Description
7 hours per week, term time only (hybrid working arrangement)
Northolt High School is a foundation high school in Northolt in the London Borough of Ealing. We currently have around 985 students across seven years. We are rated 'Good' by Ofsted, which noted “the inclusive and celebratory culture evident throughout the school; the values of ‘pride, respect and courage’ are promoted well and shared by all.... Pupils speak positively about school life. They are happy, feel safe and are keen to learn” We are very proud to support and develop young people from a variety of backgrounds throughout their secondary education and prepare them for progression to higher education and to employment. We are currently working with the Department for Education to plan a new purpose-built state-of-the-art school building which we are expecting to be open during the 2025-26 academic year.
At this exciting time for the school we are reviewing our governance arrangements and are looking for a highly organised and self-motivated Governance Manager and Clerk to the Governing Board to work with us. The postholder will be accountable to the governing board, working effectively with them, the chair of governors and headteacher.
The Governance Manager’s key role is to provide independent advice, guidance, and support to the Governing Board on a range of matters relating to governance, and to constitutional and procedural matters.
You will:
- Ensure the smooth running of board and committee meetings including preparing agendas, commissioning and distributing papers, producing accurate minutes for publication and following up on actions.
- Work with the Chair and Headteacher to develop and maintain an annual programme of work for the governing board.
- Maintain governing board membership records and oversee the governors’ section of the school website.
- Build productive relationships with the governing board and senior leaders in the schools to ensure that the board runs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
- Attend regular training and briefing events organised by the local authority.
You should have an interest in education, have excellent written skills, and be reliable, proactive, efficient and highly organised.
You should have good listening and interpersonal skills and be adept at working with a variety of people across all levels of an organisation.
Previous experience in a governance and/or business management role in education or other public sector organisation, including writing minutes and papers is desirable.
Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be asked to complete a written exercise in advance of the interview. Candidates must be competent in the use of Word, Excel, email and internet and have access to a computer.
The hours will be seven hours per week, term time only, to be worked flexibly to fit in with the cycle of governing board business during the year. There will be approximately twelve meetings per year, which are normally held between 6pm and 8pm in the evenings.
Our recruitment process
One of the Ealing Learning Partnership projects we have been engaged with in the last two years is a ‘No Learner Left Behind’ project to improve the outcomes of our Black Caribbean students. Informed by our work on this project, we conduct an annual analysis of the ethnicity profile of our student body. Our long term aim is to ensure that the profile of our staff group matches that of our students. At the moment, we are underrepresented in the following ethnicity groups: Arab, Asian, Black Caribbean, Black African and Traveller of Irish Heritage. We would therefore welcome applications from candidates who would classify themselves as belonging to these groups.
We are introducing a ‘blind’ selection process this year which we also hope will support us in reducing the risk of any unintended bias during our recruitment process. You will see that our application form is in two parts. Part one, which contains details about candidates’ gender, ethnicity and age, is not shared with the staff who select candidates to bring them forward to the interview stage.
A Job Description & Person Specification plus an application form can be found on our website: www.northolthigh.org.uk
If you would like to find out more about the school prior to your application, please contact Carol Gleeson, the Headteacher’s PA on the email address below.
Please email your application to the Headteacher’s PA at: cgleeson@northolthigh.org.uk
Closing date: 9am, Friday 9 June 2023
Interviews to be held on Thursday 15 June 2023
We are committed to safer recruitment, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
The successful applicant will be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).. The school is committed to ensuring that all safer recruitment checks are carried out.