Statement of Intent for Governance

OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE A FAMILY OF EXCEPTIONAL SCHOOLS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL NEEDS, WHERE EACH IS UNIQUE AND DISTINCTIVE, SHARING THE SAME VALUES AND ETHOS.

THE SKYLARK PARTNERSHIP SEEKS TO UPHOLD THE VALUES AND VIRTUES OF ETHICAL EDUCATION BY ‘DOING THE RIGHT THING’  THROUGH HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY. WE TRY TO USE THE ETHICAL LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK IN EVERYTHING WE DO.

The governance of our trust seeks to meet the vision outlined above through supporting our schools to deliver on our core purpose to shape our educational offer for all of the pupils in the trust as we move forward. Over the next few years, we have an exciting opportunity at the forefront of education for pupils with medical and mental health difficulties to develop our systems, processes and curriculum, ensuring it meets the needs of pupils, parents/carers, other stakeholders, local authority commissioners and the local communities now and in the future. 

Our view is that local advisory boards should be supporting local children and schools in their local contexts, so each of our academies has a local advisory board in place. We have delegated responsibilities for various activities to the headteachers of the individual academies and their local advisory boards which will enable them to continue to deliver the day to day education in their schools, whilst we work on strategic oversight and development. The local boards will hold the headteachers to account for these activities.

The Chair of Trustees meets regularly with the Chairs of Local Advisory Boards as a conduit of information between the different boards.

The board has recently appointed a governance professional who will liaise with the clerks to the local boards to ensure compliance but also to enable regular communication and updates so that all governance is working together to meet our vision for the children and young people we support.

The intent for our trust governance can be found in our various plans, available on the website:

• 5 year improvement strategy – delivery plan
• Collaborative school improvement framework
• Trust Governance action plan.

All of the plans are reviewed with relevant stakeholders and updated annually. 

We want our governance at all levels to be robust, fit for purpose, to support the academies in their desire to get the very best outcomes for our pupils and to hold them accountable.