In my journal…
Are our policies and practices reviewed, updated and compliant?
Is the Board fully informed?
Monday evening brought about the first of three termly full Governing Board Meetings.
The six current Governors of Cransley School, chaired by Professor Darren Walter, have been drawn from a range of professional and personal backgrounds, including present and past parents, and volunteer necessary experience, constructive thought and analysis to the leadership of the School.
Good governance ensures the highest standards in the School's strategic leadership, financial health, and educational standards while upholding its ethos and vision.
This requires members to act with integrity, make effective, strategic decisions, and hold the school accountable through clear roles, responsibilities, and performance monitoring.
Key responsibilities include ensuring financial sustainability, providing a safe and compliant environment, and fostering a diverse and effective leadership, building strong, supportive relationships between the board and school leaders.
We have three sub-committees of three or four governors, each of which also meets a minimum of once a term - Academic and Wellbeing; Welfare, Risk and Compliance, and Finance, Business and Premises. Each reports back to the full Board.
Professor Walter and I meet each week to discuss a range of issues.
As the headteacher and Chair, we need our governors, both current and future, to be committed, loyal and utterly pupil-centred, academically and pastorally, through an understanding of our values, a critical friendship, a necessary pedantry and a willingness to do an awful lot of reading.
There are in practice over 30 Cransley School policies, describing the necessary practice required to ensure the school is compliant against the Independent School Standards regulations (ISSRs). Policies from safeguarding and child protection to behaviour management, safer recruitment to curriculum and assessment, Trips and risk assessments to first aid and intimate care.
Many of these can extend over 80 pages, and my management team and I have to pore over these to ensure compliance and good practice, and submit them to the board for reading, review and final ratification, just as an ISI inspector would, before they are then published, and any changes to our practice made. The review cycle usually takes two years, but several key policies require annual review.
Staff are then required to read and understand many of these policies.
Cransley School has been compliant throughout the last 12 years, confirmed by three increasingly glowing ISI inspections, and interim material change inspections (made necessary by our growth in numbers). The last inspection was in November 2023, when, despite being only the 46th school to be inspected under the new format, assessed to have a ‘significant strength’ setting us apart from many other schools who have been inspected since. In fact I believe only 12 of all independent schools in the North-West have such a (to quote the Junior School PPB) special mention.
The three-year inspection cycle will bring the next ISI visit in a year’s time and not only has Cransley continued to consolidate its practice, but its educational provision is growing and developing more than ever, and the governors and senior leaders more experienced with each day.
The parental and pupil voice dominates the inspection process and outcome. To that end, I will be sending a general review survey to parents in October, which I ask you please to take time to complete.
In the meantime, we press on through a busy term. As I type, the rain is still hammering down after 12 hours. Thank goodness we delayed our Open Day…
Yours
Richard Pollock
Headteacher