Governance

Governance Structure

Ibstock School is part of the LiFE Multi Academy Trust (MAT). The Trust is a Charitable Company, with a single group of Members and a single board of Trustees. The Local Governing Bodies (LGBs) are Committees of the LiFE Trust Board. They are authorised to act within their delegated powers granted to them by the Trust Board within the wider Trust Scheme of Delegation, which is reviewed and approved annually by the Trust Board, as required by ESFA.

LGBs are responsible for holding the Headteacher and Senior Leadership of the School to account and for providing assurance to the Trust Board. They also support the Head and Executive Team of their School to undertake their local Leadership role, as well as acting as a group to reflect the needs and views of the local community in which their School operates. It is important that LGBs understand and agree with the values and mission of LiFE Multi Academy Trust.

Local Governing Bodies shall comprise 2 elected Parent Governors, a maximum of 6 Community Governors, subject to a minimum of 4. (Community Governors are people appointed by the LGB. Community Governors may include parents of children at the school and ideally should be identified from those organisations with whom the School has partnerships or close relationships, the Head Teacher (ex–officio) and 2 Staff Members (one member of teaching Staff and one member of support Staff).

Scheme of Delegation

For further information, please visit: https://www.lifemultiacademytrust.org.uk/governance/

Lee DONAGHY – l.donaghy@ibstockcollege.co.uk (chair – appointed 11.09.2024)

Mick MASON – m.mason@ibstockcollege.co.uk (vice chair – appointed 09.10.2024)

The constitution and terms of office for the LGB

LGB- Terms of office 2024-2025

Meetings attended for members who have served at any point during the academic year 2024-2025

Ibstock School LGB Meeting Attendance 24-25

Clerk to Governors – Nicola GREEN – Appointed August 2023

Business interests

The academy trust’s register of interests must capture relevant business and pecuniary interests of members, trustees, local governors of academies within a multi-academy trust and senior employees:

Governor’s Declaration of Interests 2024-2025

Non-confidential documents

The non-confidential minutes, agendas or associated documentation from Local Governing Body (LGB) meetings are available on request. To request copies, please email Governanceprofessionals@lifemultiacademytrust.org.uk

Becoming a School Governor

BECOMING A SCHOOL GOVERNOR

Being a school governor is a rewarding role which can positively impact the educational experience of pupils at Ibstock School. Governors come from all different backgrounds, and previous experience in education is not required to be successful as a governor. If you would like to find out more about the role of the governor, please see the attached information sheet for more details.

Governor Information Flyer 2025

What we require of governors  

In terms of time commitment, we expect that governors will attend 6 meetings a year, which will take place in the evening and rarely last more than 2 hours. Termly visits to the school to meet staff responsible for the school’s work in a particular area will help you to understand the work of the school. Experience tells us that our governors not only make a significant difference to the school, but also gain much personal and professional satisfaction from the role.

We hope that you might be interested in becoming a governor. We’re happy to talk with anyone interested or arrange a visit to the school if you’d like to find out more. Please feel free to email l.donaghy@ibstockcollege.co.uk.

Governor Vacancies

How to apply

There are approximately 300,000 school governors in England – the largest volunteer force in the country. High quality governance has a significant impact on how well a school is run and what pupils can achieve. Despite this, governance vacancies are at their highest since 2016.

What we’re looking for  

Contrary to popular thought, you don’t have to be a parent or connected to the school in some way to be a governor. We are particularly interested in hearing from people from under-represented backgrounds (ethnic minorities, people with disabilities) and/or people with skills and experience in sectors other than education.

For the school, the main advantage of having you, or one of your colleagues, join our governing board is the expertise and experience you can bring to the role. Knowledge of business environments, finance or law will greatly improve the effectiveness of our governing board and have a positive impact on the education of our pupils.

What does a governing board do?  

The school’s local governing board is responsible for:

  1. Providing assurance to the Trust Board that the quality of education, academy improvement and strategic direction of their Academy are consistent with the educational objectives of the Trust, the agreed School Improvement Plan (SIP) and the Vision and ethos of the Trust;
  2. Holding School Leaders to account for the quality of education and the educational performance of their School;
  3. Establishing a termly view of the quality of education at the School/Academy and of the effectiveness of the educational performance and (via the minutes of termly meetings) reporting this to the Trust Board, drawing attention of Trustees to any concerns or emerging trends in relation to which Governors have concerns or consider they have not received a satisfactory response;
  4. Developing mechanisms and processes to take the views of stakeholders into account for their School in the context of the vision and values of the Trust as a whole.

The board is passionate about education and committed to continuous school improvement to ensure the best possible outcomes for our pupils.

About our school    

Ibstock School is a growing school at the heart of its community, as well as serving surrounding villages. It is currently undergoing age-range change, which means pupils will now join us in year 7 and remain with us to complete their GCSEs in year 11. This is a huge, but exciting, change and we need great people to support us on our journey.

Our motto is Respect and Pride brings Success: through mutual respect between all members of the school community, taking pride in their backgrounds and the effort they put in, all will be successful both at school and in later life. We provide pupils with an ambitious curriculum in a supportive environment that will set them up for success in their next stage of education or employment and enable them to make informed choices about what their futures hold.

What we require of governors  

In terms of time commitment, we expect that governors will attend 6 meetings a year, which will take place in the evening and rarely last more than 2 hours. Termly visits to the school to meet staff responsible for the school’s work in a particular area will help you to understand the work of the school. Experience tells us that our governors not only make a significant difference to the school, but also gain much personal and professional satisfaction from the role.

We hope that you might be interested in becoming a governor. We’re happy to talk with anyone interested, or arrange a visit to the school, if you’d like to find out more. Please feel free to email l.donaghy@ibstockcollege.co.uk.