Refocusing governance at SEAX

How GGI helped a multi-academy trust board to improve its governance and sharpen its focus on strategic improvement

The SEAX Trust is a multi-academy trust of five academies, all of which are based in Essex. The academies serve over 600 young people with a range of special educational needs. The trust also provides support to mainstream schools around meeting the needs of young people with autism.

The trust has grown significantly since its formation in 2015, and due to both local and national initiatives it is expected to expand further in the coming years.

Review approach

GGI was appointed by the board of trustees to carry out a governance review, for which we adopted our tried-and-tested approach of combining a document review, meeting observations and interviews.

Document review

We reviewed a range of documents, including:

• minutes of board and committee meetings
• policies
• terms of reference
• risk register

Interviews

We conducted the following interviews:

• Semi-structured individual interviews with the chair and the chief executive
• Interviews with a group of trustees, the central team, head teachers and local governors

Observation

We observed three meetings:

• the board
• the academic improvement committee
• the resources, audit and risk committee

We triangulated the evidence we obtained, using our extensive experience of governance in multi-academy trusts and more broadly.

We shared our preliminary findings with the chair and the chief executive, to confirm their factual accuracy and to identify any themes for further investigation. Then we presented our report to the board, providing board members with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the actions that the trust would take in response to our work.

We subsequently shared examples of good practice with the trust for them to adapt and make their own, to improve the governance of the organisation.

The work we have undertaken talking with the CEO has led to a proactive improvement plan and actions which are transforming governance at all levels across the trust.

SEAX chief executive Ruth Sturdy said: “We know as an ambitious trust that we need to ensure our systems and processes are robust enough to cope as we grow. We chose to commission GGI to undertake a review of governance as part of this development because we wanted experts in governance who had a wide range of experience and had a clear vision of what good governance should be.

“From the moment I met the people from GGI who were going to work with us, I felt confident that they would be able to give us the support and challenge we needed to move governance across the trust to a new level.

“They were knowledgeable, of course, but they also listened carefully to information about our setting and what we wanted as outcomes from the review. Their work was thorough, insightful and perceptive and as a result governance is much stronger and serves the trust well.”

Results

As a result of this work, SEAX has made the following improvements:

• there has been a refocusing on the whole area of governance, with the chairs of committees and the chair of the board reflecting on their respective roles, and coming to a new understanding each role
• the board has shifted its focus to spend more time on strategy rather than on operational management
• the trust is developing a new professionalism for governance, both at the board and in operational management
• trust teams are undertaking more training and development so that their practice is of the highest standard
• governance is at the centre of trust development plans as they grow and increase their influence.

Ruth Sturdy says: “GGI’s approach has proved to be an important step in our improvement journey and their reviewers have been invaluable in their support.

“Following the review, we reviewed our trust board skills and experience and have now recruited a range of strong and experienced trustees who are working to move the trust forward. The GGI report gave us a quality framework to consider how meetings work, how reports are written and how agendas are constructed, which has led to higher-quality meetings with a clear focus on the strategic direction of the trust.

“We are using the review as framework for change and improvement, and it has made a significant difference to our operations.”