Work within your trust's scheme of delegation
Your local governing body (LGB) will be most effective when everyone fully understands the board's role, including what has and hasn’t been delegated to you.
Focusing only on what you've been given responsibility will allow you to add the most value to governance in your trust. This is because you aren't expending efforts on on things that are already being taken care of by someone else, freeing you up to concentrate on the areas where you're best placed to contribute. After all, your delegated responsibilities have been given to your board because you've got the local knowledge and relationships to fulfil them.
Clarify your role and responsibilities, and how they work in practice
Make sure everyone on your LGB understands:
- What's in the scheme
- What responsibilities they have
- What the trust expect them to do and how often
- How lines of accountability will work in practice
Don’t just accept a print out of a ‘decision-matrix’ – instead, ask your trust to give your LGB absolute clarity on what it needs to from you.
For example, if the decision-matrix states that LGBs will be ‘consulted’ when appointing a headteacher, ask for clarity on whether this means you’re part of the appointment panel or only consulted on the advert.
Make sure your LGB is clear on exactly what it means to be ‘responsible’ or ‘consulted’ for different areas in the scheme of delegation.
If you’ve just joined an academy trust, or your scheme of delegation has changed, request that someone from the trust central team attends your LGB meeting to go through the scheme of delegation.
Make sure new local governors understand what’s expected
This will help them make an effective contribution early on.
Set your new local governors up with our induction course specifically for governors on LGBs.
This will allow them to learn at a time and pace that suits them, and will help them get acquainted with everything they need to know about governing on an LGB.
Recognise the value of your LGB
Remember, your LGB is valuable no matter the level of delegated responsibility it has.
Remember:
- Your LGB is your trustees’ eyes and ears at a local level. You’ll always have a unique local perspective, which can’t be found elsewhere
- Your LGB has strengths the board of trustees doesn’t have
- For example, your LGB may not have delegated financial power, but it may be stronger in supporting school improvement and engaging with the community
- People rarely choose a school based on the trust – typically, it’s the reputation of the individual school that draws parents in. Your local decisions and responsibilities matter