The consultancy service provides practical support for bespoke governance projects, providing a flexible approach that delivers sustainable solutions to meet individual school or academy needs.
The support, advice and guidance provided enables governing boards to fully concentrate on delivering sound governance practices. Examples of these might be:
- School federations (maintained schools only)
- Bespoke governor sessions (not offered through our governor training package)
- External Reviews of Governance (Comprehensive, Light, or Focused)
- Self-evaluation of Governance Toolkit with the option of purchasing off the shelf and leading internally, or support with a facilitated session
- Internal Audits to assure Trustees and Governors of compliance / good practice and identify any areas for improvement. Current audit areas:
o Governance roles and responsibilities
o The role of the Governance Professional
o The role of the Company Secretary
Why use HFL’s Governance Consultancy Service?
Governing and trust boards often face overwhelming workloads, making it difficult to allocate time for additional tasks beyond their annual plans. HFL Education is here to support you in tackling these challenges and ensuring tasks are completed efficiently.
Our External Reviews of Governance (ERG) are an excellent way of obtaining an objective alternative view of how your board is functioning.
All our reviews are based on the effectiveness of governance and are designed to support, improve, and develop governance, whether an LA maintained school or Academy Trust. Our reviews are aligned to the respective DfE Governance Guides:
- 3 core competencies (LA Maintained school)
- Trust Board Purpose (Academy Trust)
A review will help the board identify priorities for progress and provide the foundation to support them in becoming more focused, skilled, and effective.
ERG - Comprehensive
The Comprehensive External Review focuses on five core areas of:
- Vision
- Holding senior leaders to account
- Financial performance
- Effective governance practice
- Safeguarding
The Comprehensive review consists of an initial scoping discussion with the headteacher and/or Chair of Governors, a survey sent to all governors, focused meetings with key governors, and a facilitated action plan meeting.
You will receive a full report, an action plan and, six months later, a follow up Progress Impact Review meeting and report.
ERG - Light
1 day consultancy concentrating on:
- holding senior leaders to account
- effective governance practice
An ERG Light consists of an initial scoping discussion and a focused meeting with governors. You will receive comprehensive report, with key actions for the board to address.
ERG - Focused
1½ day consultancy concentrating on:
- holding senior leaders to account
- effective governance practice
There are also options within this package to select one of the core areas (listed above).
It is the Department’s strong preference that an External Review of Governance is conducted routinely as part of a wider programme of self-assessment and improvement. All reviews can be adapted to the needs of the organisations.
For Multi Academy Trusts there are options to focus solely on the governance in selected local trust schools (local governing body/committee). Alternatively, the focus could be targeted at higher level governance – the role of Members and Trustees, or a certain aspect of governance across the trust.
Find out more
If you would like an informal discussion about governance consultancy please contact the Governance team.