Chulmleigh Community School Federation: running a federation with a small board of governors

Summary

Having a small governing body helps the Chulmleigh Community School Federation to run smoothly.

Key learning/outcomes

The hard federation has a small governing body which is working effectively.

Background

Chulmleigh Community School Federation is a hard federation of two schools in rural Devon. Established in September 2008, the federation brings together Chulmleigh Primary School with Chulmleigh Community College. The secondary school headteacher has been in post since 2003 and has led significant change projects to modernise the school.

Key challenges and issues

Governance structure

The federation wanted to establish a small governing body, but needed to ensure that 12 governors would be enough to cover the full range of governance issues and procedures.

Solution or approach

Thorough consultation

The schools carried out extensive consultation before establishing the federation. This ensured that staff, students, parents and governors had a good understanding of the vision for federation and the process that would take place.

Single governing body

Having a single governing body for the federation ensures that all governors have a good overview of issues in both schools. This model of governance helped to ensure a smooth transition process and supports the sharing of resources on an ongoing basis.

Seeking advice

The federation obtained advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) which confirmed that they could have a governing body of 12, as well as options for bringing in additional governance support if it is needed.

Next steps

The long-term goal for the federation is to combine the two schools into one.

Further information

For further information contact Chulmleigh Community College.