dashboard, and only these people have it:

• an admin or owner of the trust itself, signed in through smartlogin on the trust's own website;
• Realsmart staff, who see a Realsmart support view of the trust.

Nobody else has it: not admins of the trust's member schools, not mentors, and not the shared realsmartadmin login. smartlogin decides who is a trust admin, from the trust's links in the Realsmart database. Only a top-level trust has Trust Hub, not a school that is itself a member of another trust, with one exception: a school group.

A school that runs a group of schools inside its trust (for example XP School for XP East) can have its own Trust Hub for that group. Realsmart sets it up on request. It is the same Trust Hub, with every tab, the board report, the Monday briefing and the Ofsted alerts. Its admins see and publish to the group's schools only, not to the rest of the trust. The trust's own Trust Hub is unchanged, and the trust's admins do not get the group's.

Ofsted alerts for the group's schools, and for the group's own school, go to the addresses added in the group's own Trust Hub. A school that is in both a trust and a group can have alerts from both, each to its own addresses.

WordPress asks smartlogin just after each sign-in, so the menu appears from the next page. It asks again at most once an hour while you use wp-admin.

Overview

The tab Trust Hub opens on. It greets you, names the trust and says when its schools were last scanned. Then:

• Trust website compliance: the share of must-have items the trust's schools publish, added up across every scanned school (sums, never an average of averages), with a weekly line and the change since the start of the term's data ("▲ 6 pts since 1 September"). The line appears once there are two weeks of scans.
• Must-haves met: the same as a count ("315/356"), with how many gaps are open and at how many schools.
• Schools needing attention: how many schools have something high or medium on the list, and which, worst first. The trust's own website counts here too, with its Trust tag.
• Needs your attention: a ranked list, most urgent first. Each item is a school with must-haves to fix (missing, or found but needing attention), a website with no news for over a month, evidence that lapses in the next 60 days, a school probably in its inspection window, or a website whose scan is missing or out of date. Review opens that school's details; Open site opens its wp-admin in a new tab.
• Schools: the five lowest-scoring schools, with their phase, score, last news post and last inspection. See all schools opens the Schools tab.
• Coming up: what lapses in the next four months (pupil premium statements, admission arrangements and so on), and at how many schools.
• Across the trust: news posts in the last 30 days and how many schools posted, pages edited in the last 7 days, events coming up, and the busiest and quietest schools.

"Probably in its inspection window" means the school was last inspected more than 42 months ago. It is a rule of thumb, never a prediction. The inspection dates come from Ofsted's own monthly management information for state-funded schools (the start of each school's latest inspection, graded or ungraded, found by its URN), so they update once a month; a school Ofsted lists no inspection for, such as a new school, shows a dash and is never marked due.

Publish

Publish shares posts, pages and alerts with the trust's schools. You write it once and each school gets its own copy, in its own website's design, usually within 5 minutes. When you change it, every copy changes; when you remove it, every copy goes. The Publish tab shows where each one landed. It appears once Realsmart has switched Publish on for your trust.

Share a post or page

1. Write a post or page on the trust's own website as usual, or click New post or New page on the Publish tab, which opens the editor with sharing already ticked.
2. In the Share with schools box beside the editor (under the content in the block editor), tick Share with schools.
3. Choose All schools, which includes any school that joins the trust later, or Chosen schools and tick them. The buttons above the list add every primary, secondary or special school at once; Select all and Clear do what they say.
4. For a page, you can name a page to put it under on each school's website, such as about-us. A school without that page gets it at the top level.
5. For a post, tick its categories in the post's own Categories box, as for any post. The share box shows what schools will file it under, for example "Schools file this under: XP Trust News, Secondary News".
6. Click Publish or Update. The notice at the top of the page says where it went, for example "Sent to 9 schools".

Categories on schools' websites

Each school files a shared post under the categories you ticked, and creates any it hasn't got, so its website can show the trust's posts together. Uncategorised (your website's default category) is never sent.

If a post has no category of its own, only Uncategorised or none, saving it adds a category named after the trust, such as XP Trust News, in place of Uncategorised. Trust Hub makes that category on the trust's website the first time and uses the same one after that. The notice after the save says so: "Added the category XP Trust News so schools can show trust posts together." It never changes categories you chose, and pages have no categories.

At most 10 categories go to schools. If a post has more, the first 10 by name go, and the share box says so. Changing a post's categories later and saving sends them to the schools again.

In the block editor the share box shows the categories as last saved, and changes show there once you save.

A scheduled post is sent straight away and appears on each school's website at the same time as on yours. A private post is shared without showing on the trust's own website. If the post has a Post Expiry date, it comes off the schools' websites then too.

Every save sends your changes to the schools again. Unticking Share with schools, moving the post back to draft, or putting it in the Bin removes it from the schools.

Once a post or page is shared, only the trust's Trust Hub admins can edit or delete it on the trust's website, so nobody else can change what your schools publish.

What schools can and can't do

• The copy belongs to the trust. A school can't edit or delete it, and your changes update every copy.
• A school can hide a post or page on its own website. Trust Hub then shows Hidden by school, with who hid it and when. Your later changes still reach the hidden copy, which stays hidden.
• The trust's name is shown as the author. A shared post (not a page) tells search engines that the trust's own copy is the original.
• A post goes into the school's category with the same address name (such as latest-news). A school without that category files it under its default one, and its receipt says so.

What won't travel

School websites only show content that is safe to show: text, images, links, tables, and videos, maps, forms and documents from approved services (YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps, Docs, Drive and Calendar, Microsoft Forms, Sway and Stream, Padlet and Canva). If your post has anything else, such as a script or an embed from another website, the Share with schools box lists it under These won't appear on school websites before you send it.

Galleries and other shortcodes are sent as what they show on the trust's website at the time, as images and links, not as a gallery the school can change.

Where it landed

The Publish tab lists everything the trust has shared, with how many schools have it and anything still on its way. Choose Posts, Pages or Alerts, and Active, Ended or Removed (items removed in the last 30 days). Click an item to see each school:

While anything is on its way, the details check again every 20 seconds by themselves.

Change schools chooses the schools again. Edit opens a post or page in the editor, or an alert in its form. If a change couldn't be sent, because your sign-in needed refreshing or smartlogin didn't answer, the item says Not sent: refresh your sign-in if asked, then click Send now.

Remove from schools

Open the item and click Remove from schools. Trust Hub asks first, naming how many school websites it comes off. A post's or page's copy moves to each school's Bin, and an alert simply comes off. For a post or page, tick Also move the trust's own copy to the Bin to take it off the trust's website too.

Removing also unticks Share with schools on the trust's copy, so saving it later doesn't share it again. To share it again, tick the box and publish.

Alerts

A trust alert is a short message across the top of each school's website, or in a card in the corner. It looks exactly like a school's own Smart Alert: a solid colour, an icon, a label, the message with "From" and your trust's name underneath, a button when you add a link, and a close button if visitors may close it.

1. On the Publish tab, click New alert.

2. Write the alert: at most 280 characters, plain text. Add a prefix, such as Closure - it is the label at the start of the alert - and a link if you like. The link shows as a button; its text is yours, or Read more.

3. Choose its type, where it shows, who sees it (everyone, signed-in users, or staff), and whether visitors can close it. The types:

   • Information, Important, Urgent and Good news - blue, yellow, red and green;
   • Countdown - counts down, in days, hours, minutes and seconds, to when the alert ends, then disappears;
   • Emergency - opens a pop-up the first time each visitor sees it, then shows a red bar that can't be closed until the alert ends. Use it only for a real emergency.

   Countdown and Emergency alerts are always a bar across the top.

4. Choose when it starts (now or at a time) and when it ends. Every trust alert ends: by default at 23:59 today, UK time, and at most 90 days ahead.

5. Choose the schools. Tick Also show on the trust's website to show it there too.

6. Check the preview, then click Send alert.

Trust alerts show above each school's own Smart Alert, whether or not the school uses Smart Alert, and schools can't hide them. To change one, open it and click Edit: the change goes to every school as a new version, so visitors who closed it see it again, and an Emergency's pop-up shows again. Remove from schools takes it down. An alert that has ended or been removed can be sent again with Send again.

If a school has an Emergency alert of its own at the same time, only one pop-up shows on a page: yours first, then the school's on the visitor's next page.

How long it takes

School websites check for trust content about every 5 minutes, so a new item, a change or a removal usually shows within 5 minutes. A school website that is still on the old platform doesn't check at all, and shows as Not reachable.

Compliance

A grid of every school (down the side) against the eight groups of things the Department for Education says a school's website must publish (across the top), with each school's score at the end. The trust's own website is the first row.

"To fix" counts items that are missing and items that were found but need attention (out of date, or no date found). The counts include the must and should items in the group; the score counts must-haves only.

Most common gap names the must-have missing at the most schools, and which schools they are.

A school's details

Click a school's name to open its details beside the grid, or click a cell to open them at that group. You see the school's score and scan time, then every item in three lists:

• Missing: not found on the website.
• Needs attention: found, but out of date, with no date, or lapsing within 60 days.
• Met: folded away as "+ n more met"; click to show them.

Each item names the evidence the scan found and links to it on the school's website (Open on site opens in a new tab). Use Show to pick one group. Press Esc or Close to go back to the grid. The address (#compliance/<school>) can be shared with a colleague who also has Trust Hub.

Export CSV

Export CSV downloads every item for every school as a spreadsheet: school, URN, group, item, must or should, status, freshness, when it lapses, the evidence's address and when it was scanned. The file is named trust-compliance-<trust>-<date>.csv and opens in Excel.

Schools

Every school with its phase, must-haves met (and the change over the last week), its last news post (red after 30 days), its last inspection (when known), when it was last scanned, and Open site for its wp-admin. Sort by School, Must-haves met or Last news by clicking the column heading; click again to reverse. The trust's own website stays at the top.

A "–" means the school hasn't published that yet: for example a school whose website hasn't been moved onto SmartPress has no profile or news figures.

Reports

Reports shows each school's monthly website report side by side for one month, with the trust's totals and a few sentences "In brief": compliance and its change since the start of the month, items put right and still to do, policies due for review (and overdue), posts, pages and events published, pages visitors opened, and Ofsted early-warning signs. Choose another month from Month; Print or save as PDF prints it.

Each school's website works out its own figures overnight and sends them. A school whose website has not sent any yet shows "No report yet". The trust's own website is shown at the top but not counted in the totals.

Board report

Board report (PDF), on Overview and Compliance, opens a one-page A4 report for trustees or an inspection pack: the trust's name and logo, the date, the score and its trend, must-haves met, schools scanned, the compliance grid, the five most urgent things to look at, and what is coming up.

1. Click Board report (PDF).
2. Click Print or save as PDF.
3. In the print window, choose Save as PDF (or a printer), portrait, A4.

Up to about 15 schools fit on one page. With more, the grid carries on to a second page, its headings repeated. Back to Trust Hub returns to the dashboard.

Settings: Ofsted alerts

Settings → Ofsted alerts lists the addresses that get an email whenever one of the trust's schools has a possible Ofsted visit to its website (High confidence only, the same alerts the school's own Ofsted website alerts send). Trust admins and Realsmart staff can change them.

1. Open Trust Hub, then the Settings tab.
2. Under Add an address, enter the email address.
3. Choose All the trust's schools, or Only some schools and tick them.
4. Click Add address. It gets the next alert; there is no confirmation email.

A trust can have up to five addresses. Remove stops them at once. Every email carries a personal link to stop receiving them. At most three alerts a day go to the trust for any one school.

Settings: Monday briefing

Settings → Monday briefing lists the addresses that get a short email every Monday at 7am: the trust's score and its change since last week, must-haves met, news activity, and the three most important things to look at, with a link to Trust Hub.

Add and remove addresses as for Ofsted alerts, without choosing schools. A trust can have up to ten. There is no confirmation email, and every briefing carries a personal link to stop receiving it. Until the briefing is switched on for your trust the card says The Monday briefing will be available shortly.

Where the numbers come from

• Each school's website checks itself against the DfE's list every night and sends Trust Hub its results: a score, every item with its evidence, and its news and events activity. Trust Hub shows the latest. A scan more than two days old is marked Out of date or old scan.
• The trust's score adds up the must-haves met across its schools and divides by the must-haves they need, rounded down. Schools not scanned yet are left out, and said so.
• The weekly line takes each Monday's position, from the first scans this academic year.
• Each school's phase, type and size come from its entry in the DfE's school register (GIAS), refreshed nightly. A school whose website isn't on SmartPress yet has none.
• Trust Hub keeps each answer for up to five minutes, so a change can take that long to show.

Refresh your sign-in

Each time someone signs in, smartlogin gives Trust Hub a sign-in of its own, which lasts 12 hours. After that the page shows Refresh your sign-in. The button goes through smartlogin, which gives Trust Hub a new sign-in and comes straight back. Anyone still signed in to smartlogin is not asked for a password. If the page asks again straight after a refresh, it says so instead of offering the button in a loop: contact Realsmart support.

When the data isn't there

• … isn't available yet means that part could not be loaded. Until the trust's schools have scanned and reported this is expected; otherwise Try again in a few minutes.
• You don't have Trust Hub on this site means smartlogin does not count you as an admin of this trust. Check you are an admin or owner at the trust itself, not at one of its schools.
• Trust Hub is busy means there were too many requests in a minute. Wait, then try again.
• Not scanned next to a school means its website has never reported a scan, often because it is not on SmartPress yet.
• Detail arrives with the school's next scan means the school has sent its score but not yet its item-by-item results. They come with its next nightly scan; until then its details panel shows the score and says the same.

For Realsmart staff

• Capabilities: rs_trust_hub (the menu and the page) and rs_trust_hub_support (Realsmart staff), granted from user meta rs_trust_role, which smartlogin's answer sets.
• The Trust Hub token is smartlogin's trust_jwt SAML attribute (audience trust-hub), kept in user meta rs_trust_token and deleted at logout. It never reaches the browser: the page reads smartlogin's Trust API through this website (/wp-json/rs-trust/v1/: context, overview, schools, compliance, compliance/export, alert-recipients, briefing-recipients), and answers are kept for five minutes per user. The export is never kept.
• The numbers come from smartlogin's website_compliance_summaries, website_compliance_items, website_compliance_daily (the trend), website_activity and website_school_profile tables, which each school's website publishes into (mu-plugins/school-requirements/publish*.php).
• Ofsted alert addresses live in smartlogin's trust_alert_recipients; check delivery with Send Test Trust Alert under Smart Plugins → Compliance Monitor (RealSmart) on one of the trust's school websites. The Monday briefing is sent by smartlogin (trust:weekly-briefing).
• Publish: a trust has it when smartlogin's context says features.publish (the trust is in TRUST_HUB_PUBLISH_TRUSTS); RS_TRUST_PUBLISH_DISABLED=true in a website's .env switches it off there (in configs/shared.env, everywhere). Posts and pages are sent to smartlogin by PHP, from the post, with the saving member's own Trust Hub token (trust-hub/publish.php), never by the browser and never from cron. Their post meta: _rs_trust_share (the box's choice), _rs_trust_broadcast_id and _rs_trust_sync (how the last send went). The browser may create and change alerts only, through /wp-json/rs-trust/v1/broadcasts; broadcasts/{id}/targets and broadcasts/{id}/send work from the trust's own post. smartlogin keeps each item and its receipts in trust_broadcasts and trust_deliveries, and each school's website applies them from its own cron (mu-plugins/trust-inbox).
• Code: src/public/mu-plugins/trust-hub.php and src/public/mu-plugins/trust-hub/.