East Midlands Academy Trust

Recruitment Pack

Contents

About the Trust

Message from the Chief Executive

The Advertisement

Appointment Process

Job Description

Introduction and Background

Background

East Midlands Academy Trust was incorporated in September 2012. East Midlands Academy Trust is a Multi Academy Trust based in the centre of Northampton. Since incorporation, the MAT now includes five primary academies, one secondary academy and one all-through 4-19 Free School.

Initial Development

East Midlands Academy Trust’s key ambition is straightforward to create excellent academies. The first two academies to join were Orchard Academy and Shepherdswell Academy in Milton Keynes. In 2014, East Midlands Academy Trust sponsored Castle Academy, Hardingstone Academy and Stimpson Avenue Academy in Northampton.

In 2015, East Midlands Academy Trust sponsored its first Secondary School, Prince

William School (PWS). PWS is located in Oundle, North East Northamptonshire. In January

2015, East Midlands Academy Trust was successful in winning a DfE competition to open

an all-through 2,220-place Free School, Northampton International Academy (NIA), in the

centre of Northampton.

The Trust’s aim is to sponsor additional academies within this geographical cluster and develop two other geographical clusters over the next three years.

What makes us unique?

• Our strong moral purpose

• Commitment to high expectations and aspirations

• Strategic partnership with

Ruth Miskin the creator of

Read, Write Inc – a systematic

whole school approach to

literacy and the teaching of

reading

• Strategic partnership with HR and Legal experts

Vision, Values and Purpose

‘Every child deserves to be the best they can be’

We are driven by a strong moral purpose that every child has the right to outstanding

teaching and leadership. It is our mission to work with our children, their parents and carers

and our staff to create excellent schools. Schools that demonstrate integrity of purpose

through high aspiration for every child. We set high expectations for our leaders and

teachers to support and stretch every child. We ensure that they make excellent progress

and build the skills, knowledge and attributes that will prepare them well for secondary

school and beyond.

Key elements of our vision

We will:

• rapidly become a world class academy Trust with a national and international voice

• establish world class academies and schools that are centres of excellence for leadership, teaching and learning and are flagships and centres of learning for other academies and schools

• be driven by a moral purpose to transform opportunities and change life chances of

children and young people who live in challenging times as well as challenging places

• work in partnership with learners, their families, communities and businesses, to raise aspirations, foster great expectations and achieve ambitious goals.

Key elements of our vision:

• strong leadership that transforms culture

• the pursuit of excellence is demonstrated by an uncompromising and successful drive for improvement in the leadership and management of teaching, learning and progression

• recognising the role of teachers and developing them

• excellent governance that challenges, supports and holds to account

• outstanding teaching and pedagogical knowledge

• confident independent learners

• a broad and balanced curriculum that has expert knowledge and individual needs at

its core

• high aspirations and expectations of all who work in our academies and schools that every pupil is able to succeed

• a ‘no excuses’ behaviour policy

• secure and effective partnerships with parents/carers, businesses and the local

community

Message from the Chief Executive

Thank you for taking the time to read the pack and hopefully consider applying to join us at East Midlands Academy Trust. It is an amazing time to join our vibrant and dynamic community of schools.

As you will have already seen, we have a clear strategy for school

improvement that has been shown to be credible, inclusive and sustainable.

We are a community based Multi Academy Trust and care about the impact we

have in the areas our schools live. The vitality and diversity of the people we

encounter within each school means we cannot just drop a template of “how

to run a successful school” onto the seven schools in our MAT. We have to

work with the community accessing the school as well as our internal

community of staff to understand any barriers or local nuances and then

overlay that with the national curriculum and regulatory requirements. We

then combine these two, often-conflicting aspects, to inspire our “community”

to help children to become confident, independent thinkers.

I welcome any applicant to come and see what we do and I would be happy

to talk prior to making a formal application, if that would help? We all make

thousands of choices every day but few are as important as where you go to

share your knowledge, passion, tenacity and integrity. If you believe in and

have what it takes to make our vision a reality, “every child deserves to be the

best they can be…” I look forward to your application.

Joshua Coleman

Chief Executive

East Midlands Academy Trust

The Role

We, at East Midlands Academy Trust, are a unique family of 7 academies. The MAT includes five primary academies, one secondary and one all-through 4-19 Free School. We are driven by a strong moral purpose that every child has the right to outstanding teaching and leadership. The trust is incredibly proud of the achievement and the real difference we are making. We are looking to recruit a Head of Governance and Safeguarding. The Head of Governance and Safeguarding is responsible for advising the Board and Local Advisory Boards in accordance with the provisions of the Articles of Association and regulatory requirements on the following: • Compliance and operations of its powers • Procedural matters • The effective and efficient conduct of its business • Matters of governance and good practice • The application and compliance around safeguarding policies and procedures Providing effective administrative support to the Board and Governing Body and its committees. Principal Accountabilities The post-holder is accountable to the Board through the CEO. The Head of Governance and Safeguarding will give sound, well-researched advice and guidance to the Board and will support the members in evaluating their effectiveness. If you are interested in this vacancy, we would like to hear from you. In order to consider your application in full please download an application form and submit together with a covering letter. You can download a recruitment pack from our website – www.eastmidlandsacademytrust.co.uk The closing date for application is 2nd September 2019. Interview date – w/c 9th September 2019. For an informal discussion, please contact Hena Mahmood, Trust HR Business Partner on 07711 925992. All appointments are subject to safer recruitment requirements to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people. All positions will involve appropriate checks and an enhanced DBS check.

Head of Governance and Safeguarding Scale/Salary £40,000 - £45,000 Depending on experience

Hours and Holiday 37 hours a week

Contract Permanent

Responsible to CEO

Closing date 2nd September 2019

Interviews Week commencing 9th September 2019

Appointment Process

If you wish to apply for this post, please complete the application form and the equal opportunities form, which explicitly includes the following:

Your skills and experience

The value, which you believe you, could bring to this role

You should submit your application from together with a covering letter by email to recruitment@emat.uk by the closing date in the advertisement.

Please note CVs will not be accepted. If you would like more information, or to have an informal discussion about the role, please contact Hena Mahmood via email ruhena.mahmood@emat.uk or call 07711 925992. All enquires will be treated confidentially.

All appointments are subject to safer recruitment requirements to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people. All positions will involve appropriate checks and an enhanced DBS check.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Role Purpose: The Head of Governance and Safeguarding is responsible for advising the

Board and Local Advisory Boards in accordance with the provisions of the

Articles of Association and regulatory requirements on the following:

• Compliance and operations of its powers • Procedural matters • The effective and efficient conduct of its business • Matters of governance and good practice • The application and compliance around safeguarding policies and procedures Providing effective administrative support to the Board and Governing Body and its committees.

Principal Accountabilities:

The post-holder is accountable to the Board through the CEO. The Head of

Governance and Safeguarding will give sound, well-researched advice and

guidance to the Board and will support the members in evaluating their

effectiveness.

Main Core Duties:

Trustee Board Management

Maintain an annual Board and Committee yearly planner, clearly noting all items, which must be reviewed by each Committee and the Board and at which meeting.

Maintain the records of all EMAT Trustee appointments, resignations and terms of office renewals.

Maintain attendance record of Board members.

Update the Secure Access portal of any changes.

To maintain the annual register of interests.

To advise Trustees on declarations of interests.

Provide sound advice and proactive support to the Trustees, committee members, the CEO and Executive on statutory, legislative and procedural matters relating to the governance of the Trust.

Co-ordinate the administration of EMAT’s committees and the Board, ensuring that the agendas follow the annual plan, are set in good time and in co-ordination with the Chair of the Committee and CEO. Ensure that all papers are formatted and distributed in a timely manner.

Head of Governance and Safeguarding

Scale/Salary £40,000 - £45,000 Depending on experience

Hours and Holiday 37 hours a week

Contract Permanent

Location East Midlands Academy Trust

Responsible to CEO

Draft comprehensive minutes of all Board and committee meetings, capturing challenge, ideas and the actions, which arise from all meetings.

To attend all meetings of the Board and its Committees and advise on quorum, governance and procedure at such meetings.

Ensure that these actions are carried out effectively in a timely manner and report to the Board and Committee on the progress. Ensure that all minutes are circulated to the Chair of the Committee and Board within 5 working days for comment.

Ensure that all decisions taken at Board and sub-committee meetings are communicated to the relevant parties.

Conducts skills audit and advise on training requirements as well as putting together an annual training programme.

Recruitment of new Trustees. Local Advisory Board Governance Management

In consultation with the Chair and Principal, to plan the forward programme of meetings and cycle of business of the main Governing Body and its committees, identifying the main items to be taken at those meetings aligning with data drops and financial timeframes.

Maintain the records of all governor appointments, resignations and terms of office renewals.

To maintain the annual register of interests.

To advise governors on declarations of interests.

Maintain an attendance record of Governing Body and Committee meetings.

Update the Secure Access portal of any changes.

Provide sound advice and proactive support to the governors on statutory, legislative and procedural matters relating to the governance.

Co-ordinate the administration of the Committees and the Governing Body, ensuring that the agendas follow the annual plan, are set in good time and in co-ordination with the Chair of the Committee and the Principal. Ensure that all papers are formatted and distributed in a timely manner.

Oversee the preparation and distribution of agendas and papers for the Governing Body and its Committees.

To attend all meetings of the Governing Body and its Committees and advise on quorum, governance and procedure at such meetings.

Provide comprehensive minutes of all Governing Body and Committee meetings, capturing challenge, ideas and the actions, which arise from all meetings.

Ensure that these actions are carried out effectively in a timely manner and report to the Governing Body and Committee on the progress. Ensure that all minutes are circulated to the Chair of the Committee within 7 days and the Governing Body within 10 working days for comment.

Ensure that all decisions taken at meetings are communicated to the relevant parties.

Assist with the elections of parent and staff members where required.

Conduct skills audit and advise on training requirements and the criteria for appointing new Governing body members relevant to vacancies.

Act as first point of contact for Governing Body members.

Coordinate the induction and training programmes for Governing Body members.

Maintain a record of training undertaken by Governing Body members.

Recruitment of new governors.

Ensure that governors have had a Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check carried out.

Safeguarding and Compliance

To ensure robust safeguarding polices, operating procedures and risk frameworks are in place

To Chair the Safeguarding committee

Lead on trust wide Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests

Clerk any statutory appeal Committees/panels the Governing Body may need to be required to convene.

Maintain archive material.

Maintain records of Governing body/Board correspondence.

Ensure compliance with regards to statutory policies and other key documents.

Ensure website compliance with regards to the governance on the central Trust website and the academies.

Advise the Trust and the governing body on succession planning (of all roles, not just the Chair).

Maintain copies of current terms of references.

Maintain records on nominated governors e.g. SEND, Safeguarding.

Perform such other task as may be determined by the CEO and the trust in order to conduct the effective service of the central team

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of the post, each individual task undertaken may not be identified.

Employees will be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a manager to

undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this job description.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This person specification lists the competencies expected. The two right-hand columns provide guidance for the appointment. (E= Essential criteria, D = Desirable criteria)

Sections E D

1 Skills, Knowledge and aptitudes

The Head of Governance and Safeguarding should be able to provide evidence of the following:

good listening, oral and literacy skills;

writing agenda and accurate concise minutes;

Proficient use of Microsoft Office suite

organising their time and working to deadlines;

organising meetings;

record keeping, information retrieval and dissemination of board and governing body data/documentation, to the governing body and board;

using the internet to access relevant information;

developing and maintaining contacts with outside agencies;

Significant experience within governance;

knowledge of board and governing body procedures;

Good understanding of safeguarding;

knowledge of educational legislation, guidance and legal requirements;

knowledge of Data Protection legislation;

Identifying and implementing process improvements in a governance function;

demonstrable experience in development of required policies and procedures;

able to communicate clearly to a wide range of stakeholders to co-ordinate actions, influence actions, and gain results;

strong attention to detail and excellent proof reading skills;

able to prioritise and handle multiple deadlines;

liaising with external legal advisers on complex issues.

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E

D D D D D

2 Qualifications and training

The Head of Governance and Safeguarding should:

be able to demonstrate a willingness to attend appropriate training and development;

Has already attended or make a commitment to attend the National Training Programme for Clerks or its equivalent.

E E

3 Personal attributes

The Head of Governance and Safeguarding should:

be a person of integrity;

be able to maintain confidentiality;

be able to remain impartial;

have a flexible approach to working hours;

be sympathetic to the needs of others;

have an openness to learning and change;

have a positive attitude to personal development and training;

have good interpersonal skills.

E E E E E E E E

4 Experience You should be able to produce evidence of:

relevant personal and professional development;

working in an environment where experiences included taking initiative and self-motivation;

working as a member of team.

E E E

5 Special Requirements

The Head of Governance and Safeguarding should:

be able to work at times convenient to the board and governing body including evening meetings;

be able to travel to meetings;

be available to be contacted at mutually agreed times.

E E E

Equal Opportunities It is the policy of EMAT to provide equal opportunities for all individuals; to prohibit discrimination in employment on any basis protected by applicable law, including but not limited to race, colour, religious creed, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, age, medical condition or disability. EMAT promotes equal employment opportunities in all aspects of employment through positive employment policies and practice. If any special requirements are needed to attend an interview, please inform the trust. East Midlands Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to safer recruitment requirements. This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS Disclosure