Non-Executive Director X 2
- Employer
- Academy Ambassador
- Location
- Studley, Warwickshire
- Salary
- Unpaid/voluntary
- Closing date
- 14 Nov 2019
View more
- Sector
- Education
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part Time / Job share
- HR Jobs Level
- Director / Head / VP
- Specialist Area
- General HR Function
Shires’ Multi Academy Trust
Shires’ MAT is a three-school multi-academy trust based in Studley, and seeks to recruit a Member. Possessing a proven track record in governance and preferably a strong background in the corporate sphere, Members are able to alter the trust’s Articles of Association and appoint and, where necessary, remove trustees. Board meetings are held at Studley High School, Warwickshire.
About the trust
A cross-phase trust, Shires’ MAT comprises three schools, with approximately 1,250 students and 140 staff in total. Its overall budget is c.£7million and the trust serves a very low proportion of ‘English as an Additional Language’ (EAL) students across its three sites.
In addition, the trust has a lower-than-national-average proportion of students receiving Free Schools Meals (FSM), and the trust has around 17% of its students in receipt of Pupil Premium.
Conversely, Shires’ MAT has a higher than average proportion of SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) students and Studley High School in particular has a reputation for inclusive high quality SEND provision.
The trust has cross-county admissions, with c.40% from Warwickshire and 60% from Worcestershire at Secondary level.
Plans for the future
The key challenges for the trust over the next 12-24 months include:
- To embed robust systems and processes in establishing a small MAT of three schools
- To grow the trust quickly, ensuring an effective central team maintains the purpose and vision for the trust;
- To establish governance structures to hold school leaders to account. The move from single school entities to a MAT group will need clarity of role and delegated responsibilities at all levels in the trust.
The trust has ambitions to grow to approximately five schools by 2021, to provide improved clarity for families living in Redditch, linked to two-tier and three-tier provision. Additionally, the trust seeks to provide potential sponsorship of schools needing support and will be aiming to expand its central services to improve efficiency and performance across a group of schools.
Trust ethos & values
The Shires’ vision is for a family of schools working together in offering the excellent educational experiences in the communities it serves, so that every child within the trust can flourish.
The culture of the trust is based on recognising the uniqueness of each community whilst
supporting the best experience and outcomes for pupils.
URL to full mission statement: https://www.studleyhighschool.org.uk/about-us/our-staff/principal/
Role summary Number of positions advertised:
1
Member
A member is able to alter the trust’s Articles of Association and appoint (or remove) trustees/directors where necessary. They provide independent oversight to the work of the board of trustees in order to ensure suitable accountability for its decision making and strategy. At Shires’ MAT the members are expected to be signatories for the academy trust, to attend two meetings per year, and to add to the already broad skillset within the existing team of members.
Person specification
Every trustee is expected to abide by the trust’s code of conduct and the seven principles of public life set out by Lord Nolan: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
The Competency Framework for Governance (DfE) 2017 details the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for effective governance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/583733/Competency_framework_for_governance_.pdf
The competencies required for this role include:
Essential
- Corporate Governance
- Non-executive/ Trustee
Desirable
- HR
- Growth Management
- Legal / Compliance
- Education Leadership
An individual with previous experience in HR, corporate governance and non-executive director roles is highly sought.
Time commitment
3 meetings per year plus reading.
Location of board meetings and trust website
Trust board meetings are held at Studley High School, Crooks Lane, Studley, B80 7QX
Governance structure
https://www.studleyhighschool.org.uk/?s=MAT+consultation
Background on academy trusts
Academy schools, which are charities run independently of local authority control, now account for 74% of secondary schools and 31% 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 832 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, 22nd November 2019
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