Education CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by the Elliot Foundation Academies Trust
Our Context
The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust (TEFAT) is a multi academy trust, responsible for a growing community of 8 primary academies. We anticipate having 20 primary academies by September 2013 based in two or more geographical clusters. We have plans to grow to 100 primaries over the next four years.
The TEFAT Board of governors is the governing body for all of our academies setting and operating universal policies. A local committee, which we name the local governing body, is appointed to each academy.
We believe the existing system of governance to have serious shortcomings. We would want to encourage the Select Committee to discuss, not only a review of governance, but create a new form of accountability that is simple, easy to administer and effective.
The Request for Evidence
The questions posed, imply that the current arrangements for governance of every maintained school should be retained. We would question this assertion.
We would welcome a fundamental review of the governance needs of our school system and by inference the best way of achieving continuous rising standards and outcomes for pupils that prepare them for a wider role in society.
We recognise that we are working within an existing legal framework that should ensure probity and compliance.
We also recognise that Head Teachers may be unaware of governance freedoms and are often NOT adopting practices to the full extent of their existing powers.
The purpose, roles and responsibilities of school governing bodies, within the wider context of school governance and leadership
It is essential that clarity on the prime purposes for governing bodies is established and understood at a national level.
We suggest that there are three main purposes and place them in order of priority below:
1.
2.
3.
If these can be accepted as the three purposes then consideration needs to be given as to how they can best be delivered through effective measures.
1. Accountability
Monitoring key performance indicators, finance and estates, pupil outcomes, staff & head teacher performance as examples. This monitoring role is critical to the sustained success of any school.
Solution
1. Increasing the role and autonomy of the Principal or Head teacher whilst retaining enough checks and balances to ensure the school is well-managed.
A well-informed and well-trained head should operate across the full spectrum of school improvement activities including organisational leadership, financial management as well as school improvement. They should also be able to rapidly deal with staff issues.
Staff disciplinary is an example. The School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 gave an option for head teachers to be delegated responsibility for the disciplinary process up to and including dismissal. However this option is rarely used and is unnecessarily delegated to a GB panel.
An in-school policy review could remove this option and compel Head Teachers to take on this key role. Any appeal would then fall to the GB (appeal panel) or an independent panel.
2. A cluster model for small and primary schools is needed to enable a group of people who understand the need to monitor key performance indicators across their group of schools, have expertise to enable them to do so in areas of finance and estate, staffing, pupil outcomes and providing VFM.
For this group, roles and expectations would be made explicit and related to outcomes. Skills audits for such individuals would be a requirement and a clear framework for carrying out their functions across the academic year would ensure all areas are met.
Through this mechanism they would hold the Head teacher to account.
2. Legal Compliance
Review and implementation of policy and procedure to ensure that the school or academy is operating within all framework requirements.
This area would be covered in the above model.
3. Advocate & Critical Friend
The ability to review and reflect on all aspects of the school and create a “healthy” work environment for all and undertake wider school and community functions, for example consultation, public relations, etc.
We would suggest this is part of the wider Head Teacher role and function. Where an individual “critical friend” role is needed this is provided by peer to peer support. Consultation and public relations should be Head teacher led.
The implications of recent policy developments for governing bodies and their roles
As a Multi Academy Trust, the Elliot Foundation wants to create an effective and efficient governance unit that could function across more than one primary school and bring professionalism to a voluntary role.
The current requirement for election f parent governors is a block to being able to construct an impartial, small, robust team able to focus on the functions and roles explained above. This team could include parents.
Recruiting and developing governors, including the quality of current training provision, and any challenges facing recruitment
A straightforward process for removing any governor from maintained schools is urgently needed where this is deemed necessary for effective functioning of the school.
Locally, it should be possible to source individuals with the skills and commitment to carry out the much-needed strategic role described above. Reducing numbers to a small team and eliminating election processes would speed up functioning and focus activity. School Governors One Stop Shop could be helpful in the sourcing process for these teams.
As part of the “recruitment” process greater significance should be given to the role, and training, of any clerk. Whether to a small group as described or GB as presently exists. The clerk can play a crucial role in the success of the GB work through their knowledge, information flow and procedural advice.
Targeted resources for “governor” training should be identified. This critical area should not be a burden to the school budget.
The structure and membership of governing bodies, including the balance between representation and skills
“Governor” appointments should be based on skills, commitment and the school context not representation—therefore there should be a removal of requirement for “parent”, “staff”, “local authority” or “community” or any other group.
A well-balanced skills set in a small group of 4–6 would suffice in managing the priority areas and creating a professional working relationship with the Head teacher.
The advocacy and critical friend role could be carried out by a separate group of local representatives that may include parents.
As a Multi Academy Trust we are also exploring the option of forming small “professional” teams that carry out the accountability and legal compliance role for a cluster of schools.
Whether new arrangements are required for the remuneration of governors
Remuneration is less important than professionalising the role. However by widening the role we could suggest that this makes some form of remuneration inevitable as it becomes more like a “job”.
Remuneration is already taking place in some academy chains.
Remuneration disadvantages small schools and primary schools whose budgets are smaller than secondary schools unless the model of a small team across clusters of schools were adopted.
Remunerating governors would wholly change the nature of the relationship and might undermine their role. It might also cause some difficulties for those employed where their employer might not want them to be earning elsewhere but are happy to give flexibility in their working practice for voluntary work.
If governors were remunerated this would require additional financing. Whether there would be a national scale of pay or left locally could also cause division as some schools might reward more highly.
Whether changes should be made to current models of governance
The current models are based on long history and should be removed completely and replaced with a simpler, smaller and flexible model based on delivering accountability and legal compliance.
We would welcome a more rigorous review of governance looking at different models of holding schools and academies to account.
Progress of schools, academy or not, will not be made by adhering to a system of school governance that has not been significantly changed since before the Education Reform Act (1988) and the implementation of local management.
January 2013