'Governors are knowledgeable about the school’s strengths and priorities for development. They ensure that they keep up to date with the school’s work through focused visits and regular communication with leaders. They draw well on their experience and training so that they can confidently evaluate the impact of leaders’ actions and identify when further improvements are needed.’ (OFSTED)

Governance

The Governors oversee and facilitate the strategic leadership of the school. They work with the Headteacher to secure the delivery of education in the school suitable to the needs, ages and abilities of the pupils. Becoming a governor is a way of contributing to your local school and learning new skills.

What do school governors do?

The role of the Board of Governors is to manage the school with a view to providing the best possible education and educational opportunities for all of the pupils.

This includes:

• setting the school’s vision and aims
• establishing and maintaining the school’s ethos
• setting the school’s plans and policies
• ensuring the National Curriculum is followed
• overseeing the school budget
• managing the school premises
• monitoring and evaluating school performance
• promoting self-evaluation to sustain school improvement  

Who can become a school governor?

All types of people can become school governors, with the exception of anyone disqualified on the basis of child protection requirements, bankruptcy restrictions or recent criminal convictions.

No special qualifications are required, but you must be 18 years of age or over.

Enthusiasm, commitment, an interest in education and teamwork are important qualities. You don't need to have a child at the school.

Schools particularly welcome new governors who have transferable skills developed at work, such as business, finance or human resource skills. As a new governor, you would usually be appointed to the Board of Governors of a school within your local community

Anyone aged 18 or over can become a school governor. No specialist qualifications are needed and people from many different backgrounds volunteer for the role. Enthusiasm, commitment and an interest in education are the most important qualities. You don’t need to have a family member attending a school or college to become a governor. As a school or college governor, your duties will include: assessing the strategic direction, policies and objectives approving the budget reviewing progress against the budget and objectives challenging and supporting senior staff playing a part in appointing staff.

REAch2 Governance Charter

 REAch2 is a charitable voluntary organisation which relies on the valuable input of a considerable number of non-executive volunteers, supported by an experienced team of staff. Due to the size of the organisation and the number of schools for which it is responsible, coupled with its drive for accountability, it is also a complex organisation with various important elements of governance.

Effective governance in our large Academy Trust is supported by the following:

• Trust Members – the guardians of the constitution
• Trust Board – the Directors / Trustees
• Trust Board sub-committees – made up of Trust Board members
• Cluster Boards – including the Cluster Non-Executive Representatives
• Local Governing Bodies – the Local Governors
• The Executive Team – the Chief Executive Officer (the CEO) and Chief Operating Officer (together the Executive Leaders) and their respective teams  

The Trust Board delegates authority to the following key groups in order to ensure the effective leadership and governance of the Academy Trust:

• Trust Board Committees populated entirely or largely by trustees (Education and Standards, Risk and Audit, Finance & Resources, Remuneration and Executive Nominations Committee)
• Executive leadership and management team (the Executive Team)
• Cluster Boards – these are committees that provide additional area governance for the Academies
• Local Governing Bodies for each Academy  

In September 2019 a new Cluster based Governance model was introduced. With two Directors of Education, each Cluster is led by a Deputy Director of Education.

The relationship between the Trust Board and the Executive Team, the Cluster Boards and the Local Governing Bodies is characterised as a partnership to realise a common vision and a common purpose. In the case of the Cluster Boards and the Local Governing Bodies the relationship between the three tiers of governance is also based on the principles of:

• no duplication of governance;
• governance should be as close as possible to the point of impact of decision-making;
• risk management is a key feature of Cluster Boards’ activities as well as being integrated fully across all layers of governance including at Local Governing bodies.

The Terms of Reference and the scheme of delegation provide clarity as to who the decision makers are for different levels of decisions. Effectiveness of both management and governance is supported through clarity over who holds the decision-making responsibility and who supports and advises the decision makers.

Vision and Values

The shared vision and values of REAch2 and all the Academies underpins the governance arrangements of the Academy Trust.

REAch2 fully supports the independence and distinguishing characteristics of each of the Academies. REAch2 seeks to provide a level of autonomy proportionate to the success of the Academy, which together with a focus purely on primary schools, is what gives REAch2 its distinctiveness.

Recognising the value of collaboration and the advantage of a public association, REAch2 will provide a voice on national issues affecting the Academy Trust and our academies, helping to communicate the Academy Trust’s needs and concerns to those responsible for the funding and regulation of publicly funded schools.

REAch2 has a commitment to supporting the schools within the REAch2 family for the benefit of the communities served by the schools.  REAch2 expects academies to work together in the spirit of solidarity. The relationship between the Academy Trust, Cluster Boards and Local Governing Bodies is one of partners sharing a common goal, drawing on each other’s strengths in order to overcome any weaknesses and respond robustly to any challenges.

REAch2 is the Cornerstone of the entire Academy Trust: providing a strong, responsible foundation from which every academy develops and grows.  A cornerstone provides a subtle yet crucial role in a building; in the same way, the Trust ensures REAch2 is a trustworthy, reliable and inspirational organisation, delivering the best possible learning experiences.

As an Academy Trust we are committed to creating a culture that strongly reflects our Touchstones: seven principles, which make our academies unique: inclusion, learning, leadership, enjoyment, responsibility, inspiration and integrity. 

You can find more information about the trust on the REAch2 website at www.reach2.org.  The Governance page gives details of how the Trust is organised, including the Articles of Association, the Master Funding Agreement and all the documents which relate to how the Trust was founded and how it runs today.  You can also find details of who our trustees are.

Meet Our Governing Body Members

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