Solent Academies Trust

Solent Academies Trust is a successful provider of education for pupils aged 2 – 19 with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in its own schools and via outreach work with mainstream settings. The trust has a values- and personalized curriculum-led philosophy driven by two principles: to build resilience, improve communication and enhance health/wellbeing. The Board seeks two new trustees and holds its meetings at Mary Rose Academy, Southsea PO4 8GT.

About the trust Solent Academies Trust is a multi-academy trust specializing in Special Educational Needs (SEN) catering for pupils with a wide range of complex needs from 2 to 19 years old. The Trust has found that demand for this type of education has increased markedly in recent years and works closely with Local Authorities in ensuring proper provision. The Trust currently has responsibility for four special schools. Three of these are in Portsmouth, a city with relatively high levels of deprivation that in 2015 was ranked 57th out of 327 local authority areas in terms of its Index of Multiple Deprivation. The fourth school is in West Sussex and joined the Trust following a poor Ofsted inspection report in November 2017.

The schools in the Trust are:  Mary Rose Academy - a school for 151 pupils aged between 2 and 19 who have severe and complex learning difficulties. In addition to their learning difficulties, most pupils have other needs associated with physical disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and/or medical conditions. Mary Rose has been judged as 'outstanding' in its last three Ofsted inspections. The Academy has fantastic sports facilities including the only accredited water sports facility in southern England. All pupils in the trust use the facilities and take part in children’s special Olympics and other competitive sports.  Cliffdale Primary Academy - a primary school for 160 pupils aged between 2 and 11 with complex needs and autism. Cliffdale was judged as 'outstanding' by Ofsted in 2016, having been graded as 'inadequate' four years earlier.  Redwood Park Academy - secondary school for 141 pupils with complex needs and autism. Redwood joined the Trust in February 2017 and was recently judged as 'outstanding' by Ofsted.  Littlegreen Academy - a school for 70 boys from 7-16 who have social, emotional and mental health needs. Some of the pupils have additional communication and learning difficulties, including autistic spectrum disorders. Littlegreen joined the Trust in January 2019, having been judged as ‘inadequate’ in late-2017.

The Trust is committed to supporting the inclusion SEN pupils in mainstream schools where this is in the their best interests and the provision of high quality outreach work to support such pupils is a core part of the Trust's mission.

Plans for the future The sustained levels of improvement across the Trust have been achieved in large part through the professional commitment of an expanding group of outstanding middle and senior leaders, who work collaboratively to support each other across all four academies. Consequently, the Trust now has the capacity to provide high quality advice and support to other special schools across the Solent area. Our plans include:

1. To be recognised as a centre of excellence for advice and support in the field of special needs education. Within the trust, leaders need to ensure that Littlegreen Academy is judged to be at least ‘good’ in its

Academy Ambassadors © 2020 next Ofsted inspection. The trust is outward facing. The Portsmouth Teaching School Alliance is led by Mary Rose Academy which works closely with Challenge Partners and the Portsmouth Education Partnership to raise standards and outcomes for the young people of Portsmouth area. The trust recently won additional grant funding to work collaboratively with other local Portsmouth schools to look at raising attainment for SEND pupils in mainstream schools and the role of SEND Coordinators. The trust has been invited to share its action research outcomes nationally. 2. To encourage maintained special schools in the Solent area to join the Trust where this would be in the best interest of their pupils. The trust aims for measured growth in the locality to ensure sufficient leadership capacity exists to drive school improvement. The trust has established good local networks and relationships and works collaboratively with local authorities to help them meet local demand for SEND provision. 3. To complete a review the Trust's governance arrangements and strategic plans and to strengthen the skill set of the trustees in preparation for expansion. The trust is looking for additional trustees with an interest and commitment to special school education provision, its values and philosophy to help develop and hold leaders to account for implementation of its strategic plan.

Trust ethos & values We are a relatively small multi-academy trust that is committed to: Providing high quality education for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities within friendly, caring and stimulating learning environments across the Solent area. Ensuring that our academies have high expectations of their pupils and are committed to continuous school improvement to ensure that all pupils achieve the best possible outcomes in every area of school life. Offering a curriculum that is creative, relevant, motivating and personalized in order to meet the wide range of needs of our pupils and offering a high level of challenge in an environment within which pupils can flourish. In this way, our educational provision enables pupils not only to achieve the best possible learning outcomes but also to develop the skills, confidence and resilience required if they are to lead fulfilling lives as active citizens when they complete their education.

Role summary Number of positions advertised: Two Trustees/Non-Executive Directors

Trustees – or non-executive directors - are both charity trustees and company directors of the academy trust. The core functions of their role are: ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction; and holding executive leaders to account for the educational and financial performance of a charitable company funded by the public purse.

The board of trustees manages the business of the academy trust and may exercise all the powers of the trust in compliance with its charitable objects, company and charity law.

Person specification Every trustee is expected to abide by the trust’s code of conduct and the seven principles of public life set out by Lord Nolan: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

The Competency Framework for Governance (DfE) 2017 details the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for effective governance:

The competencies required for these roles include:

Essential Desirable - Corporate Governance/Trusteeship - Experience of: - Project/Change/Growth Management - Estates Management OR - Marketing/PR/Communications OR - Personnel/HR Management OR - Training/Skills Development/Careers Guidance

Non-executive directors of the Trust are legally responsible and accountable for all statutory functions and performance of academies within the Trust. They are responsible for establishing, reviewing and updating the Trust’s vision, ethos and strategic direction; holding the executive to account for the educational performance of the Trust’s academies; and overseeing the financial and educational performance of the Trust.

The Trust is keen to appoint individuals who can demonstrate a commitment to the education and wellbeing of children with special needs. They should have a willingness to devote time, enthusiasm and effort to the duties and responsibilities of a Trustee. They should have the ability to think and plan strategically and demonstrate a willingness to undertake training and development.

The Trust would welcome applicants with experience of trusteeship or management of a complex organisation with multiple sites/subsidiaries and/or general management experience

Time commitment On average, the time commitment of a trustee will be 1 day per month. There are six Trust Board meetings a year. In addition, there are four Board Committees, each of which meets three times a year. In addition to attending Board meetings, it is expected that trustees will also sit on one of the Board committees.

Location of board meetings and trust website Board meetings are held Mary Rose Academy Southsea PO4 8GT although during the Covid 19 emergency, meetings are being held virtually via MS Teams. For more information on the trust, please see their website http://solentacademiesTrust.info/ . Governance structure For more information in regard to the trust’s governance structure, please see: http://solentacademiesTrust.info/about-us/governance/

Background on academy trusts Academy schools, which are charities run independently of local authority control, now account for 71% of secondary schools and 26% of primaries – and their number is growing all the time.

Academy Ambassadors © 2020 Many of these schools are grouped together as multi-academy trusts (MATs). If the schools are to fulfil their potential, the trusts need non-executives (known in charity law as trustees) to bring a wide range of skills and experience to help guide strategy, ensure their ambitions can be soundly financed and keep their schools up to the mark delivering for their pupils.

“Boards must be ambitious for all children and young people and infused with a passion for education and a commitment to continuous school improvement that enables the best possible outcomes. Governance must be grounded in reality as defined by both high-quality objective data and a full understanding of the views and needs of pupils/students, staff, parents, carers and local communities. It should be driven by inquisitive, independent minds and through conversations focused on the key strategic issues which are conducted with humility, good judgement, resilience and determination.” Source: Governance Handbook, Department for Education (2019)

Trusteeship is a voluntary, unpaid role for people who have the energy and skills to make a real contribution to shaping the future of our schools. You do not need to have any specialist knowledge of education.

Applications Academy Ambassadors is a non-profit programme which recruits senior business leaders and professionals as volunteer non-executive directors onto the boards of multi-academy trusts. If you are interested in applying for the role please send your CV and a short expression of interest detailing which role you are applying for to [email protected]. Please note: candidates should live within reasonable travelling distance of the trust and/or have a link with the region. For more information, please call 0207 952 8556 or visit www.academyambassadors.org.

Key dates We strongly recommend applying as early as you can to have the best possible chance of being considered as we may change the closing date if we have received sufficient applications.