Effective governance for schools and academies
High quality governance is essential for the success of schools and academies. There is a wealth of information and guidance available on what constitutes effective governance, and the very volume of this information can be overwhelming.
This article is not intended to cover every aspect of good governance but rather to highlight a number of key good governance principles for both school governing bodies and academy trust boards and committees, and what these mean in practice, in order for these organisations to achieve their core purpose effectively: namely, improving the outcomes for children and young people.
Although being a trustee of an academy trust company is in some ways a very different role to being a school governor, and carries with it additional powers and responsibilities, the same principles of good governance will apply to both roles. One aspect however that will be of particular importance to academies, and especially to multi academy trusts, is their governance structure; this is also touched on below. Although many legal structures are possible, the governing body is referred to throughout this article as a "board".
Understanding your role
School governors and trustees are crucial to the success of the school. To be effective, they need to have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. All boards, whether in the maintained or academy sector, have three core functions (as outlined in the Governance Handbook):
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- Holding the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Trustees of an academy trust are both company directors and charity trustees, and have legal duties under the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 accordingly. These Acts give important context and detail to the provisions in the academy documentation (such as the Articles of Association and funding agreements) and the Academies Financial Handbook (from the Education Funding Authority). The academy board trustees need to understand these obligations.
Where an individual has multiple roles in the multi academy trust (MAT), it is vital to distinguish between these different roles, understanding which "hat" they are wearing when exercising different functions, and to be aware of and declare any conflicts of interests or loyalties arising, in relation to the personal interests of a trustee and/or conflicts of professional roles (including where the MAT has church representatives), and to ensure that these are properly managed.
Having a strong governing board
A strong and effective board is essential for the success of a school or academy. The board should ask itself whether it has the right balance of people with the necessary skills and experience (and the time and commitment) to be able to act in the best interests of the school, and its pupils, using a skills audit to assess the skills, knowledge and experience of their board. Gaps in skills can then be addressed by training or the appointment of new governors and/or trustees. Clear role specifications will prevent duplication or omission.
The support and advice of an independent and professional clerk/company secretary will be essential. The board needs to understand its roles and responsibilities and be able to work effectively as a team. The chair of the board must show strong and effective leadership and it is important that the size, composition and structure of the board is conducive to effective working.
Whatever governance structure an academy trust board has in place, they need to ensure that they have sufficient checks and balances in operation, whilst at the same time avoiding any unnecessary duplication at different levels of governance (good communication will be vital in this respect) and the structure should be reviewed regularly.
Having a strong governance structure
Given the number of schools that they oversee, multi academy trusts will normally have multiple layers of governance. What and how the board decides to delegate will depend on a number of factors, including the size and structure of the MAT and the geographical spread of the schools. It is crucial however that the governance structure is clear and in keeping with its articles of association, and that respective roles within the MAT, from the members to academy level governance, are well understood and as tightly defined as possible.
There should be clear separation between the strategic and operational roles of the board and its school leaders and the board should make sure that most of the members do not serve in dual capacity as directors.
It needs be clear what is to be decided at what level within the MAT and this should be reflected in governance and training material and in detailed schemes of delegation defining the lines of responsibility and accountability within the MAT. The scheme of delegation needs to be published on its website, and those of its academies, and make clear who is responsible for exercising the key governance functions within the MAT (including those relating to recruitment, performance management, human resources policy and practice, budget oversight, and risk assessment).
Vision, ethos and strategy
The board needs to be properly engaged with its school community, and the needs of its pupils, parents and staff, and with the school sector as a whole, both at a local and national level. The board should make its vision clear and live by these core values throughout the organisation. Strategic and forward thinking will be key in achieving the board's vision.
The board should also ask itself how it is adapting its governance processes around the digital age, e.g. using digital to make the administration and key principles of its governance more effective, to communicate with the school and local community, and to promote its vision and ethos.
A planned training programme, active succession planning, and having clear procedures in place for the retirement, appointment and re-appointment of governors and/or trustees including the length of term they may serve, will help the board to ensure continuity and effectiveness. It is also important that the board monitors and regularly reviews its strategy, e.g. against key performance indicators.
There are a number of additional factors which multi academy trusts will need to consider. For example, the board needs to ensure that all academies within the trust contribute to and understand the board's vision and strategic priorities. The board will also need to consider the size of the academy trust and whether or not there is capacity to support any additional academies, particularly those with support needs.
Ensuring accountability
A key function of the board is to support the school leaders and to challenge them and hold them to account to deliver good quality education and improve the educational outcomes for all groups of pupils. The board must ensure the effectiveness of the school's safeguarding procedures, under which children are both kept safe in school, and are taught to keep themselves safe, and that the school is promoting the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of its pupils.
The board needs to consider how it ensures effective performance management of all staff within the school. The people in senior leadership roles should be accountable in a way that is clear and transparent.
Financial scrutiny
The third core function of the board is to ensure the proper and efficient use of the funding each school receives, and direct this to achieve the best outcomes for pupils. Financial capability and management as well as compliance systems should be robust in order to ensure that the board can demonstrate "best value for money" and meet its statutory and legal obligations. Trustees should make sure that they receive regular reports about the affairs of the trust, including budgets, cash flows and management accounts
The board must understand the financial structures of the school and be able to show the difference funding has made to pupil outcomes, particularly in the case of targeted funding, such as sports funding, pupil premium, special educational needs and year 7 catch-up funding. As mentioned above, academy trust boards will have additional obligations under charity and company law (including the Academies Financial Handbook).
Reviewing and learning
The board's performance, and the performance of the individual governors and/or trustees, should be reviewed regularly. Self-evaluation is key in this respect and the board should consider how the school or academy has improved, e.g. annually and within a three year period, and what the board's contribution has been to this. The board needs to review regularly its structures and practices and, where possible, consider best practice and lessons from other boards' experiences, and collaborations with other schools, and outside the sector.
Demanding and vital roles
School governors and trustees occupy demanding and vital roles in ensuring the effective leadership of their schools and academies and their value should not be underestimated (particularly in light of the fact that the majority will be acting as unpaid volunteers). With governing boards being given increasing levels of responsibility (with matching increased accountability) and also being subject to increased public scrutiny, good governance is arguably more important now than ever.
As mentioned above, there is a plethora of guidance which school governors and trustees need to be familiar with and understand. Key guidance available includes the DfE Governance Handbook November 2015, the Academies Financial Handbook 2016 (published and updated by the EFA), the Ofsted School Inspection Handbook, Charity Commission trustee guidance including The Essential Trustee, and guidance issued by the National Governors' Association (NGA) including Framework for School Governance and Model Code of Conduct 2016 for school governing boards.
