1. From LGB to MAT and beyond: building the trustee board
Webinar
From LGB to MAT and beyond: building the trustee board
Sarah Gore
Download this presentation from: oego.co/LGB-to-MAT

2. Agenda Introduction: LGB to MAT An effective academy trust board
How business leaders make a difference
The work of Academy Ambassadors

3. Maintained schools and academies have very different governance constructs
Local authority (LA) maintained schools:
are not allocated the entire schools budget
do not employ staff - the LA is the employer
draw on LA services such as HR, legal, facilities management
draw on LA school improvement services
are not corporate entities.
Academy trusts:
are companies limited by guarantee
have devolved systems of funding, accountability and control
directors have full responsibility. for all elements
The opposite of
Having appropriate external independent challenge – is internal only’ recruitment process
A skills-based board is having a representational model in which all Chairs of LGBs as NEDs
Lack of understanding of the role of the board and of external challenge - Chairs and CEOs unwilling to accept NEDs who would challenge

4. Agenda Introduction: LGB to MAT An effective academy trust board
How business leaders make a difference
The work of Academy Ambassadors

5. What is an academy trust board?

6. What is the role of a non-executive director?
Strategy
Deciding on overall strategy of the trust.
Scrutinising plans.
Supervising standards of governance and decision making.
Performance and accountability
Driving academic standards improvement.
Providing independent challenge of performance data.
Recruiting great leaders and holding them to account.
Managing risk.
Financial stewardship
Holding executive to account for proper use of public funds.
Ensuring probity, transparency and VFM.
Day to day management will be delegated to the CEO or lead principal.

7. An effective board consists of both diversity and expertise
Independent challenge.
Directors’ intellectual confidence.
Separation between members and board.
The right mix of skills and experience appointed, for example:
finance HR
legal
property/estates
PR/marketing
growth and change management
educational expertise.
Clarity that the board are equally responsible for all the schools.
Appropriate committee structure to reflect the decision making responsibilities set out in the scheme of delegation.
The opposite of
Having appropriate external independent challenge – is internal only’ recruitment process
A skills-based board is having a representational model in which all Chairs of LGBs as NEDs
Lack of understanding of the role of the board and of external challenge - Chairs and CEOs unwilling to accept NEDs who would challenge

8. Boards need experience to match best practice in the private sector
Proportion of the 20 largest MAT boards with at least one member with experience of
Academy Ambassadors looks to attract business leaders with these skills
Boards will need to go further than appointing single ‘finance expert’ to the board.
Looking at 20 academy trusts with 20+ schools, Virtually all MATs have board members who are ex teachers or head teachers, most have some financial/third sector.
HR, legal, marketing and PR, property and estates, risk management, and IT were are all much less commonly represented on MATs boards. Only around one-in-five MAT board members have biographies that make specific reference to board level experience with organisations other than MATs.
20 largest MATs (with 20+ schools). Review of publicly available information on board composition and board member backgrounds
Source: Trust websites & other public sources

9. Agenda Introduction: LGB to MAT An effective academy trust board
How business leaders make a difference
The work of Academy Ambassadors

10. Why do business leaders want to get involved?
Our research shows that two main factors drive business leaders’ desire to become MAT NEDs.
A desire to ‘give back’ to education and society.
A desire to improve the employability and skills of school leavers.
‘I felt that my corporate governance experience in a FTSE100
company might be of use and education for the future of our
children seemed a great way for me to “put something back” into
society. Also my experience in attending hundreds of board
meetings has given me great experience in how
boards should be run.’ - Non-executive director
We have recently received the result of some research commissioned by us and conducted by Populus …
Our research shows that two main factors drive business leaders’ desire to become MAT NEDs:
A desire to ‘give back’ to education and society, often triggered by business leaders reflecting on their own experiences, whether positive or negative, of education.
A desire to improve the employability and skills of school leavers. A passion for education is the driving factor behind the decision of many business leaders to get involved in a MAT

11. Four trends are driving multi-academy trusts to recruit business leaders
The new responsibilities of academy status demand business and professional skills.
Growth of ‘multi-academy trust chains’ parallels stages of business growth.
The challenge of turning round underperforming schools requires a turnaround and change approach.
Financial pressures require strong financial stewardship.
1. The new responsibilities of Academy status demand business and professional skills: The schools may have outstanding educational expertise but require broader support and a broader base of skills such as finance, legal, growth management, HR, marketing, property and IT
2. Growth of ‘multi-academy trust chains’ parallels stages of business growth: Forming a new multi-academy trust (MAT) from a group of schools or existing academies requires a new type of strategic leadership; and when the number of schools reaches ‘critical mass’ it changes the nature of the organisation.
3. The challenge of turning round underperforming schools requires a turnaround and change approach: When a trust takes on a failing school they become its ‘sponsor’. Making a success of the new school requires legal, HR, organisational turnaround skills on the board.
4. Financial pressures require strong financial stewardship: After a prolonged time where schools budgets were protected more schools will feel financial pressures and need fresh insight into driving efficiencies.

12. Trust growth represents a governance challenge
Starter
Established
Regional
System
Starter trusts
1-5 schools
Up to 1,000-1,200 students
Within single local authority and region
Established trusts
5-15 schools
Up to 5000 students
More than one LA and likely to be single region
Regional trusts
15-30 schools
Approx. 10,000-12,000 students
Likely to be in more than one region
System trusts
30+ schools
12K students plus
Working across the system in 3 or more RSC regions
Start-up board to found and nurture early growth
System trust board has responsibilities to wider system for leadership at scale
Scale advantage
Established trust board brings to financial stability
Regional trust board ensures model and structure works at scale
No. of schools in the trust
Carter types of sizes of trusts
At 1-3 schools the trust is a start-up – the board needs people who understand what it takes to grow a SME
At around 6 schools the group becomes more financially sustainable – the board may need people who can help the Exec Principal role become a CEO role and invest in more central services
At 8-11 schools the group reaches ‘critical mass’ and financial risks lessen, but the board needs people used to working at scale and who can ensure performance stays strong and help hold the vision across more schools
When the group hits 30 or 40+ schools more the board is likely to need people to lead substantial re-organisation and the trust needs board leadership to hold the vision across a large organisation.
Source: DfE What makes a good sponsor ppt, July 2016

13. Agenda Introduction: LGB to MAT An effective academy trust board
How business leaders make a difference
The work of Academy Ambassadors

14. About Academy Ambassadors
recruits outstanding individuals from business and the professions to join academy trust boards as non-executive directors (NEDs)
has a large and growing talent pool of leaders who want to ‘give back’ to education
has placed 300+ senior business leaders as non-executive directors in a range of academy trusts
is a not for profit charity originally set up by the DfE and the service is free to trusts.

15. Who Academy Ambassadors work with
Academy Ambassadors focus on six types of trust.
Starter trusts, bringing in board members with start-up skills to areas of sponsor need.
Established trusts, building balanced boards with members from financial, business, HR, marketing, legal and professional backgrounds.
Regional trusts and System trusts, recruiting board members with experience of scale and, occasionally, helping to recruit to regional boards.
Strategically important trusts that require a new chair – usually MATs.
Trusts requiring turnaround support after governance failure
Diocesan trusts that are restructuring.

16. Questions for trust chairs
We ask the following ten questions of trust chairs.
Where is the trust in its evolution and where will it be in 3 years?
What does the trust need in both governance structures and governance personnel in order to drive that strategy?
Where do you and your fellow directors fit into your overall structure and are you and they clear on the roles and responsibilities of the board, LGBs and headteachers?
How would you assess your performance as a board over the last year?
What do you believe that you need to do in terms of recruitment to improve the performance of your board?
How well do you believe that you hold the CEO and his/her senior team to account?
How would the CEO describe the extent to which he/she is held to account by the board?
Can you describe to me what your ideal board would look like?
How far are you aware from that ideal?
How well are you supplied with expertise in the following areas: Finance, HR, Estates and Property, Remuneration, Legals, Change management/due diligence and General Management?

17. Examples of impact www.academyambassadors.org
Examples of impact cover every aspect of governance, including:
reviewing growth strategies
developing new governance structures to accommodate mergers and growth into new regions or educational stages
assessing financial risk
challenging poor or inconsistent academic performance.
‘The two Academy Ambassadors that we have on our board are high quality, not only from a technical and
business perspective but they’ve also got finely honed
interpersonal skills, and bring high levels of challenge.’
Interim CEO

18. Contact details Sarah Gore www.academyambassadors.org
Regional Director:
South East & South London
East of England & NE London
Tel:
Mobile:
LinkedIn:
‘We hear great feedback from both the MATs and the NEDs.
I think the MATs really do gain from having these business
experts in their midst and from their viewpoint, and the NEDs get
a sense of satisfaction and reward and a chance to gain
Board experience.’ - RSC

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Questions & Answers 

20. Establishing or joining a MAT
Gain real world examples of the benefits and potential challenges of joining or creating a MAT.
Understand what to look for in a MAT to maintain your individual identity.
Clarify the different approaches to finance across your MAT, and know how to distribute funding fairly to ensure financial stability.
29th March, Leeds
Details and register at: my.optimus-education.com/conferences/mat-formation-leeds
Book by the 22nd March and receive 20% off!
(Use promo code MATFORM20)