Non-Executive Director X 2

Lighthouse Schools Partnership (LSP)

Lighthouse Schools Partnership, is a multi-academy trust overseeing 22 schools in the South-West, an income of circa £43M,8,600 pupils and 1,300 staff. The trust seeks two new non-executive directors to join their board with specialisms in HR or legal/compliance. The trust aims to offer ‘Excellence from Nursery to Sixth Form’ and its three Teaching Schools are helping to develop excellent leaders and teachers to deliver that goal. Currently, every school in the trust is judged by Ofsted to be either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.  Board meetings are held in Gordano School (BS20 7QR), Backwell School (BS48 3BX) or Chew Valley School (BS40 8QB).

About the trust

Lighthouse Schools Partnership was founded in 2016 with six schools in the Portishead and Portbury area. The trust has now expanded to 22 schools consisting of three secondary schools, four infant schools, four junior schools and 11 primary schools. Another primary school will join later in the summer. As at June 2019 Lighthouse Schools Partnership was one of only seven large trusts in the South West region.

The trust educates pupils within nursery to sixth form provision in a mix of Community and Church of England schools across three hubs: Portishead, Backwell and Chew Valley. Currently each hub consists of one secondary school, the remainder being primary or infant/junior federations.

Gordano School and Backwell School are National Teaching Schools; Backwell leads the North Somerset Teaching School Alliance which has been a great foundation on which to build for excellence. St Peter's Primary School was designated as a National Teaching School in June 2017 and is an English Hub in 2018.

Plans for the future

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

1.         Establishing and maintaining financial sustainability without affecting the educational success of the schools. Maximising the benefits of collaborative working to take opportunities for growth and cost reduction; plus manage change including harmonization of policies and procedures and associated HR processes where appropriate.

2.         Maintaining strong pupil outcomes across the whole trust, sharing the best practice and embedding the trust-wide school improvement strategy consistently across all schools in line with the trust’s vision and ethos.

3.         Improve the quality of the trust’s estate to give both pupils and staff a safe, stimulating and comfortable learning environment. The trust has a number of Victorian and poorly maintained buildings within its estate so their priority has been ensuring compliance with H&S in the first instance but applying for Condition Improvement Fund grant monies would enable delivery of their longer-term Estate Plan.

Over the next year monitor effectiveness of governance across the trust and change only where necessary. Share examples of excellence. Further develop governance training programmes to give local governors the best information to fulfill their roles.

Trust ethos & values

Their core aim is to achieve excellence of learning and care for children and young people rooted in collaboration between schools. Central to this is a desire to invest in the training and excellence of their staff. The trust’s vision is shown on their website: http://www.lsp.org.uk/index.php/our-vision/

Role summary Number of positions advertised: 2 Roles 1-2 – Trustee/Non-Executive Director

Trustees – or non-executive directors - 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

As experienced professional or business leaders, successful applicants will have the ability and determination to adapt and transfer their experience to an educational setting. They will have a willingness to devote time, an understanding of the duties and liabilities of trusteeship and the ability to challenge, evaluate and interpret information with rigour and independence.

Successful applicants will build a strong understanding of governance and will be expected to be comfortable holding executive leaders to account for the educational and financial performance of the trust. They will be responsible for setting the trust’s vision and values and the strategy for achieving this vision. No education experience is required.

The competencies required for role 1 include:

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

 

• HR

Desirable

 

• Non-Executive/Trustee
• Corporate Governance
• Change management
• Restructuring

The competencies required for role 2 include:

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

 

• CEO / General Management
• Legal / Compliance

Desirable

 

• Non-Executive/Trustee
• Corporate Governance

Time commitment

8 hours per month (minimum).

Location of board meetings and trust website

Board meetings are held at either Gordano School (BS20 7QR), Backwell School (BS48 3BX) or Chew Valley School (BS40 8QB) 6-8pm. Trustees are invited to maximise use of their specialist skill sets by joining an appropriate committee and to participate in any ad hoc panel convened during the working day and training. More information about the governance arrangements can be found on the trust’s website: http://www.lsp.org.uk/

Governance structure

A diagram of the trust’s governance structure can be found the trust’s website:

http://www.lsp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Organisational-structure-Hubs-model-Apr-2018.pdf

Background on academy trusts

Academy schools, which are charities run independently of local authority control, now account for 69% of secondary schools and 33% 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 900 multi academy trusts of 3+ schools. If the schools are to fulfil their potential, the trusts need non-executives (known in charity law as 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.

“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 (2019)

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: Friday 4^th October 2019

Applicants will be invited to hold an informal meeting with the Chair of Trustees in the first instance.