BECOMING AN E-ACT GOVERNOR
Thank you for your interest in considering becoming an academy governor. At E-ACT, we believe that excellence in education depends on leadership and the setting of high standards. In all successful organisations, governance arrangements which ensure accountability and regular challenge underpin sustainable improvement and academies are no different. As an academy governor, you will play a key role in helping us to deliver the success that we believe all our students have a right to expect. I hope that this short overview will encourage you to become a governor at one of our academies, you can find out more about us on our website which you can visit at www.EACT.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Dr Ann Limb OBE, DL Chair of the Board of Directors
Contents About E-ACT
Page 2
The Role of an Academy Governor
Page 3
Expectations of an E-ACT Governor
Page 4
An Outline of E-ACT’s Governance Arrangements
Page 5
1
About E-ACT E-ACT is a charitable education foundation limited by guarantee (company no. 652 6376) which aims to provide educational excellence for all. As a multi-academy sponsor, we are working to help young people achieve their full potential by giving them the best possible educational experience in our state-of-the-art academies. Academies traditionally require the closure of an under-performing school and a new academy opening outside the Local Authority control, with a sponsor (e.g. E-ACT) and a fresh governance model. The aim is to transform educational standards in often deprived communities. E-ACT is led by our Chair, Dr. Ann Limb OBE, DL and by our Interim CEO David Moran. As of January 2013 E-ACT has thirty-one open academies and Free Schools across England. Our first academy opened in September 2008 at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. This was followed by others in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Sheffield, Leeds, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oldham, Manchester, Nottinghamshire and Walsall. More are planned to open in Birmingham, Sheffield and Lambeth, over the next couple of years. We intend to continue to develop and expand as a multi-academy sponsor and as a promoter of Free Schools. With over twenty thousand students and over two thousand four hundred staff, E-ACT is leading the drive to improve attainment and opportunity for students across the country. Our aim is to give our students the best possible opportunity to achieve their true potential. The challenge involves a real and sustained commitment to transforming state education in our academies in order to deliver excellence in the long term. E-ACT academies are fully inclusive and reflect the multi-cultural, multi-faith and multiracial nature of 21st century Britain. We are committed to fostering a tolerant, respectful culture which recognises and celebrates our students’ individual faiths and cultural differences and leads to greater community cohesion. We also aim to ensure that our academies make a significant contribution to the regeneration of the local area. Apart from our focus on educational excellence, we provide new community facilities to promote lifelong learning; health; fitness and recreation, and the development of ICT, literacy and numeracy skills. E-ACT and its academies believe that:
All students should have access to the best opportunities to help them reach their full potential. Students should be known, supported and celebrated as individuals and their learning personalised so that they can better make their unique contribution to their academy, family and local community. Diversity should be celebrated, tolerance role-modelled and promoted, and equality of opportunity should be embedded in all our behaviours, processes and practices. Partnership with local communities and other stakeholders is central to our vision of educational excellence.
2
The Role of a Governor E-ACT places a great deal of emphasis on the role of governors in driving forward educational attainment at all our academies. The governors collectively provide both a challenge and a support function to the Principal and the Leadership team. The setting of rigorous and clear targets and the frequent detailed monitoring and questioning of progress, is fundamental to providing the educational aspirations that E-ACT desires for all its students. The Local Governing Body (LGB) of an academy is responsible for ensuring that it is run to promote pupil achievement. Its duties include:
setting strategic direction, policies and objectives
approving the school budget
reviewing progress against the school's budget and objectives
challenging and supporting the Principal
The governing body is made up of:
two parent governors (elected by parents)
two staff representatives (elected by school staff)
up to two (one for a Primary Academy) Local Authority governors (appointed by the Local Authority)
eight E-ACT appointed governors
The role of a governor is rewarding and developmental. It is an opportunity to use existing professional and intellectual skills in a new setting whilst having the chance to interact with people from other professional backgrounds and walks of life and learn from and with them. Governors have spoken of gaining satisfaction from the knowledge that they are putting something back into society - an investment in the future. In the role of governor, you will be encouraged to consider undertaking specific roles on the LGB and its committees which reflect your interests and expertise. These include finance and HR oversight, design and construction, standards and curriculum development as well as community cohesion and the wider community regeneration aspects of E-ACT’s vision. The expertise that governors can bring allows the Principal and the senior staff to bring about the required transformation at an academy and offer the rigour and accountability that are needed.
3
Expectations of an E-ACT Governor E-ACT places a high expectation on good governance to deliver the required improvement in their academies. E-ACT believes better governors make better schools. The E-ACT LGB is a committee of the E-ACT Board and is charged with delivering the EACT vision, aims and key objectives. E-ACT’s vision is to provide ‘Excellence in Education for All’ in every one of its academies, by ensuring that the life chances of every single student are enhanced. E-ACT will support the new academy to ensure that its students become successful citizens who contribute fully and effectively to the Academy and to the social and economic well-being of the wider community. E-ACT’s aims are to:
Develop Centres of Excellence through innovative approaches to teaching and learning, to ensure that all students achieve their personal and academic potential
Provide the highest quality of educational experience and widest opportunities for all, irrespective of ability, gender, faith or race
Invest in the community to improve opportunities for everyone
E-ACT’s key objectives are:
High attainment and achievement
Improved social mobility and inclusion
Strong student employability
In delivering these expectations, E-ACT asks all governors in their academies to be ruthless in demanding high standards of attainment for their pupils. Year on year improvement in standards is the challenge for E-ACT academies to achieve. Through the individual sub-committees, governors are able to gain a clear understanding of the working of the academy and, like any business, the academy must operate within its allocated budget and have the correct procedures in place that staff must comply with. Current E-ACT governors come from a wide range of backgrounds, bringing a range of skills and experience to each academy. These include; accountants; lawyers; educationalists; architects; company directors and health professionals.
4
An Outline of E-ACT’s Governance Arrangements The arrangements for governing E-ACT’s academies are governed by statute and by the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The detailed arrangements are designed to delegate the running of each academy within a rigorous and accountable framework benefitting from the support that E-ACT, as a sponsor, can bring. E-ACT is governed by a Board which currently comprises thirteen Directors, five of whom are Chairs of academy Local Governing Bodies elected by their peers. The Secretary of State is also represented on the Board and there is also provision for an elected parent representative. Each academy LGB is legally a Committee of E-ACT and is appointed by the Board of EACT in accordance with its Articles of Association. The LGB Chair, Vice Chair, Chair of Finance and Clerk are also appointed directly by E-ACT. E-ACT also appoints the majority of other governors to the LGB. E-ACT delegates appropriate powers and duties to each academy LGB. The LGB in turn will delegate various functions to Sub-Committees and/or an individual governor and/or the Principal. Each LGB will be required to have two Sub-Committees, namely The Personnel Sub-Committee (with an additional Sub-Committee to deal with pay issues) and a Finance and Asset Management Sub-Committee. Other Sub-Committees are recommended including ones to deal with standards and the curriculum and those dealing with discipline and appeals for admissions. Induction training is provided for all E-ACT governors and the training and development of individual governors and LGBs is encouraged and tailored to reflect the needs of each academy. The full details of E-ACT’s Governance arrangements, including details of the terms of reference and duties of governors are outlined in E-ACT’s Governance Handbook which can be requested from the Head of Local Governance, Lowes Casey (Lowes.Casey@EACT.org.uk ).
5