Academy governance conference slides

Academy Governance Conference
Tuesday 4 October
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Bill Watkin, Chief Executive
Sixth Form Colleges Association
Chair’s opening remarks

Robert Hill, Visiting Senior Research
Fellow, Department of Education and
Professional Studies, Kings College
London and Independent Education
Consultant
Keynote address: building legitimacy for
academy governance

Robert Hill Consulting
Academy trusts are changing the face of school
governance - is it working?
October 2016

Academy governance – the upside
• A more flexible model
• Less bureaucratic
• Greater emphasis on skills
• Separation between board and
school-level roles allows more time
to focus on leading learning

Academy governance – the downside
Time
Numbers
1. Boards presided over unsustainable rates of expansion
Some multi-academy trusts…have been
allowed to grow far too quickly without the
capacity to improve their individual schools.
There was a lot of empire building going on...
Sir Michael
Wilshaw

2. Inadequate financial control in some academies
Since March 2014, 45 academy trusts
have been issued with financial notices
to improve
• Deficits
• Lack of financial systems
• Fraud and conflicts of interest
• Inappropriate related party payments
• Employment of family members

3. Questionable remuneration practices
Issues relate to:
• Scope and nature of
expenses reimbursed
• Salary levels (relative to
impact delivered)
• Fringe benefit packages
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jul/23/e
ducation-academies-funding-expenses

Since 2012, 160+ academies have
received warning, pre-warning or
termination notices (50 in the last
academic
year)https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/le
tters-to-academies-about-poor-performance
119 academies were re-brokered
between September 2015 and
June 2016
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/academi
es-financial-notices-to-improve
4. Poor oversight of academic standards and progress
Number of academies changing sponsor by year

The consequences
There may only be a few
bad apples but they are
tarnishing the reputation of
the whole academy
sector…

The consequences
…and
contributing to
the erosion of
public confidence
in academies
Source: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2016/03/17/teachers-critical-academies/

Underlying problems
Loss of moral compass

Underlying problems
Over-emphasis on vertical accountability
MAT
RSC
DfE EFA
• Parents
• Pupils
• The community
• Members

Underlying problems
Structural weaknesses in governance
• Not sufficient separation between
members and directors
• Appointment of compliant directors
• Lack of shared understanding of
respective roles of chair/CEO
• Confusion of roles between Board,
regions/clusters and LGBs
• Reliance on inherited model
• Misapplication of earned autonomy

16
Stage 1
Hubris born
of success
Stage 2
Undisciplined
pursuit of
more
Stage 3
Denial of risk and peril
Stage 4
Grasping for
salvation
Stage 5
Capitulation to
irrelevance or
death
Source: How the mighty fall: and why some companies never give in, Collins, 2009
Underlying problems
Neglect of due diligence and risk assessment

• Patchy monitoring systems
• Internal audit not always well entrenched
• External auditors missing issues
• Education Funding Agency overstretched
• FoI and whistle-blowers exposing faults
Underlying problems
Weaknesses in compliance systems

Underlying problems
Struggling to get full value from trustees/directors
• Board does not always have the right
blend of skills
• The role of company directors not
always fully understood
• Patchy training and development
• Constraints on directors’ time

What’s to be done?
Establish and live by your
values – throughout the
organisation

Review the governance structure
• Separate out roles for members
and directors
• Lower threshold for having an
internal audit committee
• Establish a remuneration
Committee

Trust members
Trust board of directors
Standards
Committee
Resources & other
committees
CEO & MAT Leadership team
School A
LGB
School B
LGB
School C
LGB
School E
LGB
School D
LGB
A cluster with an exec head
Be clear about
what’s to be
decided at what
level – and
reflect that in
detailed
schemes of
delegation…

…and governance handbooks

Milestone 2Milestone 1 Milestone 3Organisational
development
Now 3 -5 years time
Outputs &
outcomes
Milestone 2Milestone 1 Milestone 3People
development
Outputs &
outcomes
Milestone 2Milestone 1 Milestone 3Teaching and
learning
Outputs &
outcomes
Milestone 2Milestone 1 Milestone 3Finance &
business support
Outputs &
outcomes
Implications for resources, skills and implementation
Adopt a growth strategy having regard to a MAT’s wider context…

Context • Socio economic and cultural context
• Attitude and support of local authority, parents and local community
• Overall school culture/ethos
Strategy • Admissions and trends on pupil numbers
• Quality and implementation of school development plan
• Calibre and contribution of governors
Achievement • Attainment/progress: overall, low attainers, high attainers, FSM and by subject
• Special needs provision and progress and use of Pupil Premium
• Ofsted, local authority or other assessment
Leadership and
staff
• Fitness for purpose of the leadership structure and calibre of senior leaders
• Role and calibre of middle leaders
• Performance of teachers, effective use of TAs and openness to change
Systems • Attendance, behaviour and discipline
• Tracking and monitoring of data and quality assurance arrangements
• Performance management
Teaching and
learning
• Appropriateness of curriculum and availability of after-school provision
• Understanding of what outstanding teaching and learning looks like
• Strategy for improving teaching and learning and quality of CPD
Business • Analysis and sustainability of budget and financial outlook
• Condition of buildings and capital bids
• Leases and contracts and compatibility of IT systems
…and a thorough due diligence process

Operate real time tracking systems across all areas of activity

Step up a gear on
training and
development for
directors and
governors/academy
council members

• Adopt transparent data and
reporting of meetings
• Engage with parents and local
communities
• Collaborate with other schools and
the local authority
Practise strong local accountability

1. Headteachers (& MAT leaders) should be paid
through a single base salary*, paid through the
trust and approved by the trustees
2. Don’t employ close relatives
3. Avoid related-party transactions
*The salary can reflect roles and effort outside the school/MAT
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/working-schools-not-about-
getting-rich-its-about-making-a-difference
Observe Russell Hobby’s advice

Provide a stronger
mandate to and oversight
of external audit and
establish an independent
regulator

The sector (i.e. MAT leaders) to step up and provide leadership
• Code of conduct
• Development and self-evaluation
tools for MAT boards
• Opportunities for debate and
exchange of practice
• Forum for engaging with regulators
and the media

What do you think?
Questions
Disagreement?
Discussion?
Debate?

Roger Inman, Partner and
Head of Education, Stone King
Becoming part of a MAT: where does the
power lie?

ISCA Academy Governance
Conference October 2016
Becoming part of a MAT: where does the
power lie?
Roger Inman,
Head of Education Group
Stone King LLP

Some Initial Considerations
• MAT governance significantly different from
maintained governance
• All for one and one for all: life in a MAT is a full
marriage of schools
• A truly independent existence with very limited
external influence on governance (apart from
faith MATs) unless things go wrong
• A fundamentally corporate culture is expected:
– Even more emphasis on skills base for
governance: i.e. a Board of Directors where
“every member contributing relevant skills
and experience”

Some Initial Considerations
Current DfE Policy in practice entirely focused on
MATs as the mechanism for a “self improving” school
system, with the consequence that
• It needs particularly strong and centralised
leadership and governance in MATs to provide
single point of accountability for a reduced
supervising bureaucracy (RSCs rather than
LAs)
• This is changing MAT governance to a form not
typical in corporate and charitable world
– Very limited role for executive directors
– Maximum separation between the
composition of the members and directors

Maintained School
Governance
GOVERNING BODY =
LEGAL ENTITY
LEASES/LAND
STAFF
CONTRACTS
EXTERNAL BODY
APPOINTING GOVERNORS

Single Academy
Structure and Contracts
ACADEMY
TRUST = LEGAL
ENTITY
FUNDING
AGREEMENT
LEASES/LAND
STAFF
CONTRACTS
GOVERNORS = TRUSTEES =
DIRECTORS
MEMBERS

Multi Academy Structure
and Contracts
Multi Academy Trust (MAT)
•Responsible under Funding Agreement for
operating each Academy but delegates
functions to LGBs and Committees
•MAT consists of:
(1)Members
(2)Directors
DfE
Academy 1
Academy 2 etc
All Academies
Local Governing Body
(LGB) 1
Local Governing Body
(LGB) 2...
Master Funding
Agreement
Supplemental
Funding
Agreements
LGB = committee of Board of Directors of MAT. MAT
Directors appoints each LGB and delegate functions.
Other Committees

MAT Roles: Members
The Members
• Powers:
– Appoint some of the Directors
– Remove any director
– Control over form of Articles of Association and
consequently composition of Board of Directors
• Role:
– Oversight but not daily governance of Trust
– DfE expect, where possible , for their to be
sufficient “separation of powers” to allow this
oversight to be active.

MAT Roles: Directors
Trust Board of Directors
• Control all other functions of the Trust and
manage the Trust day to day
• Should be strategic (3 core functions of
school governance) and can delegate
functions to the Local Governing Body for
each school and other task based
committees across the trust (e.g.
Finance/Audit)

MAT Roles: Directors
• Are accountable for all schools in MAT
• Must therefore set and maintain:
–Agreed standards and objectives
–The extent of “autonomy” in the MAT’s
academies according to standards and
functionality
• Must carefully maintain and develop the
scheme of delegation as main governance
tool
• Must receive all necessary information and
reporting from delegated structure below

MAT Board of Directors
• Typical composition from:
–Directors appointed by members
(skills based positions)
–Academy directors nominated by
academies in MAT (representative):
not popular with DfE at present
–CEO or other “Senior Executive
Leader” = normally the only employee
or “executive” director

Local Governing Bodies
• Usually succeed predecessor school
Governing Bodies
• Typical composition from:
–Headteachers
–Staff and parent elected
representative
–Other governors appointed by main
Board of Directors
–Other governors appointed by the
LGB itself

• “Governing” means exercising powers
delegated from the Trust Board
• Contrast purely advisory local “Councils”
• “Cluster” governing body effectively a
federated governing body covering a
number of academies each of which
may or may not have its own advisory
council to feed comment into the Cluster
Governing Body

• Extent of the function and autonomy of LGBs
depends on:
– The current condition of the academy:
Trustees must intervene more closely if the
academy fails to meet minimum agreed
standards
– The extent of central services: the more
such services are lead and organised at the
centre of the trust, the less governance will
be required at LGB level, in particular
regarding “commercial” issues.

In the long term the main function of LGBs tends
to become focused on:
– standards
– community
as central “commercial functions strengthen and
become governed by other Trust Committees

Other Trust Committees
• Finance/ Audit necessary from the start;
can cover Resources generally
• Other typical options:
–Resources which can later sub-divide
into tasks such, Finance, HR and
estates management
–Standards at a MAT level

Faith School Variants
on the Above
• Faith school joining a Faith MAT: note that
appointments to both member and director
groups will be controlled by the historic
appointing foundation, normally in historic
proportions (VC= minority; VA = majority)
• In “mixed MATs” faith school ethos and
operation protected both in articles and
funding agreements but Directors and
Members govern otherwise. Religious bodies
expect to control such MATs.

MAT Governance Structure:
Summary
In descending order:
The Legal Entities
– The Members
– The Board of Directors
Non Legal Entities
– Committees
• LGBs
• Audit and other Trust wide committees
– Sub Committees of LGBS

Considerations on
Joining a MAT
Context: the essential legal position is that the Members
control the Directors who control:
• All delegation of powers
• Composition and conduct of all committees
• The LGB is not a separate legal entity so
– No deal can be made about it in advance because its
school will not exist to enforce such a deal
– There are no enforceable appeals process regarding Trust
Board decisions except appeals over pooling of budgets to
the DfE (para 3.10.6 Academies Financial Handbook)
– There is no mechanism for an Academy to trigger its
departure from a MAT

Considerations on
Joining a MAT
Consequently School should question the following?
• What is the overall strategy and direction of the MAT:
– MATs mainly focused on sponsoring tend to be/need to be
more centralised and controlling
– Future growth and structure by:
• phase
• geography : will clustering occur?
• What are its plans for central functions and
leadership?
– The more central functions, the less need for local
governance
– Budget consequences
• Revenue contribution to centre from schools
• Capital budget distribution

Considerations on
Joining a MAT
• How developed is its Scheme of
Delegation?
– Must be published on website under AFH
– What variants exist to recognise different
levels of autonomy in Schools?
• In particular, in a secondary led MAT, is
the leadership and governance of other
types of schools credible?

Your Questions
Roger Inman,
Head of Education Group
Stone King LLP
rogerinman@stoneking.co.uk
07946 181235

Debbie Clinton, Deputy Chief Executive
Diverse Academies Learning Partnership
(DALP)
Establishing effective MAT governance

MAT Governance
Getting it right….
Debbie Clinton, Deputy CEO
October 2016

TRUSTS
DALP
Agreement
DALP Board
Local
Academy
Boards (LABs)
DAT NCEA
T
DALP Governance
View 1

DALP Governance – Clarity, coherence and consistency
1. Corporate and local academy level
• Clear schemes of delegation with accompanying guidance (we are a ‘bit complicated’)
• Clear retained responsibilities
• Clear terms of reference – for everything!
2. Quality assurance
• Clear accountability process for LABs and the DALP Board
• Clear LABs and DALP Board self evaluation
• Clear governance improvement planning process at all levels
• The role of DALP internal reviews (Interim and Full) and external scrutiny

3. Communication and Information
• TPPs for reporting from academies to LABs and LABs to the DALP Board
• Common (and compliant) reporting templates
• CONTROL the information (quality and quantity) – clear guidance
• Trust/DALP Board and LABs calendars of meetings, common agenda templates and commonly set
agenda items for DALP Board, LABs and Portfolio Teams
• Define governance TPPs at all levels

4. Clerking Services
• Role of the Senior Clerk
• Clerk’s Handbook – ‘this is how we do it’
• Minutes Templates and guidance
• Agenda templates and process
5. Training and Development
• Central process for developing local and corporate training programmes
• Clerks training and development – annual programme (including common induction)
• LAB Chairs training and development – annual programme (including common induction)
6. Governance Manual
6. Governance Manual

MAT Governance – there’s lots of help out there…
1. FASNA – Guide to Effective Governance (updated September 2016)
2. Browne Jacobson – Accountability, regulation and leadership in our school system –
exploring a ten year vision (September 2016)
3. DfE
a. MAT support toolkit (May 2016)
b. MAT Growth audit pathfinder
4. Ofsted
5. Local RSC and national NSC

Kirsty Watt, Head
Academy Ambassadors
Governor and Trustee skills: building the
right board

Recruiting to the board
in a growing MAT
www.academyambassadors.org
The ICSA Academy Governance Conference
3rd October 2016
Kirsty Watt

About us: Academy Ambassadors:
• …recruits outstanding individuals from business and the
professions to join academy trust boards
• …has matched 280+ senior business leaders as non-executive
Directors, Chairs and Members to a range of academy trusts
(from AET and e-Act to faith-based MATs and start-ups)
• … is a non profit organisation originally set up by the DfE…
and the service is free.
“Academy Ambassadors have been outstanding and they deliver these incredibly
high quality people whose motivation was, they wanted to give back… we
found that invaluable.” –
Academy Trust Chair, Populus Research 2016
2

Tackling ‘the downsides’ part I:
Get it right for now and for the next few years
6
• Starter Trusts-first 5
or 6 schools up to
around 1200-1500
children
• Established Trusts-5
to 15 schools or
around 1200 to 5000
children
• Regional Trusts-15-
30 schools
• System Trusts -30 or
more schools

Finance HRGovernance
MarketingPropertyCharity
ITPurchasing
Tackling the downsides part 2:
Get the right people round the table
Mergers and
acquisitions
Recruitment
Risk management
Multi-site
operations
3
Audit

69
1. 20 largest MATs (with 20+ schools). Review of publicly available information on board
composition and board member backgrounds
Proportion of the 20 largest MAT boards with at least one member with experience of:
69
95%
90%
85%
85%
75%
70%
70%
60%
55%
45%
45%
30%
25%
25%
10%
10%
Education: headteacher, teacher etc
Education: expert, academic etc
Financial
Education: DfE, Ofsted etc
Non MAT board experience
Civil Service / Politics
Charity Sector
Business Consultancy
Business / Entrepreneur
FTSE250
HR
Legal
Marketing / PR / Communications
Property / Estates
Risk management
IT
The current picture ….

70
And the good news …
“Almost all NEDs interviewed were positive
about their role; they bond quickly with
educationalist colleagues, feel able to
make a valued contribution, and are
intellectually stimulated..”
“The appeal was of helping a chain of schools provide a better
education for children in more deprived areas.”
– Non-executive director
5

For a school to join the Trust:
• The RSC must consider the proposal to be beneficial
• It must be a Bradford school
• Be comprehensive in status and ethos
• Be co-educational
• Be located within a 20 minute off peak drive-time of
Beckfoot School
• Actively want to join the Beckfoot Trust
• Adopt the Trust Values, Core Purpose, Learner and
Organisational principles
• Balance the educational and commercial risks of the
Trust
CASE STUDY: Beckfoot Trust recruited the
right people to oversee growth due
diligence

72
1. N = 39 NEDs, interviewed online
Before starting in your role as a MAT NED / Trustee, which, if any, of the following forms of training /
orientation did you receive?
72
79%
59%
59%
41%
26%
21%
21%
18%
15%
10%
5%
Meeting with MAT's Chief Executive
Meeting with MAT's Chair
Pack of key documents
Tour of schools
Meeting with Company Secretary / clerk
Meeting with other NEDs
Briefing on financial data
Briefing on educational data
Briefing on terminology and policies
Other
None of the above
Tackling the downsides part III:
Get the right people round the table doing
the right things

Tips for successful recruitment
1. Look in: assess existing skills, experience and board dynamic
2. Get the process right Chair/Member-led (never CEO-led)
3. Look beyond: assess scale of challenges, budget and scale of
organisation in three years
4. Look out: always use an external recruiter (even if not us)
5. Be honest: state the challenge
6. Find parallels: recruit the best in that field
7. Remember good things come in twos and threes
8. Induct, induct, induct
8

New Chair appointed to lead the Trust
from its forming stage to one of
sustainability and growth
• CEO, Kevin Crossley said:
• ‘CEOs are steeped in educational knowledge and
organisation, but the addition of Non-Executive
Directors has shown me a range of different approaches.
Its added to my thinking and the decisions I make.’

Establishing the need to strengthen the Board
 Succession and planned growth led to a review of the
Board’s start-up composition
 Our review confirmed that:
o Our structures and Board composition had outgrown the
start-up phase
o Board membership, including Members, was education sector
heavy and needed a different balance
o Skill gaps in key disciplines would become barriers to growth
o Support was needed to drive change to support our growth
plans across our three geographical areas

Avoiding the risks of not developing the Board
 New skills increased the chance that our blind spots were
identified
 New skills brought opportunities to look and think beyond
what we know
 Bringing in skill sets experienced in realising economies of
scale (organisational) adds support to the improvement
agenda
 Skilled NEDs with an expertise in strategic leadership are
helping us develop structures, reporting, and accountability
frameworks

What we did
 By engaging with Academy Ambassadors to support our advertising campaign,
they helped:
o Fine tune our recruitment advertisement and placed it within their network
o Shortlisted applications matched to our needs
o Provided the opportunity to talk with Academy Ambassadors to discuss all shortlisted
candidates
 With the result that:
o Five were shortlisted, of the five one was not taken forward and four were interviewed
o Three applicants were appointed having the following skills:
• BAE Systems – finance, significant change management skill, business turnaround, working at
scale
• Barclays Investment Bank – strategic use of finance, audit, considerable amount of voluntary
work
• HSBC banking – global experience, systems and change, non-profit volunteering

Early impact of NEDs
 Strengthening our corporate governance with knowledge of the relationships
between Members, Board and the Executive Team
o Ability to assimilate quickly and ask probing questions
o Challenge and question education sector thinking – ‘why do you do it this way?’
o Holding the bigger picture when offering experience/advice
 NEDs are bringing added rigour to our Finance/Audit/Risk Committee
o Supporting the CEO and CFO with a strategic review of finance
o Moving finance from a largely management and compliance function, to using
finance intelligence to make investment and change possibilities
o Undertaking reviews on our remuneration structure to secure the best talent
o Supporting a review of finance reporting requirements at each level within the
Trust

Mike Sheridan HMI
Regional Director for London, Ofsted
Keynote address: evaluating leadership
and management

Mike Sheridan HMI
Regional Director, London.
October 2016
Governance and inspection Slide 82
Governance and inspection

True or False?
The governance handbook is only for the governors,
headteachers, clerks and others with an interest in the
governance of maintained schools.

False
The governance handbook is
also for members, trustees,
local governors, principals,
clerks and others with an
interest in governance of
academy trusts and multi-
academy trusts.

True or false?
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making
sure its money is well spent is one of the three core functions of
all governing bodies.

True
Plus ensuring clarity of vision,
ethos and strategic direction
and holding the headteacher
to account for the educational
performance of the school
and its pupils, and the
performance management of
staff.

True or false?
Boards should play a strategic role and avoid routine involvement
in operational matters.

True
School leaders have
the operational role.

True or false?
All governors should have an understanding of the financial cycle
and the legal requirements of the school on accountability and
spend.

True
All governors should ideally
have a basic understanding
of the financial cycle and the
legal requirements of the
school on accountability and
spend. But, the board should
ensure it has at least one
governor with specific,
relevant skills and
experience of financial
matters.

True or false?
The headteacher decides the format regular reports to governors
should take.

False
The board, not the
headteacher, should
determine the scope and
format of headteacher’s
reports.

Meeting those responsible for governance

S5 school inspection handbook, para 85
Inspectors will always seek to meet those responsible for
governance during the inspection. This will usually include
maintained school governors or academy trustees (including
sponsor representatives, where they exist). However, in a multi-
academy trust, the board of trustees may have established a
local governing body to which it may have delegated certain
functions. In some other cases, there may be a local governing
body that is wholly advisory, with no formal governance
responsibilities delegated to it. Inspectors should ensure that
meetings are with those who are directly responsible for
exercising governance of the school and for overseeing its
performance.

The contribution of governors to the school’s performance is
evaluated as part of the judgement on leadership and
management. As with the meetings between inspectors and
pupils, parents and staff, meetings with those responsible for
governance should take place without the headteacher or senior
staff.

Inspectors will consider …

Governance and inspection 98
Governo
rs’ vision
and
ambition
Challenge
re
motivated,
respected
and
effective
teaching
staff
Keep pupils
safe from
dangers
including
radicalisation
Challenge re
progress of
groups of
pupils
Challenge
re primary
PE and
sport
funding
Engagement
with
parents,
carers,
stakeholders
and agencies
Challenge
re pupil
premium
Challeng
e re Year
7 catch-
up
funding
Fulfilment of
core statutory
functions
Promote
equality and
foster
understandin
g
Challenge
re
teaching,
learning
and
assessment
Commitment
to own
development
Create a
culture of high
expectations,
aspirations
and scholastic
excellence
Use of
performance
management

Inspectors will consider whether governors …

 work effectively with leaders to communicate the vision, ethos
and strategic direction of the school and develop a culture of
ambition
 provide a balance of challenge and support to leaders,
understanding the strengths and areas needing improvement in
the school
 understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’
salary progression and performance

 performance manage the headteacher rigorously
 understand the impact of teaching, learning and assessment to
the progress of pupils currently in the school
 ensure that assessment information from leaders provides
governors with sufficient and accurate information to ask
probing questions about outcomes for pupils

 ensure the school’s finances are properly managed and can
evaluate how the school is using pupil premium, Year 7 literacy
and numeracy catch-up premium, primary PE and sport
funding, and special educational needs
 are transparent and accountable, including in recruitment of
staff, governance structures, attendance at meetings and
contact with parents

Questions that governors could be asked

What is your involvement in the performance
management of the headteacher and the staff?

Can you tell me about the use of additional
funding for disadvantaged pupils?
Where has the funding had its biggest impact?
How do you know?

Last year, the proportion of pupils reaching the
standard in the Year 1 check on phonics was well
below average.
What changes have been made to address this
underachievement?
What impact have the changes had?
How do you know?

How well are the pupils with low prior attainment
doing in Year 3, Year 7 or Year 9?
Which groups of pupils in which year groups are
making pleasing progress?
How do you know?

What is your evaluation of the school’s overall
effectiveness at this stage of its development?
What are the school’s three greatest strengths and
three crucial areas for development?
How do you know?

Can you tell me about the impact of the
government’s pupil premium funding on the
attainment and progress of the school’s higher
ability, disadvantaged pupils?
How do you know?

Governors, have you checked that … ?

 your details are on Edubase
 all the required elements about governance are on your
school’s website
 your headteacher checks the single central record regularly
 your scheme of delegation is published on your academy
school’s website
 you have a full knowledge of the impact of pupil premium, PE
and sport and Year 7 catch-up funding in your school
 your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness is based on hard
evidence.

Useful references

HMCI’s monthly commentary, November 2015
21st century governance needed for 21st century schools:
www.gov.uk/government/speeches/hmcis-monthly-commentary-
november-2015

Changes in the 2016 school inspection handbooks:
https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2016/08/23/latest-
school-inspection-handbooks-published/

What maintained school must publish online:
www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-
online
What academies, free schools and colleges should publish online:
www.gov.uk/guidance/what-academies-free-schools-and-
colleges-should-publish-online

Statutory policies for schools:
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_d
ata/file/357068/statutory_schools_policies_Sept_14_FINAL.pdf

Ofsted on the web and on social media
www.gov.uk/ofsted
http://reports.ofsted.gov.uk
www.linkedin.com/company/ofsted
www.youtube.com/ofstednews
www.slideshare.net/ofstednews
www.twitter.com/ofstednews

Mark Blois, Chair of Governors and
National Leader of Governance, L.E.A.D
Academy Trust and
Partner and Head of Education
Browne Jacobson
Board self evaluation

Mark Blois, Partner and Head of Education
Browne Jacobson LLP
4 October 2016
Board self-evaluation
ICSA Academy Governance Conference

Why self-evaluate? (1)
Governance handbook - for trustees of academies and multi-academy trusts and
governors of maintained schools (November 2015)
“Boards should regularly evaluate their own effectiveness. As explained in
departmental advice for maintained schools, the chair has a particular responsibility
for ensuring the effective functioning of the board. Good chairs also ask for regular
feedback from their board to improve their own effectiveness and have an annual
conversation with each governor to discuss the impact of their contribution to the
work of the board.”
“Academy trusts producing audited accounts for the first time, for example newly
converted academies, must set out in the governance statement published within
the annual accounts, details of what they have done in their first year to review and
develop their governance structure and the composition of the board of trustees.
Established trusts should also include in their annual accounts an assessment of the
trust’s governance, including a review of the composition of the board in terms of
skills, effectiveness, leadership and impact.”

Why self-evaluate? (2)
Corporate leadership – to clearly demonstrate a commitment to
performance management
Problem solution – identifying and addressing specific issues
“A strong, vibrant board of directors is a clear indicator of a healthy
organisation. Yet even the best organisations need a periodic check-up to
ensure that they cannot just survive but will really thrive in today’s
environment. To check your board’s vital signs the best place to start is
with a board self-assessment.”

Benefits of self-evaluation of board performance
• assess the board’s collective knowledge base, ability, and commitment to
fulfilling their responsibilities.
• to ensure standards are maintained and the board is doing the very best
it can.
• to help avoid stasis and continuously seek to self-improve.
• to shake board out of micromanaging the organization’s work and
redirect their focus to governance issues.
• ensure that the board is capable of ensuring long-term viability and
credibility.
• to provide the foundation for an effective succession plan.
• to benchmark against other governing bodies.
Overall it can lead to a more engaged and higher performing board.

Getting started
The responsibility for self-evaluation of the board rests with the Chair.
Chair sets the tone - important that they set an example by giving the process
high status and ensuring that adequate time and resources are allocated to it.
However an opportunity for informal discussions around performance will
often be the first step in the evaluation process.
It may initially be sufficient to select particular aspects for review, or as an
allotted session during an away day.
Once the idea of self-evaluation has been introduced and accepted the
academy board can consider introducing a more formal approach.

The process of self-evaluation
Self evaluation/DIY questions through to external software solutions
Facilitated self evaluation through to bringing in an independent third party provider to issue
an independent report.
At its most simple a Board Self Evaluation process should have four elements:
• the participation of all individual trustees to ensure a shared understanding and
acceptance of the benefits of the board self evaluation.
• a well thought-out, systematic process to establish an effective board evaluation
timeline.
• carefully selected board evaluation instruments to ensure that resulting information is
valid, efficient and accurate.
• a thorough follow-up to confirm that areas of concern have been addressed, and board
evaluation information has reached the right people.

Specific Methodologies
There are various methods by which the self-evaluation may be conducted.
No one size fits all and the board can choose between a range of qualitative and
quantitative techniques.
Ideally self evaluation needs to consider three groups – the board as a whole,
individual trustees and key governance personnel.
To achieve benefit from the evaluation effort, a rote compliance-focused
approach should be avoided.
A comprehensive list of areas for investigation will need to be balanced with the
scope of evaluation and the resources available for the project – important to be
realistic.
Remember the process itself is as important as the content.

What ground should you cover?
Vision and mission:
• Does the vision and mission define the academy’s goals and objectives?
• Do board decisions and activities reflect the vision and mission?
• Is the board clear that its strategic objectives are reflected in operational
plans and budgets?
• Does the board monitor and evaluate programmes to ensure they support
the mission and objectives?

Governance structures and practices:
• Has the board created governance structures and practices that support its
ability to govern effectively and objectively?
• Are there clearly defined job descriptions and terms of reference for Board
members and committees?
• Are board meetings well organised and productive?
• Are committees working as they should and do they have the right
relationship with the rest of the board?
• What is the quality of the relationship between the board and
management?

Culture:
• Has the board created an appropriate culture?
• Does the board work and communicate well together?
• Does that culture value informed discussion of diverse views, constructive
disagreement and debate and timely resolution of issues?
• What are the state of relationships with beneficiaries and other
stakeholders?

Focus and information:
• Do the board focus appropriately on the most important issues facing the
academy?
• Is there agreement on what those issues are?
• Does the board have clear targets in the short and longer term and a clear
understanding of how it measures performance against those targets?
• Does the board have the information needed to make informed decisions in
a timely manner?
• Does the board keep abreast of sector developments?

Monitoring and evaluation:
• How well the key indicators and reporting processes are helping the board
in its monitoring role?
• Does the board ensure adequate systems of internal control are in
operation?
• Does the board have an adequate process for assessing and managing risk?
• Does the board avoid potential or actual conflicts of interest?
• Does the board consider new initiatives to meet changing needs?

Composition and leadership:
• Do the board have the appropriate composition in terms of knowledge,
experience and skills to address the governance needs of the academy
currently and in the foreseeable future?
• Do trustees feel their skills are used and their contribution is valued?
• Is the size of the board appropriate for the work we want to accomplish?
• Is the diversity of the board appropriate?
• Is the leadership of the board effective? i.e how the chair is performing in
his/her role?

Board recruitment and induction:
• Is there an effective process to identify and recruit new board members?
• Is there a suitably comprehensive induction for new recruits to the board’s
responsibilities and organisation?

Education specific resources for self-evaluation
NGA and All Party Parliamentary Group for Education Governance and
Leadership
Twenty Questions – key questions every governing board should ask itself
(November 2012)
1. Do we have the right skills on the governing board?
2. Are we as effective as we could be?
3. Does the chair show strong and effective leadership?
4. Does the school have a clear vision and strategic priorities?
5. Are we properly engaged with our school community, the wider school
sector and the outside world?
6. Do we hold the school leaders to account?
7. Are we having an impact on outcomes for pupils?

Education specific resources for self-evaluation
NGA and All Party Parliamentary Group for Education Governance and
Leadership
Twenty One Questions for Multi Academy Trusts – key questions a MAT board
should ask itself (March 2015)
1. Vision, ethos and strategy
2. Governance structures
3. Trustee Board effectiveness and conduct
4. Engagement
5. Effective accountability of the executive leadership
6. Impact on outcomes for pupils

Follow up
Important to focus on follow up to implement the changes highlighted as
necessary or desirable.
Results might initiate group discussion and/or implement process changes.
Falls to the Chair to lead on this and introduce follow up items on subsequent
agendas and ensure they are acknowledged and completed.
Annual review is the most commonly recommended form of assessment.
Adjusting scope and methodology from time to time helps keep the evaluation
meaningful.
But high performing boards seek to make self evaluation an ongoing process,
not just an annual event.

Academy governance – the future
“A competency framework for governance – the skills, knowledge and
behaviours needed for effective governance in maintained schools,
academies and multi-academy trusts”

Corporate governance – the future?
Financial Reporting Council (FRC) - UK Corporate Governance Code
requires that, on a ‘comply or explain’ basis:
• boards should state in their annual report how performance
evaluation of the board, its committees and its individual directors
has been conducted (Code reference B.6.1);
• board evaluations of FTSE 350 companies should be externally
facilitated at least every 3 years (Code reference B.6.2);
• non-executive directors should be responsible for performance
evaluation of the chairman, taking into account the views of the
executive directors (Code reference B.6.3).

Keep your questions coming
Get in touch for more information
Please note
The information contained in these notes is based on the position as at October 2016. It does, of course, only represent a summary
of the subject matter covered and is not intended to be a substitute for detailed advice. If you would like to discuss any of the
matters covered in further detail, our team would be happy to do so.
© Browne Jacobson LLP 2016. Browne Jacobson LLP is a limited liability partnership.
Follow @MarkBlois
mark.blois@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)115 976 6087

Colin Diamond, CBE, Executive Director
for Education, Birmingham City Council
The new role of local authorities

The New Role of
Local Authorities
Colin Diamond, CBE
Executive Director for Education
Birmingham City Council

Education Service Birmingham
447
Schools
School
Population
Overall
Birmingham
Nationally
66.6%
28.9%
35.8%
17.3%
28.9%
15.2%
17.8%
15.5%
SENEAL FSMBME
79%
Good or
Outstanding
30
In special
measures
81%
Primary
70%
Secondary
Ofsted Ratings July 2016
+
46
Independents
Virtual School provides Education
support to 1,815 children in care
aged 0 to 25
2.5X
SENAR maintains over 7,500 EHCP –
over twice the amount of the nearest
core city. With 1,400 new assessments
each year
4,000 Travel Assist supports over 4,500
children to travel to school
16,000 Primary and 14,465 Secondary
applications received from parents of home
applicants National Offer Day March 2016.
Similar to Manchester and Leeds combined.
30,000
1,800
On average between November 2015 and
January 2016 5.2% of 16 to 18 year olds were
classed as Not in Education Employment or
Training. This accounts for around 1,800 to
1,900 young people
Sensory Support works with over 1,600
children diagnosed with hearing, visual
and multi sensory impairment.
5.2%1600
In 2015/16 Exclusions team supported
280 permanently excluded pupils back
into education
280
Schools LA Academy Free Total
Nursery 27 27
Primary 201 96 2 299
Special 24 3 27
Alternative 6 6
PRU 1 1
Secondary 29 46 7 82
All Through 2 1 2 5
Total 284 146 17 447
• 205,867 pupils
• 114,749 State funded primary
• 74,817 State funded secondary
• 8,645 Independents
£19 million
controllable budget
Pupils Budget
Schools
Since 2010, 10,454 additional primary
places have been created to meet increased
pupil numbers
10,000+

Changing Times: The Future of
Education in Birmingham

How can LAs support MATs?
• Moral purpose – is it going to benefit the children and young people?
• Being positive about collaboration – the opposite of dog in the manger
• Encouraging conversations with all local partners
• Providing a safe place for those conversations – with governors, school
leaders
• Planning for 10 years ahead – not 10 months (a bit like SRE)
• Strong working relationship with RSC/DfE

“Know what you need to be good at –
then become excellent at it”
• Early Years
• Place planning and admissions
• SEND – inclusion
• Safeguarding - from traditional CP through to Prevent
• 14 plus transition
• Partnership, partnership, partnership
But not
• School improvement
• Recruitment and retention
• Etc…….

• Questions and discussion time
• Contact details:-
email - colin.diamond@birmingham.gov.uk
phone – 0121 464 2808
• twitter@anfieldexile

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