We pride ourselves on delivering high quality governance services that really have an impact. In a national survey of client satisfaction with NLGs, satisfaction with NLGs was very high. Here are some examples of our work.
Improving MAT governance practices A growing MAT of six primary schools asked us to work with them to improve their governance practices. Whilst they had very keen local governors, they lacked confidence and needed focused training to help them effectively discharge their duties. What we did We created a complete governance development solution for the MAT which included:
Impact
Next steps The trust board and CEO are so pleased with the impact and value for money of our work with them so far we are now working on refining their scheme of delegation to make it more user friendly, creating governance role profiles for key link governor roles, and re-writing their governance handbook to provide comprehensive guidance on all governance duties across the MAT.
'The professional advice, training and guidance provided has proved invaluable in developing Governance across the MAT' - MAT CEO
The relationship between the governing board and headteacher were recognised as problematic in a small rural primary school. There were concerns with and by both parties with the other so working with a National Leader of Education (NLE) we constructed a support package.
What we did We completed a full external review of governance to better understand what was happening and the root cause of any problems.
Next steps We will be checking in with the board throughout the following term to see how their new way of work evolves and provide any support or help needed.
Both the head and chair had left suddenly, and the governing board was struggling.
What we did In extreme circumstances an NLG can step into the chair if the board and/or school are in crisis. In this case study we had both, so we allocated an NLG to chair the board for a year, whilst a new headteacher was found and board was brought up to strength.
A large MAT of 26 schools was concerns that their governance structure was no longer fit for purpose. The MAT had grown very quickly and taken on some challenging schools, both primary and secondary, and a couple of recent Ofsted inspections of MAT schools had not gone well. The trust board recognised they were struggling and wanted the support of experts to review their current practices and advise on future possible governance models. Their current model was to hold most responsibilities centrally, with ‘local committees’ at each school focusing on teaching and learning, safeguarding and stakeholder engagement. The board was finding it increasingly difficult to oversee academic standards in the trust. What we did We completed a full MAT governance review, looking at the work of members, the trust board and their work with the MAT executive and a cross section of the local committees. We examined the governance structure and looked at governance model used by similar sized MATs. This included:
Next steps The NLG followed-up a couple of terms later and was pleased to report that good progress was being made implementing the proposed changes.