Governance basics glossary

Schools maintained and funded by local authorities. They follow the national curriculum and rules on teacher pay and conditions. There are different sub-categories of maintained school:

• Community 
  The school is controlled by the local authority, with no influence from religious, charitable or business groups. The local authority is the employer and is responsible for admissions
• Voluntary aided (VA)
  The governing board is the employer and is responsible for admissions. They are usually faith schools, and the religious group owns the school's land and buildings and has a majority of members on the governing board
• Voluntary controlled (VC)
  The school has close links with a religious or other organisation that owns the land and buildings and has input into what the school does, but the local authority is the employer and responsible for admissions 
• Foundation
  The governing board is the employer and the admissions authority. The school's land and buildings are normally owned by the foundation. The foundation is usually non-religious, making it different to voluntary aided schools
  

Publicly-funded schools with more freedoms and autonomy than maintained schools. They don’t have to follow the national curriculum and can set their own term times. They still have to follow the same rules on admissions, special educational needs and exclusions as other state schools. They're funded directly from the government, not local authorities. 

They have often converted from being a maintained school.

Multi-academy trust.

A trust that oversees a number of academies, all under one legal entity.

Cater specifically for children with special educational needs. Run by charitable trusts on a not-for-profit basis. They are funded mostly from local authorities, who commission places for children with special educational needs in their area. 

Pupil referral unit. 

Cater specifically for children who are excluded, sick or otherwise unable to attend mainstream school. Maintained by the local authority. 

Alternative provision academy. 

Cater specifically for children who are excluded, sick or otherwise unable to attend mainstream school. Run by an academy trust, not the local authority.

Also known as ‘private schools’ or sometimes 'public schools'. They charge fees for pupils to attend and don't follow the national curriculum. 

Note that academies are also independent schools for purposes of legislation, but aren't normally referred to as such.

Local governing body.

In MATs, the board of trustees can delegate governance functions to local governing bodies. They are technically committees of the board of trustees. Their powers vary between trusts.

Interim executive board.

If a maintained school is judged ‘eligible for intervention’, then the local authority or regional schools commissioner may require an IEB to be put in place of the governing board. The IEB is a “small, focused group” that normally includes individuals “with financial skills and experience of transformational educational improvement”.

Annual general meeting.

Under the DfE's model articles of association for academies, an academy trust must hold an AGM each financial year, in addition to other meetings that year. The members must attend (either in person or by proxy), and trustees can if they want.

Extraordinary general meeting.

A meeting convened outside of the normal schedule, normally to discuss urgent matters that can't wait until the next scheduled meeting. 

The contract between the academy and secretary of state for education that sets out the terms of how it is funded. 

The Department for Education has a model funding agreement, and each academy trust will have a tailored version of the model for themselves. 

Academies

Department for Education advice that sets out “the government’s vision and priorities for effective school governance”. It outlines the core role of governance, and provides a summary on all the legal duties of governing bodies. It is updated regularly to reflect changes in the law and education policy.

Both

School improvement plan.

A document created by your board and the headteacher that sets out the school's priorities for improvement over the coming year(s).

Early years foundation stage framework.

The statutory framework for all early years providers. It “sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well”.  

School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document.

Sets out the statutory requirements for teachers’ pay and conditions that maintained schools must follow. It also applies to staff in academies who had their employment transferred at the point of conversion.

It covers areas including pay ranges and progression, pay allowances, professional responsibilities, and working time arrangements. It's updated annually. 

Single central record.

A record of employment and suitability checks a school has carried out on staff. The SCR should be kept up-to-date by staff in the school, while the governing board or academy trust must ensure it's being monitored. A statutory requirement for all schools.

Special educational needs and disabilities code of practice. 

Statutory guidance explaining the duties of local authorities and schools to provide for children and young people with SEND.