The third largest multi-academy trust has guaranteed parents a place on school-level governing bodies – after previously sidelining them and saying that many were “playground bully parents”.
Rebecca Boomer-Clark, the chief executive of Academies Enterprise Trust (AET), said it was “too easy for school trusts to become distant and disconnected from communities” in her report in the trust’s annual accounts, published this week.
The report shows “academy councils” have been rolled out across its 57 schools this year, overhauling the previous local governing bodies (LGBs).
AET claims the change puts “localism front and centre of what we do”, with councils tasked with “helping us connect with communities by forging deep and lasting good relationships”.
The new bodies include two elected parents, up to two employees, a local authority representative and up to three more appointed community members, such as local employers, charities, faith and culture leaders, staff from feeder schools or FE providers.
The chair should “ideally be a community member”.
Previous boss condemned ‘playground bully parents’
The change is in stark contrast to the previous bodies with Boomer-Clark’s predecessor, Julian Drinkall, telling The Times in 2019 that he had removed parents from local boards, condemning the “playground bully parents” who dominated some.
The trust replaced every chair of governors, appointing senior educational leaders, trust officials and principals.
“I wanted them to all be based on educational excellence, not full of lay people who weren’t up to date with safeguarding and compliance or educational data.
“It was too cosy…no ability to put together a coherent educational strategy for the school,” Drinkall told the paper.
Parents, community members and other staff have always had some sort of role, but Drinkall relegated them to advisory bodies.
Under the new approach, the two bodies have been merged and revamped, with almost 500 new members appointed since September.
An AET spokesperson said Boomer-Clark had introduced and led the changes since joining in 2021. Academy councils were “already demonstrating their value” providing an “immediate feedback loop”.
Board members not relied on for education scrutiny
AET accounts stress new board members “will not be ‘governors’ in the traditional sense”, however, and “will not be relied on” for scrutiny of educational performance, policy and compliance.
New roles include feedback on school priorities, ethos and direction, “championing” school achievements, developing local links for learning and employment, and “whether pupils, parents and staff feel safe and happy”.
Emma Knights, the chief executive of the National Governance Association (NGA), said she was “delighted” by the changes. She had dubbed AET’s removal of parent governors as “an own goal”, likely to be seen as a “power grab…to stifle dissent”.
Knights said AET’s latest reforms were “much more in line” with the government’s changing stance and the “direction of travel” across the sector.
An NGA governor poll last year found 91 per cent reported MATs had boards at each school, up from 84 per cent in 2017, and another 6 per cent had LGBs for multiple schools.
The 2021 schools white paper stopped short of mandating school-level governing bodies, but stressed all trusts “should have local governance arrangements” to make them “responsive” to communities.
DfE says parents must have a role
The DfE also reminded trusts in 2021 that parents must have a role either on local or trust-level boards.
A report on Monday by Forum Strategy, the MAT CEO network and consultancy, argued that “pure accountability to communities, staff and pupils is a key principle of a thriving trust”.
Trust boards could make joining more attractive by showing how they “take into account the views of local governing bodies”.
Another report by the Confederation of School Trusts last month said trusts should be “anchor institutions” in communities, and LGBs tasked with “ensuring depth of understanding of the community”.
Yet a report by charity Parentkind this month found only half of parents felt they had a say and that schools acted on their views – but “clearly want” more input.
The NGA’s survey also showed fewer local governors reporting their MAT engaged effectively with communities, with a Covid bounce fading.
At Holland Park School in London, two parent governors elected last year have not been appointed to the temporary school improvement board installed by new sponsor United Learning. The previous board was dissolved.
But England’s largest trust is expected to include parent representatives when a new local governing body is eventually formed.
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