Local Governing Board Member

Are you interested in making a real difference in your local community? Would you enjoy being part of an experienced team helping to support the leadership of a high performing Secondary School in Weybridge?

The Local Governing Board (LGB) supports the Leadership Team at Heathside School in Weybridge, in its mission to provide an outstanding education to more than 1250 pupils. The school is well-known in the local community, offering a broad and enriching curriculum. It has a track record of delivering a high standard of education both to GCSE and A level and the Leadership Team and LGB play a key role in ensuring this continues.

From 1st September, Heathside Weybridge will become part of the Every Child Every Day (ECED) Multi Academy Trust which will also run Heathside Walton School in Walton on Thames, as well as 3 other schools. The Trust are currently looking to expand the team on the Heathside Weybridge LGB.

We are keen to bring governors from the community with a variety of different skills. In particular, we are interested in people with knowledge or experience in Finance – however this is not a necessity. It is more important to have Governors who are committed to supporting the school with their time and expertise, with some ad-hoc availability during school hours. NB: We are NOT currently looking for Governors who are current parents or likely to be parents imminently.

The Board of Trustees delegates key responsibilities and powers to the LGB Members, in accordance with a ‘Scheme of delegation’ – this highlights the key areas of responsibility for the LGB. The LGB is crucial to helping the school to raise standards. Some of the key roles of the LGB include:

• Challenge and support the Leadership Team to deliver the school improvement plan
• Ensuring that standards are being raised, and that outcomes and progress of students continue to improve
• Ensuring that all funds are spent to maximise impact for students and well spent
• Engaging with the Trustee Board to support them in making informed decisions as set out in the Scheme of Delegation

Time commitment:

• Six face to face meetings at the school per year during the week (usually a Thursday, 4-6pm.)
• Annual conference on a Saturday
• One ‘learning walk’ at the school per term based on a particular delegated area of responsibility.
• Ad hoc activities such as involvement in key staff recruitment or appraisal/exclusion panels (typically once per term.)
• The school leadership actively encourages Governors to help support them on specific strategic projects. Spending time with the school helping them can be really rewarding.
• Participating in distance learning and face-to-face trainings to increase your knowledge.
• We are particularly looking for people who have time and capacity to offer during school hours.

A full induction plan is provided especially focused on your first 6-12 months, with a mentor also being available. There is full membership provided to independent governance associations offering a variety of online training sessions covering all aspects of governance. Most individuals involved with school governance feed back that they grow from the experience both in terms of ‘giving back’, but also for their own personal and professional development, and many professions allow Governance experience to be counted towards CPD. The CBI believes that there is a robust business case for employers to support their staff to volunteer in governance roles and many employers give employees reasonable time off to carry out their duties.

If you are interested in an informal discussion with one of the Trustees about the role, please contact Becky Routley. If you are definitely interested in becoming an LGB member, then please complete the application form and send to Janice Parrish, Clerk to the Trustees c/o Heathside School.

Find out more about Governance. If you would like to know more about Governance within the educational environment, then please take a look at the following:

• The Nolan Principles of Public Life detail how holders of public office should always behave in the public interest
• The Department for Education Academy trust governance guide provides essential guidance on strategic leadership and the governance of academy trusts
• The National Governance Association provides an introduction into what those involved with Governance