Governance Professional

Governance Professional

We are seeking an efficient, organised and reliable Governance Professional (GP) to support our Board of Trustees. Our long-standing GP is retiring after many years' service to our Board, and the successful candidate will play a crucial role in continuing and further developing our governance.

• You will provide procedural guidance to the Trust board on governance, constitutional and procedural matters.

• Support the Chair in ensuring the smooth running of governance meetings.

• Play a key strategic role in supporting the next stage of the school, and more specifically the trust board's development.

• Be responsible for preparing agendas, maintaining accurate minutes of trust board and committee meetings, and also ensuring that all necessary records pertaining to the Trust Board and the Members are accurately maintained.

• Maintain and keep updated our GovernorHub platform for trust board communication.

All board and committee meetings are on Wednesdays (4.00pm onwards) with some face to face in school and some virtual. Other, occasional meeting commitments that require clerking will be on an ad hoc basis as required; for example, Governors Disciplinary Committee in the event of a student's permanent exclusion.

Starting date and employment status

This is a flexible post, and the start date is also flexible. We are looking to appoint from now, October 2025 until Easter 2026; within that timeframe, our current Governance Professional is willing to continue supporting us until this appointment is made. If there is a brief overlapping, succession period, so much the better for all parties, but this is not essential particularly if you have prior Governance Professional experience.

Our current Governance Professional is self-employed, and we contract him on an annual basis; that works very well giving both the Governance Professional and the school flexibility within a framework of assured employment. We are very willing to explore with you other employment arrangements.

Over the last twelve months, we have significantly changed the structure of our committees – we have four Full Board meetings per annum (face to face, in school) with three committees each meeting virtually, on Teams, once per term. Similarly, we are developing our working practices as a board, and so we are in a period of evolution. For example, we have two Governance weeks per annum where trustees pursue a particular line of enquiry and spend time in school with staff and students. To date, we have not involved the Governance Professional in this work, but that may change as we evolve.

The most recent DfE guidance regarding the role of a Governance professional is here: Working with governance professionals (clerks): resources - GOV.UK

Salary: Zero hours contract with agreed yearly hours or freelance if preferred, expected to be 15-20 hours per month. Grade G, which is £26,159 - £31,021 pro rata for hours worked and paid through the school payroll. A self-employed hourly rate is from £20-£25. Pattern of hours to be discussed at interview.

Hours: 220 hours per annum – see text above

Contract: Flexible

Equipment: School will supply a laptop if required or you can use your own if you prefer

About Wadebridge School

Wadebridge School is an 11-16 secondary Single Academy Trust (SAT) with 1040 students. We are typically oversubscribed, and we have a strong reputation for academic excellence and student support. We are proud to be a Single Academy Trust, meaning we can focus on what matters most – our students, our staff, and our wider community.

Our status brings many advantages as compared with being a maintained school or being in a Multi Academy Trust, but there are some downsides, too, most particularly around administrative capacity as society's expectations of the role of a school in the community expands. The board comprises 17 trustees at present, with four of those newly elected by the parent body just six months ago (from a field of seven). The documentation provided to prospective trustees is attached for your perusal and gives, I hope, much of the information that you want as our prospective GP. We also, as a SAT, have two staff elected trustees. If you have MAT experience, you will know that elected parent and staff representation is not usual – as a community centred secondary school serving a large rural area, we consider this to be a real strength of our governance model. A number of our trustees also serve as members or trustees on local MAT's too.

Following the appointment of a new Headteacher, Mr Mat Winzor in September 2024 you will be joining us at an exciting time as we continue to drive our school and wider community forwards; Mat previously worked as an Executive Headteacher in a Wolverhampton based MAT. We were successfully inspected by Ofsted in May 2025 – the full report is available on our school website. From a governance perspective, we were delighted to have our governance validated both in our meetings with HMI, and in the final report: "Trustees know the school well. They have effectively held leaders to account [during this period of significant change]." The ways in which we have developed as a board in recent years and achieved 'holding leaders to account' have been in no small part down to the advice and guidance of our GP, and we look forward to building on our strengths as we work with you, our new Governance Professional.

Please contact the Chair of Trustees, David Barton, for more information or to discuss the role further.

Application Deadline: Sunday 30th November at 6pm. Interview date: to be confirmed

How to Apply: Complete the Wadebridge School Non-Teaching Application Form and email it to

The school is committed to safeguarding children, and the successful applicant will be required to provide an enhanced DBS disclosure. All shortlisted candidates will be subject to appropriate online/social media searches.

Job Types: Part-time, Freelance

Pay: £26,159.00-£31,021.00 per year

Benefits:

• Work from home

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Wadebridge PL27 6BU