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Non Executive Director X 2

Employer
Academy Ambassador
Location
Board meetings are held at Barnhill School, Yeading Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, UB4 9LE
Salary
Unpaid/Voluntary
Closing date
29 Nov 2018

View more

Sector
Education
Contract Type
Interim, contract & temporary
Hours
Part Time / Job share
Specialist Area
General HR Function
CIPD Membership
CIPD Member

Middlesex Learning Partnership educates students from very deprived backgrounds with over 50% of pupils entitled to free school meals. The trust currently serves 2,700 pupils and has a budget in excess of £14million annually. The trust seeks two trustees experienced in strategic HR, corporate governance and/or branding and marketing to support its planned growth. Board meetings are held in Hayes, Middlesex.

About the trust

Middlesex Learning Partnership is a small multi-academy trust of three schools located in Hillingdon – a multi-cultural area with significant socio-economic challenges. The trust consists of one secondary school – Barnhill Community High School, and two primary schools – Belmore Primary Academy and William Byrd Primary Academy. Despite the high rates of deprivation across all three schools, the trust has shown tremendous success in improving the outcomes and life chances of all pupils.

Barnhill Community High School, with 1,400 students, has recently been rated Good by Ofsted and has achieved rapid, sustained improvement in outcomes over the last three years placing it in the top 2% of the country. Belmore Primary Academy caters for 650 students, is rated Good by Ofsted, with outstanding results for progress and attainment. Belmore Primary Academy is at the top of the primary league for schools in Hillingdon and in the top 4% of schools nationally. William Byrd Primary Academy also has 650 pupils. When the school joined the trust it was in Special Measures (Ofsted) but has made significant improvement since joining last year.

The trust has a strong model for school improvement. The London Borough of Hillingdon has plenty of scope for improvement in their educational provision for young people and the trust would like to extend their drive and expertise to those schools in need.

Plans for the Future

The key challenges for the board over the next 12-24 months are:

  1. While significant progress has been made with the appointment of a new CFO, the trust aims to continue to strengthen its structure and operations – this includes finance; HR and staff retention; procurement, ICT; data and marketing.
  2. To build on the professionalism of the board through new trustees from the business sector and industries.
  3. The trust aims to grow by building upon the excellent outcomes that all three schools have achieved in the last three years. Hillingdon presents limited opportunities for growth with an anti-academy view in the primary schools and few secondary schools independent from a trust. We will need to take an entrepreneurial approach to growth with your support and guidance.

Middlesex Learning Partnership would like to expand its primary, secondary and alternative school provision in the next five years. Additionally, the trust aims to encourage teaching and learning specialists to drive standards in the classroom as well as develop innovative approaches to teacher training.

Trust Ethos & Values

Middlesex Learning Partnership believes in the power of education to improve social mobility. They aim to

offer the best education to the young people of Hillingdon through high expectations, high standards and unwavering moral purpose. They intend to be the first choice for staff, students and parents.

Role Summary

Number of Positions Advertised: 2 Roles 1 & 2 – Trustee/Non-Executive Director

Trustees are both charity trustees and company directors of the academy trust; the role is to hold to account the executive and senior leadership team. The board of trustees manages the business of the academy trust and may exercise all the powers of the trust. The trustees ensure compliance with the trust’s charitable objects and with company and charity law.

Person Specification

The competencies required for this role include:

Essential (due to multiple roles, candidates may be accepted who possess one or more of the skills below)

  • Corporate Governance
  • Strategic HR
  • Risk
  • Branding/Marketing
  • Procurement

Desirable

  • Change Management
  • Entrepreneur/Founder
  • Growth Management
  • Non-executive/Trustee

The successful individual will have board level or senior management experience within a public, third sector, or private organisation. Their skillset will include strategic planning skills and the ability to adapt experience and transfer to an educational setting. The trust is eager that applicants are motivated by a moral purpose and belief in the importance of education and social mobility.

Time Commitment: 6 hours per month minimum.
Location of Board Meetings and Trust Website

Board meetings are held at Barnhill School, Yeading Lane, Hayes, Middlesex, UB4 9LE. Please see https://www.mlp.org.uk/ for more information.

Governance Structure

Please see https://www.mlp.org.uk/page/?title=Board+of+Trustees&pid=12

Background on Academy Trusts

Academy schools, which are exempt charities run independently of local authority control, now account for 73% of secondary schools and 29% of primaries – and their number is growing all the time.

Many of these schools are grouped together as multi-academy trusts (MATs). There are currently 760 multi-academy trusts of 3+ schools.  If the schools are to fulfil their potential, the trusts need trustees to bring a wide range of skills and experience to help guide strategy, ensure their ambitions can be soundly financed and keep their schools up to the mark delivering for their pupils.

“Academy boards must be ambitious for all children and young people and infused with a passion for education and a commitment to continuous school improvement that enables the best possible outcomes. Governance must be grounded in reality as defined by both high-quality objective data and a full

understanding of the views and needs of pupils/students, staff, parents, carers and local communities. It should be driven by inquisitive, independent minds and through conversations focused on the key strategic issues which are conducted with humility, good judgement, resilience and determination.” 
Source: Governance Handbook, Department for Education (2017)

Trusteeship is a voluntary, unpaid role for people who have the energy and skills to make a real contribution to shaping the future of our schools.  You do not need to have any specialist knowledge of education. 

Applications

Academy Ambassadors is a non-profit programme which recruits senior business leaders and professionals as volunteer non-executive directors onto the boards of multi-academy trusts. If you are interested in applying for the role please send your CV and a short expression of interest detailing which role you are applying for to academyambassadors@newschoolsnetwork.org. Please note: candidates should live within reasonable travelling distance of the trust and/or have a link with the region. For more information, please call 0207 952 8556 or visit www.academyambassadors.org.

Key Dates

We strongly recommend applying as early as you can to have the best possible chance of being considered as we may change the closing date if we have received sufficient applications. Applicants should be aware of the following key dates in the recruitment process –

Deadline for applications: 29th November 2018

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